Dark Crusaders

The Dark Crusaders are a chapter of loyalist space marines from the 21st "cursed" founding of unknown genetic heritage.

## Dark Crusaders

Dark Crusaders armorial with Chapter iconography.

Dark Crusaders Firstborn Battle-Brother of the 3rd Company, 6th Battleline Squad.

## Space Marine Chapter

### **Allegiance**

Imperium of Man
(*Fidelitas Constantus*)

### **Specialty**

Boarding Actions/Drop Pod Planetary Assault

### Successor Chapter(s)

None

Created during the 21st "cursed" founding, the Dark Crusaders, like many other chapters created during this founding, suffer from a genetic abnormality within their gene-seed. Rumoured to have been born from attempts to create marines that would never tire, the Dark Crusaders have an hyperactive catalepsean node - the sixth implant a space marine receives during the Rites of Initiation that aids a marine with sleep deprivation by resting individual parts of the brain.

This abnormality with their catalepsean node causes the Dark Crusaders to be in a constant waking state, unable to ever sleep or enter a forced state of suspended animation, including any attempts at utilising the sun-an membrane.

Because of this genetic flaw, marines from the Dark Crusades are eventually effected by an affliction known as the Twilight - a rapid degradation of the marine's brain functions that leads to an incurable coma, becoming nothing more than hollow shells of the beings they once were.

## Chapter History

The Chapter was founded as part of the 21st founding, otherwise known as the "cursed" founding. The Chapter was created on the cusp of the 36th millennium, swiftly taking to the stars and travelling north in their campaign of conquest before settling on their homeworld of Solemnity.

Despite their millennia of service to the Imperium of Man, little is know of the Dark Crusaders. Rather than spread their deeds across the galaxy, the Chapter has become insular in nature, instead choosing to pass their history down verbally from brother to brother.

Because of this custom, much of their history has been lost to time. However, this has not impacted the prowess of its battle-brothers with many of their battle doctrines and tactics so well ingrained within the Chapter that it is almost impossible for them to be forgotten.

## Chapter Organisation

Unusually for a Chapter with a homeworld, almost the entirety of the Chapter is fleet-based to make the most of their hyperactive catalepsean node's side effects, constantly travelling across both the Segmentum Obscurus and the Sgementum Ultima to wage war unending.

The Dark Crusaders make heavy use of apothecaries within their ranks. Each company has a council of apothecaries who watch over their other brothers with great scrutiny for signs of the Twilight. These apothecaries can also take up other ranks within their company, some even holding the rank of captain alongside their other duties.

The Chapter also lacks a traditional scout company, instead choosing to assign a portion of their scouts as apprentices to to specialist roles such as chaplains and techmarines. These scouts learn from their brothers so that they are always ready to take their place should the Twilight come for them.

## Chapter Homeworld

### Fortress-Monastery

The Dark Crusaders hail from the world of Solemnity, a Dead World that lies on the boarder between the Segmentum Obscurus and the Segmentum Ultima. Upon their creation, the Dark Crusaders were eager to prove their mirth in battle, falling upon the once luscious Agri-World that had recently declared its independence from the Imperium.

In their haste to quell the uprising, the Dark Crusaders butchered the populace and damaged the planet's delicate eco-system with heavy planetary bombardments. Those that were not killed at the hands of the Chapter soon perished as the world's eco-system collapse, the planet becoming a Dead World within a matter of weeks. Left with nothing more than a husk by the end of the conflict, the Dark Crusaders were gifted the now Dead World as their homeworld.

In a symbolic gesture that the Chapter would turn to a more enlightened way of serving the Imperium, the then Chapter Master ordered that the Chapter's fortress-monastery be built on the sight where the final conflict for their world took place. The fortress-monastery was dubbed Dawn's Razor, the pinnacle of the fortress-monastery pointing to the spot in the planet's sky where the sun will rise each year on the date they conquered the world.

### Urnfields

Surrounding the Chapter's fortress-monastery are the urnfields, vast cemeteries containing the cremated remains of fallen battle-brothers, the ashes of each battle-brother stored inside a blank stone urn. These fields stretch out from the fortress-monastery, the urns arranged into blocks of one hundred to represent a company's worth of lost battle-brothers.

These extensive cemeteries are tended to by a mix of servitors and Chaplains. Those Chaplains that are station at the Dawn's Razor are there on a permanent deployment, never taking to the stars to serve alongside their brothers, but rather, welcome them home at the end of their duty to be laid to rest. The Chaplains are the only battle-brothers of the Dark Crusaders who remain on the planet at all times, tending not only to the torches of the urnfields, but also keeping the fortress-monastery at a constant state of readiness to repel any incoming assault.

