Upon the Codex 's implementation, in an event that would become known as the Second Founding , each of the old Legions became a single Chapter of 1, Astartes named for its forebear plus a number of other new Chapters. In addition to a name and heraldry of their own, each of these new Chapters would take for itself a homeworld or fortress-monastery , and use it as a bastion from which to defend the Imperium from all threats. The Codex Astartes stated that each Chapter would be one thousand battle-brothers strong and look to its own recruitment, training and equipment.
Never again would one man be able to command the awesome, terrifying power of a Space Marine Legion. The Horus Heresy had also revealed the inherent weaknesses of the gene-seed of several Space Marine Legions. These defects had been exacerbated by the accelerated gene-seed cultivation techniques needed to keep the huge Space Marine Legions up to strength. Guilliman believed that the Chaos powers were able to exploit the resultant physical and mental corruption to turn Horus ' troops against the Emperor.
One of the key objectives of the Codex Astartes was to recognise and expunge these genetic weaknesses. As a result, the Codex decreed that Space Marines would forever more be created and trained slowly. The gene banks used to create Astartes implants would be carefully monitored and scrutinised for any defects. Cultivated organs would be subject to the most stringent tests of genetic purity. Young aspirants would undergo trials of suitability before they were accepted, and only those of the very sternest character would be chosen.
As a final safeguard, Guilliman tasked the Adeptus Terra on Earth with setting up and maintaining gene banks to produce and store tithes of Space Marine gene-seed.
These banks were to provide all new gene-seed for subsequent Foundings of Space Marine Chapters. To prevent cross-contamination, the genetic stock of each Legion was isolated whilst that of the Traitor Legions was placed under a time-locked stasis seal, though at the time many believed they had been destroyed. By taking direct control of these genetic tithes, the Adeptus Terra could ultimately control the Space Marines. They alone had the power to destroy or create Space Marine armies at will.
Over the millennia, there have been many subsequent Foundings of Space Marine Chapters. Many Chapters adhere rigidly to Guilliman's teachings.
These Space Marines pride themselves on following the tenets within the hallowed pages of the Codex Astartes and applying its principles of warcraft and devotion to the Emperor. With the passage of centuries, some Chapters have strayed from the strict letter of the Codex , introducing unique variations on its teachings but remaining broadly faithful to Guilliman's basic principles. Furthermore, the Codex has been reanalysed, reinterpreted and modified countless times over the centuries.
Indeed, the Codex Astartes of the late 41st Millennium is a highly developed treatise combining the experiences of hundreds of celebrated military thinkers throughout history. Regardless, the Codex Astartes remains, as it has always been, the Space Marines' authoritative guide to waging war. As such, it is revered by every battle-brother as a holy text; the wisdom of the ancients serving as both scripture and the unbending rod by which they are measured.
Most Chapters stick rigidly to the organisation laid down by the Codex Astartes for tactical roles and other processes. Others, such as the Blood Angels , Black Templars and Dark Angels , are organised according to general Codex doctrines but maintain troops, tactics and idiosyncratic traditions that set them apart from their brethren.
A small number of Chapters are utterly different from the Codex , and owe nothing to it at all. The most famous of these is the Space Wolves. The sons of Leman Russ have never followed the Codex Astartes -- their strong-willed primarch moulded his Chapter very much in his own image, irrespective of other influences and dictates. The existing Space Marine Legions were broken down and re-founded as smaller, more flexible formations.
Where the old Legions were unlimited in size, the new formations were fixed at approximately 1, Astartes. This corresponded to the existing Astartes unit within some Legions called the "Chapter," and in future the Chapter was recognised as the standard autonomous Space Marine formation. No longer would one man have power over a force as powerful as a Space Marine Legion. The existing Space Marine Legions were divided into new Chapters. One Chapter kept the name, badge and colours of the original Legion, while the remaining Chapters took on new titles, badges and colours.
Most of the old Legions were divided into fewer than five Chapters, but the Ultramarines, being by far the largest of the Legions, were divided many times. The exact number of new Chapters created from the Ultramarines is uncertain: the number listed in the oldest known copy of the Codex Astartes the so-called Apocrypha of Skaros gives the total as 23, but does not name them.
