Celestial Dragons

The Celestial Dragons are a Space Marine Chapter created in the early 36th Milennium from the genetic stock of the Second Legion the Obsidian Wyrms. Its founding was motivated by Inquisitorial readings of the Emperor's Tarot and as such they were created in direct response to the portent of a coming threat.

In the millennia since their creation, the Celestial Dragons have remained a staunchly loyal chapter involved in many campaigns around the Segmentum Ultima. They are known to have some ties to the Inquisition and the Imperial Navy, but it is with the free-spirited dynasties of the Rogue Traders that the Celestial Dragons keep the closest ties, as they view the eccentric chartist captains as the first vanguard that may discover new threats to the Imperium before they can become major issues.

The Celestial Dragons are known for the prominence of their Justiciars - a type of Chaplain - who are present in almost every deployment and take a major forefront role in Chapter leadership. They are known to see to the psychological and spiritual well-being of their comrades, but also of the mortals they chaperon, and this behavior trickles down to the rank and file. The Chapter is fond of heavy armored assault and favors Breacher Squads, Dreadnoughts and Land Raiders heavily in its battle order.

They are also known to put the followers and Daemons of the Chaos God Khorne as their most loathed enemy, and the Celestial Dragons will often go out of their way to provide assistance to any Imperial force faced with such an enemy.

## Chapter History

At the onset of the Age of Apostasy, a cabal of Puritan Inquisitors strongly driven by the predictive Divination of the Emperor's Tarot believed that the forces of the Arch-Enemy would make use of temporary weakness of the Imperium and especially of the Ecclesiarchy to ramp up its activities, worming heretical thoughts onto hundreds of worlds. The cabal used its influence to organize the founding of Space Marine Chapters to combat this prognosticated threat, and the Celestial Dragons were the foremost among them.

The Cabal's divination merely confirmed what everyone was already suspecting as common sense, and it did not take long for the heresies to start manifesting themselves. The first of the Celestial Dragons - who were only at half strength at the time - were quickly thrown into the fray of the Plague of Unbelief, toppling false prophets and overly ambitious cardinals wherever they revealed themselves.

These were but trivial wars for a Space Marine Chapter however, and they would first be truly tested a few hundred years later when a major Hive World within the Andreskal Sector became the target of an Incursion by Daemons of Khorne who proceeded to rampage throughout its cramped tunnels, slaughtering all they found. The Celestial Dragons quickly deployed to assist the local population, but the situation in the world's primary Hive City was quickly growing untenable. The close confines advantaged the Daemons who relished in melee combat and more of their numbers seemed to endlessly appear from unexpected directions or locations, constantly threatening Astartes Squads with flanking or encirclement.

The tide shifted dramatically when Lyoden Dzjatõ, then a mere Decurion in command of a Legion Tactical Squad in the 7th Century, managed to lure the Bloodthirster commanding the incursion into a manufactorum plant. With the plant being relatively wide and open, yet cluttered with large machines and equipment of all kind that could be used as cover, Lyoden and his squad were able to make use of their numbers and the advantageous environment to bring down the Bloodthirster with a death of a Thousand Cuts, spreading out in pairs and harassing the Daemon from all sides and angles at once with bolt fire, causing it to lash and thrash like a giant trying to catch angry hornets with its bare hands. It is said that at the climax of the battle, Lyoden jumped down from an aerial conveyor and planted his combat blade straight into the back of the neck - and spine - of the sufficiently distracted Daemon.

With the Daemon General slain, the incursion was painstakingly but successfully routed. The Celestial Dragons would go on to become a frequent and hated enemy of Khorne's berserker hordes. As Successors of the Obsidian Wyrms, they cared considerably about protecting civilian populations, and the indiscriminate, gratuitous slaughters of the Blood God elicited special loathing. Lyoden Dzjatõ would go on to become one of the Chapter's most famous Centurion Primus, leading it on several successful crusades across the Segmentum Ultima

## Chapter Organization

As a Successor of the Obsidian Wyrms, the Celestial Dragon have little care for the diktat of the Codex Astartes when it comes to organization and training methods, but they do respect its wealth of battle experience and do make use of it to a degree, adapting it for their battle structure. Nominally, they pay lip service to it by maintaining an official active combat force on roster of one thousand Space Marines, but this is largely deceptive as the Celestial Dragons 'active duty' roster do not include the Hastati Squads - the equivalent of the Scout Company in Codex Chapters - and Andreskal VI's permanent garrison, which are both sizable forces.