## Chapter Combat Doctrine

Due to the flaw in their gene-seed, the Dark Crusaders have a tendency to use infantry based tactics, specialising in boarding actions and drop pod planetary assaults. These tactics have become prevalent in part to prevent marines from spending long periods of time away from the Chapter, including sending battle-brothers to the Adepts of Mars to be trained as techmarines.

Dreadnoughts are rarely used by the Chapter, the flaw in their gene-seed preventing battle-brothers interned in the dreadnought's sarcophagi from entering the long slumbers needed to keep their sanity in tact between engagements. To make use of these potent weapons of war, dreadnoughts are instead used if heavy siege weapons are required. Those battle-brothers that have been recently injured in combat are placed within a dreadnought chassis to give them one final deployment to smite the enemies of man before they are put to rest by their apothecary brothers, or brought low bringing their unbridled fury against the enemies of man.

## Chapter Beliefs

### Chapter Traditions

The Dark Crusaders hold a special reverence for those battle-brothers that are affected by the Twilight. Upon entering the final stage of the Twilight, the afflicted battle-brother will be given the Emperor's final mercy. After, their brain-matter is removed by an apothecary and kept in storage ready for their new battle-brother. The new battle-brother sent to replace the fallen member of the Chapter will perform a special ritual in which they consume the brain-matter of the deceased, absorbing their knowledge and memories.

After the brain-matter of a deceased battle-brother has been removed, a bronze cast of their face is created before their body is cremated, the ashes placed within a blank stone urn. This urn, along with the mask, is sent back to Solemnity to be placed within the urnfields, the bronze cast of the battle-brother's face placed in front of the urn so that they might be remembered as more than just ash in the millennia to come.

## Chapter Gene-Seed

### Flawed Catalepsean Node

Due to the experiments of the Adeptus Mechanicus, the Dark Crusaders possess a flaw in their gene-seed that causes their catalepsean node to become hyperactive, the marines of this Chapter becoming unable to ever sleep or enter a state of suspended animation, even with the use of the sun-an membrane.

Although other marines would begin to suffer from a lack of sleep over long periods of time, there seems to be no adverse effects for the Dark Crusaders, their hyperactive catalepsean node keeping their minds constantly refreshed, if somewhat erratic at times.

### The Twilight

Alongside the hyperactive catalepsean node, the Chapter's flawed gene-seed also causes an affliction known as the Twilight - a state where marine slips into a sort of comatose state, neither waking nor sleeping, neither dead nor truly alive. Those that are affected cannot be brought back no matter the attempts made by the Chapter's apothecaries. This is caused by the catalepsean node breaking down, the implanted organ collapsing under the abnormal pressure place upon it over the course of a marine's life.

It can take many decades, if not centuries for the Twilight to rear its ugly head, but once started it cannot be halted. It starts with gaps in the marine's memories, almost as though another person has walked in their shoes for mere seconds at first, turning to minutes and hours as the effects worsen. This progresses rapidly with the space marine in question losing more and more of themselves, their minds becoming blank as though they have become little more than an automaton. Marines that reach the final stages of the twilight, regardless of their rank, are given the final mercy of a swift and painless death.

## Chapter Appearance

### Chapter Colours

The Dark Crusaders primarily wear dark olive-drab green power armour. The Aquila or Imperialis on the chest as well as the shoulder pauldron inserts are bone.

The black squad specialty symbol -- battleline, close support, fire support, Veteran, and command -- is indicated on the right shoulder pauldron. A white High Gothic numeral centred on the squad specialty symbol, indicates squad number.

The colour of the trim on the shoulder plates indicates company number in accordance with the *Codex Astartes* -- i.e. white (1st Company), yellow (2nd Company), red (3rd Company), etc.

### Chapter Badge

This Dark Crusaders' Chapter badge is an ebon cross crosslet on a field of bone.

## Canon Conflict

In older editions, such as *Codex: Space Marines* (3rd Edition), the Dark Crusaders were depicted as wearing all black power armour with a golden Aquila or Imperialis, with a white skull on the Imperialis. The Chapter icon was a white crosslet, instead of a black one.

## Sources

* *Adeptus Astartes: Successor Chapters* (Limited Release Booklet), pg. 30
* *Codex: Space Marines* (3rd Edition), pg. 20

 White Scars Successors
 Space Wolves Successors
 Imperial Fists Successors
 Blood Angels Successors
 Iron Hands Successors
 Ultramarines Successors
 Salamanders Successors
 Raven Guard Successors
 Unknown Lineage
 Renegades

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