As a result of the Second Founding, the Ultramarines' gene-seed became the favoured genetic stock of most subsequent Astartes Foundings. The new Chapters created from the Ultramarines are often referred to as the "Primogenitors," or the "first born. The Codex Astartes further defines the tactical roles, equipment specifications, and uniform identification markings of the Space Marines. Some of its contents seem petty and restrictive, hardly worthy of the great mind of a primarch. Others describe actual battles together with comments on the tactics employed and the decisions of the commanders of the day.
As such, the Codex is revered as a holy text of the Imperial Cult , and many Chapters regard its recommendations as sanctified by the Emperor Himself. These Space Marines adhere to the Codex as the model for their organisation, identification markings and tactical doctrine.
The Adeptus Terra has never decreed it necessary to enforce the Codex absolutely. Indeed, it is doubtful whether it could if it so chose. However, with subsequent Foundings, they have always favoured the Ultramarines' gene-seed and created many new Codex Chapters from that genetic line.
With the passage of time, some of these Chapters have subsequently strayed from the strict letter of the Codex , introducing new variations on their organisation or tactical doctrine but remaining broadly faithful to the principles laid down by Roboute Guilliman many millennia before. The history of the Imperium since the Horus Heresy is not a continuous story. There have been periods of rebellion and anarchy, times when the balance of power has suddenly changed and history has quite literally been rewritten.
Many of the subsequent Foundings of Space Marine Chapters belong to these troubled times, making it almost impossible to ascertain when some Chapters have been created. It is believed that of the one thousand or more Chapters thought to be in existence today, more than a third are descended from the Ultramarines, either directly or through one of their Primogenitor Chapters of the Second Founding.
It is not known how many new Chapters were created by the Second Founding. Many records were lost during the Age of Apostasy , a troubled time in the 36th Millennium that bestrides the history of the Imperium like an impenetrable wall.
In all likelihood, some of the Chapters created during the Second Founding have since been destroyed, leaving no records of the deeds. On many occasions in the Imperium's history, there have been long periods of rebellion and anarchy; times when the balance of power has suddenly changed and history been lost or re-written.
Many later Foundings of Space Marines were born of such troubled times, making it impossible to ascertain when they were created, their origins ever shrouded in mystery.
All that is known for sure is that there are approximately a thousand Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes today -- perhaps less than one Space Marine for every planet in the Imperium.
That the Space Marines are equal to the task of safeguarding Mankind against such impossible odds is testament to their dedication and skill in battle. It can be said that there are three main categories of Space Marine Chapters. The first and largest group are the scions of Guilliman —- those Chapters descended from the Ultramarines and their Primogenitors. Sometimes referred to as the "first born," these Chapters each maintain their own histories and traditions, but they all honour Roboute Guilliman as their primarch and adhere strictly to the procedures and tactical treatises he laid down in the Codex Astartes.
These Chapters maintain their own traditions, for the Codex Astartes insists that each should have its own name, badge and heraldry. Nonetheless, they honour Roboute Guilliman as their primarch and his successor, the ruler of Ultramar , as their distant liege. Should the Lord of Ultramar ever need aid, he will find these Chapters ever willing to fight at his side. The Chapters in the second largest category owe their genetic inheritance to another primarch, but follow the Codex Astartes as closely as their divergent genetic heritage allows.
While they still venerate their own primarchs, they nevertheless also aspire to the high standards and wise teachings that Roboute Guilliman put down in the Codex Astartes. The final group is more wildly aberrant. These Chapters, by virtue of a gene-seed quirk, the teachings of their own primarch, or even sheer stubbornness, eschew the Codex Astartes in favour of their own structural and combat doctrines.
The Black Templars and Space Wolves are amongst this group, remaining fiercely independent and looking to their own divergent beliefs and ways of war. The Space Marines were originally divided into 20 large Legions created during the First Founding by the Emperor, and each Legion was filled with thousands of Space Marines whose gene-seed was based on genetic material drawn from one of the original primarchs. When 18 of the 20 original primarchs were rediscovered during the Great Crusade , they became the commanders of the Legion genetically related to them.
Note: The Traitor Legions' homeworlds were later destroyed in a purge by Imperial forces to eliminate all traces of Chaos corruption in the Imperium following the Horus Heresy, with the exception of the Alpha Legion's homeworld, which was never discovered. There are two missing First Founding Space Marine Legions, the II nd and XI th Legions who, for unknown reasons, were deliberately expunged from all known Imperial records and archives before the onset of the Horus Heresy in the early 31 st Millennium.
