Dark Angels - Dark Angels: The Dark Angels are considered amongst the most powerful and secretive of the Loyalist Space Marine Chapters. They were the Ist Legion of the original 20 Space Marine Legions to be created during the First Founding of the 30th Millennium.Though they claim complete allegiance and service to the Emperor of Mankind, their actions and secret goals at times seem at odds with that professed loyalty, as the Dark Angels strive above all other things to atone for an ancient crime of betrayal committed over 10,000 standard years ago against the trust of the Emperor during the time of the Horus Heresy.The Dark Angels stand first amongst the Space Marine Chapters, as they have done since their very inception as the Ist Legion. They are a proud Chapter, with traditions and rituals that date back to the earliest days of the Imperium of Man.The origins of the Dark Angels remain shrouded in mystery. Few Imperial records of the Chapter's beginnings still exist, nor are there many mentions of the part it played in the Emperor's Great Crusade during the early 31st Millennium. Most references in the histories of the Imperium to its deeds during the accursed times of the Horus Heresy have actually been expunged.Yet a legend persists that at one point the Dark Angels teetered on the very brink of heresy and that an act of the most terrible betrayal dishonoured all of the Ist Legion's feats of valour, leaving an enduring stain upon all of its Successor Chapters' honour.Such is their shame that from that time onwards, the Dark Angels and their Unforgiven successors, of which there are more than 19 currently in Imperial service, strive for absolution from the sins of millennia past.The Dark Angels' terrible secret is this: during the Horus Heresy, some of their brethren were turned to the side of Chaos. The Renegades were defeated in a battle that destroyed the Dark Angels' Legion homeworld, Caliban, but many of the Traitor Dark Angels survived to be cast through space and time by the direct intervention of the Chaos Gods.These survivors are known to those few Dark Angels granted knowledge of their existence as the "Fallen Angels" or just "The Fallen." In the eyes of the Chapter's leaders, there is only one way that the Chapter can ever atone for its shame, restoring its honour and trust in the eyes of the Emperor -- all of the Fallen must be found and either made to repent their ancient sin, or slain.This story of treachery and betrayal is the Dark Angels' hidden shame, and their secret mission to destroy all of the Fallen is now their only hope of salvation. No one knows of this other than the Dark Angels, their Successor Chapters and, perhaps, the Emperor Himself, interred within His Golden Throne.The Chapter has been shaped by its dark past and is secretive and monastic in nature, with much time given over to worship and prayer. There are many different levels within the Chapter which individuals may gradually rise through. On attaining each new level, they are granted a little more knowledge of the truth behind the Dark Angels' origins, but only the highest-ranking members of the Chapter, the members of what is known as the "Inner Circle," know the terrible, shameful secret of what occurred 10,000 Terran years ago.The Dark Angels hold more battle honours than almost any other Chapter; its only equals are its own successors. The Chapter has fought the length and breadth of the Imperium and beyond; against every foe that has ever beset Mankind. Dark Angels have held Ork WAAAGH!s at bay, crushed planetary uprisings, and saved entire star systems from the incursions of the Ruinous Powers.They have fought across searing deserts, in the cold void of space, in dense carnivorous alien jungles, and in the depths of the wildest underhives. Yet, while Chapters such as the Blood Angels and the Ultramarines are lauded wherever they fight, the Dark Angels shun laurels and turn their backs upon adulation.Even though the Chapter has stood side by side with every major arm of the Imperium's military, it has always maintained a distance and aloofness that sets its brethren further apart from the bulk of Humanity, and even from other Space Marines. When the Dark Angels join a larger force to execute a great war or Imperial Crusade, they do so according to their own, unfathomable goals. When a Dark Angels force is committed to such a conﬂict, it invariably remains aloof.Its officers keep their own counsel on matters of tactics and strategy, and prefer to maintain their own lines of communication and supply sources. Even when dealing with the battle-brothers of other Astartes Chapters, the Dark Angels often remain sullenly quiet at the Space Marine command councils and tactical briefings, though that is not to suggest that they are any less effective on the battlefield.When the Dark Angels do undertake joint operations alongside other Chapters, it is quite common for them to do so with others amongst the so-called "Unforgiven" -- the Successor Chapters of the original Dark Angels Legion. The successors of the Ist Legion maintain especially close relations, their officers all being members of the Inner Circle.This mysterious body provides a ready-made command network that the Unforgiven Chapters can utilise to great effect when coordinating their activities. There is no presumption that the leaders of the Dark Angels have any inherent superiority over those of the other Unforgiven Chapters. Rather, the leaders work together closely, and if needed elect one of their number as nominal commander for the duration of the campaign.In one matter, however, the officers of the Dark Angels have superiority over those of the other Unforgiven Chapters, through the workings of the Inner Circle -- the Hunt for the Fallen. When hunting those turncoat Dark Angels who escaped the Fall of Caliban, the Unforgiven operate under the auspices of the highest-ranked of the Inner Circle, and the very highest of these is the Supreme Grand Master himself -- the Chapter Master of the Dark Angels.Through the machinations of the Unforgiven's Inner Circle, its members are eternally vigilant, never resting in the hunt for the Fallen. Even though knowledge of the Fallen is withheld from the majority of the brethren, the results of post-battle debriefings and psi-induced stress-purges are fed back to the Inner Circle and any sign of the presence of a Fallen analysed.In addition, the Dark Angels' Chaplains are permanently attached to a company, and this allows them to hear the confessions of their brothers and to keep a close watch for signs of the Fallen. When such traces are discovered, the Inner Circle moves without hesitation, redeploying Unforgiven forces wherever they happen to be and re-tasking them with their new target.In most cases, it is the Ravenwing that locates such activity and the Deathwing that delivers the killing blow, but on occasion, entire Dark Angels strike forces have been recalled from campaigns and committed to engage an enemy that only the highest-ranked of its officers have any true knowledge of.While a great deal of the Unforgiven's efforts and resources are committed to the Hunt for the Fallen, the majority of the brethren have no knowledge of the matter. Rather, the Dark Angels and their successors are constantly warned against the words of the Heretic and their Chapter dogma extols the virtues of the eternal hunt for those who would foreswear the most powerful of oaths.The company Chaplains preach sermons that tell of legendary figures betrayed by their own, often having fought in battles far from home. Numerous such tales exist, and each is revealed as part of a slow, deliberate pattern, the brethren monitored all the while for their reaction.Only upon his ascension to the Inner Circle is a battle-brother told anything approaching the truth, and even then, there are some secrets known only at the very highest tiers. How much of the shame of the Dark Angels a battle-brother knows depends upon his station within the Chapter and how far the agents of the Inner Circle trust him.He may have fought the Fallen unwittingly, believing his foe yet another vile Traitor worthy only of death. Perhaps his sergeant knew more, certainly his company master did, but he himself almost certainly would not.Conversely, there are some higher-ranked brethren who despite exemplary service are never inducted into the Inner Circle. Perhaps the company Chaplains harbour some small doubt or have reason to believe the individual would not be able to bear the terrible truth of what occurred during the Horus Heresy. Such Astartes are unlikely to progress much further, for at the highest levels of authority the Chapter is ever engaged upon the Hunt for the Fallen.