Angels Imperatus

Angels Imperatus armorial with Chapter iconogrpahy.

Brother Morkas of the 1st Company Veterans

"*Suffer not to let the Heretic live.*"
— Ioden Grelloth, Second Chapter Master of the Angels Imperatus
The **Angels Imperatus** are a Loyalist Successor Chapter belonging to the Dark Angels. Created in the 21st 'Cursed' Founding of M35, they settled on the planet of Nag'rak. Nag'rak was seated to the west of the Nether Coil, a warp storm sitting on the west of where the Great Rift would eventually be.

The Angels Imperatus aren't associated with the Inquisition or Adeptus Arbites, rejecting assistance and reinforcements from the Sisters of Battle, Adeptus Custodes, Astra Millitarum and Sisters of Silence. They perceive the hunt for their heretical brethren as their own burden, not anyone else's. Because of this goal, they very loosely follow the *Codex Astartes*.

## Chapter History

The first Chapter Master was called Noros Xerophus, was known for his compassion. He was devoted to his sons and the protection of them, despite this, he was also devoted to those he defended. His compassion would quite often get in the way of the battle he was fighting, devoting more resources and units to the defence of the civilians rather than annihilating his enemies, but he was known for his temper, and his hatred for those who bore the Marks of Chaos. Their lack of care for the lives of the innocent angered him beyond words.

### The First Corruption

In 888.M36, he had his first encounter with his sons turning to the dark gods. Whilst the Chaplain of the 8th Company was out on patrol through the hive's slums, he was struck with a corrupted blade of a Chaos cultist. He and his brothers then hunted down the rest of those and returned to the Monastery. Within hours, he had fully fallen to the control of a Khornate daemon known as Nharax. He wrought havoc against the civilians and servitors inside the monastery, but, it didn't take long before he was blown to bits by Noros' honour guard. Later inspection of body revealed that the Gene-seed was not that of a Dark Angel, as they had been told. This led to Noros going to meet with Belisarius Cawl over the matter. Despite the confrontation and clear evidence, he had kept to his word that this was merely a mutated Dark Angels gene-seed. This infuriated Noros as he knew that it was a lie, this led to the chapter's eventual fall to heresy.

With the knowledge that he had been lied to in hand, he slowly got more and more bitter, and more apathetic to the lives of those he had once sought to protect with all his might. His will and devotion to the Imperium and the Emperor had eroded away. It wasn't long before he was met by the Changer of Ways, and with such little trust for his Imperial brethren left, he fell to Tzeentch with ease. Even though he had lost all hope in the Imperium, he still tried to fight against Tzeentch's corruption, but, he did eventually crumble and begun the planning of his heresy. It started off with Noros infecting his captain's dreams with heretical meaning and propaganda, the idea was that he would be able to see who would stay loyal and who wouldn't, it didn't take long before several of his captains came before him, telling them of the heresy that littered their dreams. Those who had came were the captains of the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 7th companies, 4 full companies of his sons would remain loyal. Then it dawned on the Chapter Master, that someday he would have to turn his weapons upon them. He then let those who had turned to chaos spread it through their ranks.

### The Beginning of the Heresy

Then, in 999.M38, he sent away his loyal sons and then he struck. He begun by rounding up his sons and purged the hives of all those who would resist the will of Chaos, despite the force and brutality, he did attempt to convert those who denied his will, but eventually gave up and slaughtered them. Once he had all those who opposed him dead. He began the planet's destruction, annihilating everything and all life on the planet. All of the stuff happening on the world got to the hands of the loyalists, they were enraged. They sped through the void and arrived as Noros was leaving the system, the chapter was now truly at war. Xerophus led his sons to the Nether Coil and made his way into it, with the loyalists led by the Captain Ioden Grelloth of the 1st company. For the next 10 terran years, they played a game of cat and mouse with each other. Hunting and killing each other with ferocious anger and force.

### The Battle of Argonox

Eventually on the surface of the Tzeentchian daemon world called Argonox, there was a battle. This was where the score would finally be settled. It wasn't long before both armies had assembled on the planet's surface, despite the Loyalists being severely outnumbered they wouldn't back down. The battle was hard fought for the loyalists, losing nearly two of the four companies in the brutal fighting. In the middle of it was a battle to be remembered, Ioden was attempting to fight back against Noros' continuous blows. In the end Ioden caught Noros off guard and brought his blade through his father's torso, splitting him in half and sending him tumbling down a crevasse into the world's core. Despite his victory Ioden was pretty much dead, having had nearly half of his body sliced off in a single blow of Noros' blade.

In the end, the battle was won for the heretics, they forced the loyalists to evacuate and return to their ships. Despite their numbers being barely scratched, the heretics did not give chase, honouring their oaths to their brothers lives and resisting the urge to slaughter those remaining. Then Noros' most loyal travelled into the core to retrieve his corpse. Once he was taken back to the surface he was brought back to life in a blinding flash of light, Tzeentch was so pleased with his display that he granted him daemonhood and the accursed daemon blade Q'o'ak, the boundless.

