Disciplinary Officer Corps

Disciplinary Corps armorial with twin flame-blade iconography ('*Sanghauta*').

A rare pict-file of a Legio Consul-Obsequiari assigned to the VIIth Legion in 915.M30 (circa late Great Crusade-era), before the discovery of their Primarch Raktra Akarro.

## Imperial Adeptus

### Headquarters

The Halls of Judgement -
Ecclesiarchal Palace (Terra)

### Government

Imperium of Man -
Discipline Corps of the Imperialis Militant

### Motto

"*Fiat justitia ruat caelum.*"
("Let justice be done though the heavens fall.")

The **Disciplinary Officer Corps**, informally known as the **Field Police**, are a specialist political officer corps of the Legiones Astartes who serve as enforcers of a Legion Reclusiarch's will. As members of the Discipline Corps of the Imperialis Militant they are empowered to use any means necessary to ensure the loyalty and moral purity of their fellow legionaries, including overriding or even executing a commanding officer if necessary, and so are regarded with a mixture of revulsion and admiration by the rank-and-file battle-brothers of a Space Marine Legion.

## History

The origins of the Disciplinary Corps hearkens back to the earliest years of the burgeoning Imperium, during the Wars of Unification on Terra. During these early years, certain proto-Legions had begun to display worrisome traits such as feral ferocity and aggression, such as the VIth, VIIth and XVIth Legions, which would become their hallmark, but exhibited little of the control and discipline they would later possess. As the Unification Wars were brought to a successful conclusion, the burgeoning Imperium launched their Great Crusade into the stars to begin the conquest and reunification of the disparate worlds of Mankind into one unified stellar empire of Humanity. But as the decades of conquest and constant war ground on, soon accusations and stories of unneeded collateral damage and casualties among human civilian populations where some of the Space Marine Legions fought, became more and more widespread. As a consequence, certain elect veteran Legionaries were chosen by Imperial high command as an informal ad-hoc 'Disciplinary Corps' formation to help maintain order within the ranks, both during and away from battle, as well as to curb any attempts to disregard or circumvent orders.

Extant records indicate that during several campaigns against those who refused to bow to the rightful rule of the Emperor, often a Space Marine Legion would be dispatched in response. What would begin as a surgical strike against renegade forces and pre-designated objectives would rapidly degenerate into a killing spree of epic proportions as rebel forces counter-attacked. Some Legionaries would exhibit a lack of discipline and a total disregard for following their higher echelon's orders and begin to slaughter all they encountered, to the extant that the newly conquered region and preservation of any vital industrial capacity would be put at risk. It would only be through the brutal efforts of the Discipline Corps that any of the civilian population would survive their brutal onslaught, though this survival would be bought at the high cost of a number of summary executions.

Those chosen to make up this Discipline Corps were made up of warriors that embodied the rule of a Legion's high command, ensuring their orders were obeyed without question and that the resolve of the warriors under their charge would not falter in the heat of battle or lose control, for to do so, was to fail in the eyes of the Emperor of Mankind - a crime for which pain and ultimately death were judged to be fit rewards. The fanatical dedication of these Disciplinary troops to the service of the Emperor overrode any feelings of compassion, mercy or humanity when carrying out the summary executions of those found wanting.

### Galaxy Torn Asunder

By mid-M30th Millennium, the stability of the gene-seed began to diminish through over-use and the increasing need for ever greater numbers of Space Marines in the field. This was a matter that only worsened as the Great Crusade pushed ever wider afield into the galaxy. Imperial forces could no longer be concentrated as easily as before, and attrition was taking its toll as years of near-constant battle became decades. With the outbreak of the Heresy in 031.M31, the Imperium was plunged into civil war and the galaxy was torn asunder in a wave of bloodshed unlike anything ever beheld in human history. The simple truth was that more Space Marines were needed and they needed to be created faster than ever before.

Utilising accelerated gene-culturing techniques, several Legions came to be characterised as being battle-hardened, and particularly bloody-handed and unforgiving. During this conflict, several Space Marine Legions seceded from the Imperium and joined the Insurrectionist cause. Though greatly disturbing, this was not unexpected, as the Terran Council were well aware of some of the troubling traits that had begun to manifest within some of these Legions, particularly a tendency to display a high degree of independence and ferocity, preferring death over subservience to an authority from outside their Legion of any kind. Others were prone to physical or mental collapse in the heat of battle.