The Celestial Dragon's active duty roster is made up of two legion-era Cohorts, with the first Cohort's Centurion Primus being the effective Chapter Master, and the second Cohort's Centurion Primus being the deputy and vice-commander of the 'Chapter'. If the former is ever incapacitated or killed in combat, the later assumes temporary command to avoid a collapse of the battle order.

The First Cohort is a Siege Cohort, with its Terminator Century being the equivalent of a Codex-Chapter's own First Company, while the 'Second Company' is an Annihilation Century made up of Destroyer and Seeker squads, and companies 3 through 5 are Siege Centuries made up primarily of Legion Breacher squads augmented by Heavy Support and Reconnaissance elements. The Second Cohort is a Strike Cohort, headed by a Triarii Century - effectively, Veterans - as the 6th company. 7 through 9 are classical Tactical Centuries made up of Tactical Squads, while the final and 10th company is a Disruption Century composed primarily of Outrider bike squads and augmented with Seeker and Reconnaissance squads specialize in sabotage and infiltration.

In addition to this active duty roster, the Celestial Dragons also keep two Centuries' worth of Hastati Squads, young initiates who are dispersed across the sector to prove their mettle and learn in their first real battles by assisting local mortal forces in mid-intensity conflicts. Finally, they also keep two Centuries' worth as a permanent garrison in and around Andreskal VI, each primarily made up of Breachers, with a handful of Terminators and Destroyers. One of these Centuries is assigned to protect the orbital habitats that make up the world, while the other is tasked with protecting the major Imperial Navy anchorage from any attack.

## Chapter Doctrine

The Celestial Dragons' primary combat doctrine is one of concentrated firepower and heavy assault. They prefer to form up as an unyielding bulwark that either solidly anchors greater Imperial battle lines, or serves as a breakthrough force to smash the gates of heretical and xeno fortresses. In this, they mostly eschew rapid strike vehicles such as land speeders and even the ubiquitous Predator tank, instead preferring ponderous advances of Dreadnaughts and Vindicators supported by Land Raiders.

Though extremely capable in siege warfare, void combat and hive fighting, the Celestial Dragons are less effective in the open and against highly mobile skirmishing foes that refuse to commit to a decisive battle. Their lack of dedicated Assault Centuries make them struggle somewhat with fast pursuit where they only have their small contingent of Outriders and their Destroyer Squads to rely on.

Every Century of the Celestial Dragons has its own Justiciar, as they take the spiritual well-being of their brothers and charges very seriously. Given the Justiciars' origins in the Wyrm's Watch, this also makes them very effective at rooting out undercover cult activity in more subtle and indirect manners that would not normally be associated the the Space Marines. Indeed, it is common for a Century temporarily standing by on a world to have its Justiciar act effectively as an Inquisitor would, establishing a network of mortal spies and acolytes to sniff out subversive activity with frightening rapidity.

## Chapter Beliefs

As with all Obsidian Wyrm successors, the Celestial Dragons see the protection of humanity as their ultimate duty. Unlike many other Chapters though they do value individual human lives and always attempt to save as many civilians and auxiliaries as possible, even at their own expense. This sometimes brings them into conflicts with other Imperial forces that do not share this vision and are more than willing to make 'sacrifices'.

The Celestial Dragons do not view their duty as merely physically protecting humanity from harm at the hands of xenos and heretics. Instead, they believe in the old adage that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Whenever not fighting or training, the Marines of the Chapter act as inspiring figures in the local populace, visiting Guard regiments and civilian plazas, steeling their spirits with rhetoric and reminding them that within every humble soul can burn the fire of a hero one day.

## Chapter Homeworld

The Chapter is based around the world of Andreskal VI, a gas giant surrounded by a small number of large aerostats orbiting in the gas giant's upper atmosphere. These orbital habitats are the core of Imperial presence in the system, with roughly 32 million inhabitants, and are a serie of high tech orbital refineries that process elements from the gas giant into vast quantities of fuel for plasma reactors. This is why Andreskal VI is also the site of a major Imperial Navy anchorage where several dozens of ships can refuel and resupply simultaneously.