## Chapter Homeworld

The planet of Nag'rak is deeply connected to the warp. Prior to it's destruction, Nag'rak was a thriving world, filled with forests and mountains. During the days of the Horus Heresy, it's surface was ravaged by war and destruction. A war between the Dark Angels and Word Bearers had left the planet in a state of pure annihilation, the world was lucky that it didn't end up like Caliban, floating chunks of rock that once bred life. The planet was later repopulated had been restored to it's previous honour. Then in 999.M38. it was annihilated by the heretical forces of Lord Noros Xerophus, leaving it almost uninhabitable, except in it's highest mountain ranges. When the loyalists returned to Nag'rak, they began the construction of Azermin, the Chapter's Fortress-Monastery.

### Fortress-Monastery

Azermin is one of the Chapter's greatest achievement, to the Astartes of the Angels Imperatus, it acts as a symbol of their redemption and rebirth. It takes up nearly 500 square miles of the Goroth mountain range and reaches nearly 3 kilometres into the planet's atmosphere, making it extremely large.

## Chapter Recruitment

To date, the Chapter has made very little effort to recruit, not wanting to dilute the hatred and will power to destroy Noros and his armies. Despite this, Mekus has made the effort to pass many of the Chapter's Veterans and Honour Guard through the Rubicon Primaris, in an effort to keep the most important alive for as long as possible. Early in the 41th Millennia, Mekus finally received the reinforcements he had desired for so long. Nearly two full companies of Primaris marines had been given to him. With their numbers bolstered, they made their way back to the Nether Coil, and set out to bring their great game to an end.

## Notable Campaigns

### The Norgoth Crusades

One of the rare occasions when the Chapter fought along side their brothers, was in the M38. The Angels Imperatus and their brothers of the Tome Keepers were to liberate the Xeller V star system controlled by Drukhari Corsairs. The Astartes were to free the worlds with the least amount of causalities possible, this did not go to plan. The Drukhari begun executing the imperial citizens when they heard of their involvement, this enraged both of the Chapters and led Noros to lead his brothers straight into the Drukhari's forces. This hate fuelled crusade lasted nearly 200 years, and there was no end to the conflict in sight. With assistance from the Tome Keepers, they made their way onto the Drukhari's base of operations, and begun massacring any Xeno that stood in their path. In the end, the Crusade saved next to none of the imperial citizens and destroyed over 2 companies worth or Angels Imperatus, and a mere 50 Tome Keepers. This was one of the biggest tactical failures in the entire history of the Chapter.

## Chapter Organisation

The Chapter follow the normal company standards, organising their marines into three companies. Veterans in the 1st, Tacticals in the 2nd and the Corrupted in the 3rd with the 7th being made up of Phobos marines.

### Officer Ranks

* **Chapter Master**
* **Master of the Forge**

* **Chief Librarian**

### Specialist Ranks

In the chapter there are only 4 specialist ranks, being:

* **Master of Arbitration** - The Master of Arbitration is replaces the Master of Sanctity, he runs the 3rd Company and the Chaplains that lead to the Corrupted in battle.
* **Headhunter Captain** - The Headhunter Captain replaces the 1st Company Captain, to ascend to this position the brother needs over 400 years of Combat experience. The Champion commands the Headhunter units into battle, leading them with fearless devotion.

* **Headhunter Sergeant** - These are the most experienced of the Headhunters, they command over their own squads with ruthless efficiency and are the most fearless and loyal of the Angels Imperatus, being each hundreds of years old. He normally fights along side his brothers of the Honour guard, jointly organising his forces along side his Higher ranking brethern
* **Arbiters of Corrupted** - The Arbiters of the Corrupted are the Chaplains dedicated themselves to defending their brothers from the whispers of Chaos, and keeping those on the path of loyalty. They are also in control of the Chapter's Corrupted, marines that bear the stains of Chaos but retain a loyal mindset. Their armour is also white, instead of the jet black that the Codex Astartes dictates. They wear armour of this colour to act as a beacon to the Corrupted, having lost all sense of colour and perspective, it resonates within them as the colour of loyalty and courage.

### Line Ranks

* **Veteran Sergeant**
* **Sergeant**
* **Battle-Brother**

### Specialist Units and Formations

* **Headhunters** - Since the Chapter's fracture in M38, they begun using a specialist formation referred to as a "Headhunter" Squads. These demi-squads are made up of five Veterans experienced in the art of hand-to-hand combat. They are called "Headhunters" because of their method of fighting, normally making up the front of any attack, with the single goal of killing the enemies' leaders to shatter their leadership and cohesiveness, crippling their subordinates' morale, making them nothing more than a rabble of warriors. Leaderless and frightened, these lesser warriors tend to break ranks before the onslaught of the merciless Headhunters, whom proceed to slaughter everything in their paths. By the time they have finished, there is nothing left of the enemy's position but a bloody abattoir of viscera, blood spatter and decapitated limbs - the heads of the fallen taken as trophies.