As the carnage of the Heresy dragged on, both sides suffered horrendous casualties during the bloody conflict. It is now believed by Imperial scholars that the constant grinding warfare, coupled with having witnessed firsthand, atrocity and unthinkable carnage at the behest of distant and uncaring masters, caused many separate squads, whole Cohorts and sometimes, even entire Legions, to secede from the Imperium. These warriors were often hardened veterans who had survived against all odds and trusted only in the man next to them in the line of battle. For brothers they would fight and die and strive to see another dawn, but for great cause or Primarch, and the lies and whispers of lords and potentates alike, they had nothing but scorn. Accelerated gene-culturing techniques, coupled with accelerated psycho-indoctrination that was often utilised during that time, were often to blame for these deficiencies and breakdown in discipline.

### Birth of the Discipline Corps

To ensure discipline was maintained within the rank and file of the Space Marine Legions, many within the newly instituted Chaplain Corps advocated the use of a political officer class to help a Legion's Chaplains enforce discipline and oversee the morale of their fellow battle-brothers, instilling within them the values and beliefs of their Legion and promote the veneration or in rare cases the actual worship of the Emperor of Mankind. With the blessing of the Ecclesiarchy and the final approval of the Terran Council in 935.M30, the Discipline Corps of the Imperialis Militant were created to ensure control and discipline and to improve morale of the rank-and-file Legionaries of a Space Marine Legion and to ensure proper compliance of regulations were adhered to at all times.

## Disciplinary Officer Duties

Disciplinary Officers are hand-picked by the Legion's Reclusiarch. These are usually battle-hardened veterans who adhere strongly to the tenets of loyalty and discipline and often display an abiding faith in the Emperor of Mankind. These individuals are considered Chaplains-in-training, are are accorded the proper respect by the rank-and-file legionaries. In battle, the Chaplains will be at the forefront of a Legion's battlelines, while Disciplinary Retributor Squads typically operate as independent five to ten-man squads.

These Disciplinary Officers serve to maintain order within the Legion's ranks, both during and away from battle, as well as curb any attempts to disregard or circumvent orders. They often interact and support attached Imperialis Auxilia units by organising stragglers, re-grouping broken units, and ensuring discipline is maintained at all times. Displaying the power of life and death, a power they are infamously quick to exercise in its extreme, they are known for carrying out summary punishments for any merely human forces who they feel lacks militancy or discipline. It is a power they are infamously quick to exercise in its extreme, a summary punishment for any merely human forces who they feel lack military or discipline alongside them.

Disciplinary Officers are also charged with providing overwatch of a particular unit or squad that has transgressed, but are considered redeemable, in the eyes of the Emperor. While Disciplinary Officers are authorised to help direct a Space Marine squad that has lost their sergeant during a battle, many of their fellow legionaries often hold them in contempt, seeing them as over-glorified 'nursemaids', but will nevertheless comply with their position of authority. Disciplinary Officers are also charged with assisting in the apprehension and return of those individuals or squads of recalcitrant legionaries who attempt to desert, help support the Imperial military courts of justice, and assist in collecting and transporting prisoners of war.

## Disciplinary Officer Appearance

### Disciplinary Officers Colours

Disciplinary Officers primarily wear black coloured power armour. They also wear a red coloured helmet with a distinctive alternating yellow and black vertical stripe.

### Disciplinary Officer Badge

Disciplinary Corps Officers are marked by the distinctive emblem of their oft-maligned Order, wearing the twin flame-blade insignia of the '*Sanghauta*' which is prominently displayed upon their abdominal belt buckle, right shoulder pauldron and on back banners. This icon is presumably of ancient Terran origin, and is also utilised by the Discipline Masters and the Provost Corp of the Imperialis Militant. This symbol carries with it a very definite meaning; it displays clearly the power of life and death every Disciplinary Officer of a Legion has over lesser troops under their command.

## Unit Composition

* **4-9 Obsequiari**
* **1 Legio Consul-Obsequiari**

## Wargear

* **Power Armour**
* **Bolter**
* **Bolt Pistol**
* **Combat Blade**
* **Aether-Shock Maul**
* **Frag & Krak Grenades**

### Optional Wargear

Any Obsequiari may exchange their aether-shock maul for a power fist. Any warrior in the squad may exchange their bolter for one of the following:

* **Plasma Pistol**
* **Grenade Harness**
* **Melta Bombs**

The Consul-Obsequiari may exchange their power maul for one of the following weapons:

* **Power Weapon**
* **Volkite Caliver**
* **Power Fist**
* **Thunder Hammer**

### Dedicated Transport

An Obsequiari squad may take a Phobos Rhino armoured personnel carrier of Land Raider Phobos or Proteus as a dedicated transport.