Emperor's Children - Specialist Ranks and Formations: Noise Marines - Those Emperor's Children who give themselves over completely to the sensations of battle become Noise Marines. Their armour slowly grows laud-hailer screamers, noise vents and organ batteries that allow them to produce ear-splitting dins, the perfect complement to the Sonic Weaponry that has made their kind infamous throughout the Traitor Legions. Even other Space Marines are deafened by the proximity of these maniac thrill-seekers. As with all followers of Slaanesh, the only focus of life for the Astartes of the Emperor's Children is the senseless indulgence of every whim and desire. This makes the Emperor's Children the most violent, sadistic, and debauched creatures imaginable. As part of their dedication to the ways of the Prince of Chaos, many of the Emperor's Children ultimately became Noise Marines. The original Noise Marines, then known as the Kakophoni, were created by the Emperor's Children's Chief Apothecary Fabius who sought to "perfect" the gene-seed of the Astartes by unlocking the secrets of the Emperor's original genetic engineering and then "improving" upon it through the use of forbidden Chaotic knowledge; due to Fabius' genetic alterations, a Noise Marine's hearing is a thousand times more sensitive than even a "normal" Space Marine's, and can distinguish between even the subtlest differences in pitch, tone and volume. A Noise Marine's enhanced hearing affects his whole mind, causing extreme emotional reactions that make all other sensations seem pale and worthless. The louder and more discordant the noise, the more extreme the emotional reaction provoked and the resulting pleasure the Noise Marine feels. Eventually only the din of battle and heightened screams of fear, pain or terror can stir a Noise Marine to feel the pleasure he so craves. The Noise Marines' name comes from their preference for weapons that use concentrated sound, including: the Sonic Blaster -- outwardly resembling a bolter -- produced discordant blasts of sound; the Blastmaster -- a rifle-like weapon that produces different sonic frequencies that overpower senses and can even destroy flesh; and the Doom Siren, a loudspeaker surgically melded into the Chaos Space Marine's body that enhances his own screams into violent torrents of pure sonic force that can knock even the largest enemy off his feet. Noise Marines also possess an ability called the "Warp Scream". This explosion of sound dulls the sensory reactions of all those in close vicinity to them. All of this sonic weaponry is descended from the musical instruments invented by the famed composer Bequa Kynska of Terra, who accompanied the Emperor's Children's 28th Expeditionary Fleet as a Remembrancer aboard the Battle Barge Pride of the Emperor during the last days of the Great Crusade. Kynska was a jaded musician always in search of further sensations to create more exhilarating and all-encompassing music, which made her an easy target for Slaaneshi corruption. After Kynska accompanied many of the 28th Expedition's Remembrancers to the temple dedicated to Slaanesh on the xenos world of Laeran, she was touched by the Chaotic corruption of that foul place and slowly sought to create the ultimate orchestral piece that she believed could capture the wondrous sounds she had heard within the Laer temple. Her ultimate masterpiece was a symphony she named the Maraviglia and which she performed for Fulgrim and all the assembled Astartes of the Emperor's Children and their support personnel within the Remebrancers' lounge and theatre called La Fenice aboard the Pride of the Emperor. To recreate the sounds she had heard, Kynska created new musical instruments whose sonic powers could also be used for destruction when employed by an individual already corrupted by Slaanesh. During the performance of the Maraviglia, the cacophony of sound unleashed by these instruments acted as a ritual that opened a link between realspace and the Warp and allowed the power of Slaanesh to directly touch the audience. Chaotic mutations ran rampant through the audience and Astartes and humans alike were so overwhelmed by sensation and uncontrollable emotions that they unleashed an orgy of both sensual hedonism and the most base form of murder upon one another. Ultimately, the music summoned five Lesser Daemons of Slaanesh known as Daemonettes from the Warp who possessed the bodies of Kynska and several of her singers and joined in the slaughter. During this part of the performance, several Emperor's Children Astartes left their seats and took up the instruments to try and keep the Chaotic music playing and in the course of their untrained fumblings with the instruments discovered that they could unleash waves of destructive sonic power filled with the strength of Chaos. When the Emperor's Children engaged the Imperial Loyalists during the Drop Site Massacre on Istvaan V, many of the Emperor's Children used modified forms of these instruments as sonic weaponry and so became the first Noise Marines. They gathered under the leadership of the IIIrd Legion's First Captain Julius Kaesoron and formed a single unit known as the Kakophoni. Not all Noise Marines are members of the Emperor's Children and not all rank-and-file Emperor's Children are Noise Marines. Other Chaos Space Marine armies may field Noise Marines as part of their troops, though the original alterations are always based on the work of the Emperor's Children and Noise Marines are always devotees of Slaanesh.