* **Corrupted** - Within the ranks of the Angels Imperatus, there is a formation that they dare not speak of openly to outsiders, the dark heart of their Chapter - the so-called "Corrupted" - those battle-brothers who have begun to descend into the depths of madness, its predatory taint found within the minds of those on the brink of falling to Chaos. The horrors they have witnessed and all the bloody deeds they have wrought in the name of protecting the Imperium has mutilated these Space Marines' souls and damaged their minds to such an extent, they have become something hallow and murderous beyond reason. Those marked by this corrupting curse are gathered together and placed into a specialist company, similar to the Death Company of the Blood Angels. These afflicted battle-brothers are shepherded by the Chapter's Chaplains, who minister to their afflicted brethren and ensure to keep them in check. They also ensure that those marked as "Corrupted" are cast upon their foes with proper application of force. Though not wholly traitors in the normal sense, due the Chapter's practice of keeping these "Corrupted" within their ranks instead of executing them outright, has led to the Chapter's ostracization by the Inquisition, and the Chapter primarily fighting along due to these circumstances.

### Order of Battle

#### Companies

* **1st Company** - The 1st company is made up of the Chapter's Veterans and Terminators, they fight alongside the Chapter's Honour Guard.
* **2nd Company** - The 2nd company is made up of Squads of Tactical Marines, Intercessor Squads, Squads of Assault Marines, a Squad of Hellblasters and Devastor Squads. It also has serval Dreadnoughts, including a Venerable Dreadnought and a Redemptor Dreadnought.
* **3rd Company** - The 3rd company is currently made up of Corrupted Squads of Assault Intercessors and Squads of Assault Marines.
* **7th Company** - Made up almost entirely of Phobos marines, it's the first full primaris company of the Angels Imperatus

## Chapter Belief

The Chapter believe in facing your enemy head on.

### Combat Doctrine

The chapter make heavy use of melee based units, with idea that they can destroy the morale of their enemies and then slaughter them with ease. The Chapter has been known for targeting leaders and Warlords. This makes them a formidable fighting force. They are also well known for their lack of mercy and clear disregard for those that get in the way of their missions. They also use lots of Devastor units and Tactical Marines.

## Chapter Gene-Seed

The Chapter's Gene-Seed is, officially on imperial records is that of the Dark Angels. Despite this the gene-seed seems to have an effect on the age of it's bearers, with many being over 1000 years old.

## Deathwatch Service

The Chapter has had very few members ascend to the ranks of the Deathwatch, primarily because of their lack of Astartes and of their fractured reputation in the eyes of the inquisition. There has only ever been one Angels Imperatus Astarte in the Deathwatch, Ventyr Arogon, he had had enough of the war against their heretical brothers and wanted to fight on another front.

In late M40 Ventyr was put in charge of a Deathwatch Killteam, fighting alongside Maxus Olis of the Doom Fists, Semiroth Terodon of the Sanguine Wraiths, Sh'leath A'kan of the Salamanders and Vordin Kylo of the Umbral Hounds. The Killteam is often accompanied by Venerable Brother Licarus, the last remaining loyalist of the Brazen Bastions.

## Notable Members

* **Noros Xerophus** - Tzeentchian Daemon Prince, ex-Chapter Master of the Angels Imperatus and current leader of the Bringers Of Heresy

* **Ioden Grelloth** - Second Chapter Master of the Angels Imperatus for was for over 1300 years

* **Rathus Norok** - Third Chapter Master of the Angels Imperatus a was for over 1200 years

* **Mekus Antos** - Fourth Chapter Master of the Angels Imperatus and has been for over 1,400 years. He is the first member of the Angels Imperatus honour guard to have crossed the Rubicon Primaris.

* **Kartho** - Contempter Dreadnought belonging to the Angels Imperatus, was destroyed at the Battle of Argonox

* **Techmarine Ommorex** - Was a Techmarine for the Angels Imperatus and the creator of their Fortress-Monastery

* **Jarox Tehro** - Master of Arbitration for the Angels Imperatus. Clad in white terminator armour, he is a beacon for the Corrupted and spreads fear through the foe.

## Chapter Fleet

The Chapter's fleet is currently made up of three battle barges. Prior to the heresy, it was significantly bigger, having nearly nine Battle barges and ten Strike cruisers.

* ***Angel's Fury*** - Angel's Fury is the flagship of the Chapter
* ***Ioden's Glory***
* ***Absolution***

## Chapter Relics

* ***The Blade of Absolution*** - The Chapter uses very few relics, One being the Blade of Absolution. Given to Ioden by a Grey Knights Brother Captain, this Nemesis Force Sword is supposedly imbued with the same rage that Ioden used to decapitate Noros at the Battle of Argonox.
* ***The Skull of Fidelity*** - The Chapter Masters of the Angels Imperatus bear the skull of Ioden Grelloth atop their power packs. It is the second of the two relics. The cranium provides a strong forcefield around the bearer, protecting them from even the strongest of attacks.

## Notable Quotes

### About the Angels Imperatus

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 Unknown Lineage
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