Referred to as "the forgotten and the purged," it is known only that the missing primarchs and their Legions are listed as having been "deleted from Imperial records.
This formal censure and erasure from official records is known as an Edict of Obliteration , also called a Damnatio Memoriae , a High Gothic phrase meaning "condemnation of memory.
This is the official Imperial policy of deliberately destroying any records, icons or other symbols or monuments pertaining to an individual or organisation, usually of the Imperial elite, who has been declared Excommunicate Traitoris by the Emperor of Mankind Himself.
In a galaxy-spanning empire that stressed fealty and loyalty to the Emperor in return for advancement, acclaim and spiritual salvation for its elites, this is perhaps one of the most severe punishments. The complete and utter erasure of all records of the II nd and XI th Legions is considered by Imperial historians as the most successful Edict of Obliteration ever carried out in Imperial history.
Given the current authoritarian nature of the Imperium, it seems likely these Legions were completely removed from all historical records for being participants in or affected by some sort of catastrophe such as a mass mutation event which couldn't be controlled, turning to the worship of the Chaos Gods earlier than the other Traitor Legions, etc.
After the Horus Heresy , it was determined that the Space Marine Legions were too powerful and dangerous to the stability of the Imperium to be controlled by any one man. In what is known as the Second Founding , the remaining Loyalist Legions were broken up into the separate 1,man Chapters which remain the primary organisation of the Adeptus Astartes to this day.
In the 25 subsequent Successor Foundings that have occurred since the Second Founding, the Imperium has created many new Chapters of Space Marines, using gene-seed sampled by the Adeptus Mechanicus from the existing ones. Many of these Successor Chapters still keep the memory of their progenitor Legion or Chapter alive in their rituals and regalia, and maintain the same methods of operation and battle, as well as their overall defining cultural and genetic traits.
Yet only a fool would believe that even warriors such as these will be enough to ensure victory over the myriad foes that encircle us. We must fight, as we have always fought; we must accept the strength of the Primaris Space Marines and let it become our own; we must serve the Emperor to our last breaths. On the hellish industrial world of Nemendghast , the Primaris Ultramarines of Strike Force Shadowspear did battle with the infernal forces of the Black Legion.
Though beset upon all sides by Heretics, warped mutants and daemonically possessed war engines, the sons of Guilliman completed their mission against the odds.
The Primaris Space Marines are a new breed of transhuman warriors developed across the span of ten thousand standard years by Archmagos Dominus Belisarius Cawl on Mars on the order of Primarch Roboute Guilliman.
Cawl used the genetic template of the original Space Marines created by the Emperor for His Great Crusade as the starting point for the development of the new Astartes soon after the Second Founding in the early 31st Millennium. Primaris Space Marines are bigger, more physically powerful and possess faster reaction times than their original Astartes counterparts.
For ten millennia, Archmagos Dominus Belisarius Cawl has been working on a task set for him by the Primarch Roboute Guilliman before he was mortally wounded by the Daemon Primarch Fulgrim in the days after the Horus Heresy : a new legion of transhuman warriors.
Developed on orders from Guilliman standard centuries past, Primaris Space Marines were diligently developed and perfected by the Priesthood of Mars during the long intervening millennia. As an optimist, but never a fool, Guilliman learned from the mistakes of the Horus Heresy, and he foresaw that the forces of Chaos would never relent in their aim to bring the Imperium low.
Belisarius Cawl and Roboute Guilliman , deep beneath the surface of Mars , oversee the final stages of development of the Primaris Space Marines. He anticipated that devastating times would once again engulf the galaxy and knew that warriors resilient enough to stand against them would be needed as never before.
That time has surely come. Now, as the Imperium of Man is poised on the brink of annihilation at the hands of Chaos , his task is at last complete. The Primaris Space Marine is a new generation of hero for this, the darkest age in the Imperium's history. These warriors are the next step in the evolution of the Emperor 's Angels of Death -- genetically altered from their brethren, now called the " Firstborn ," to be bigger, stronger and faster -- timely reinforcements for the Imperium's armies as their enemies close in for the kill in the wake of Abaddon the Despoiler 's 13th Black Crusade and the birth of the Great Rift dividing the Imperium in two.
To aid them in battle, these gene-forged warriors are equipped with new arms and armour forged on Mars itself, such as the Mark X Tacticus Pattern Power Armour worn by the Primaris Space Marine Intercessors , which combines the most effective elements of ancestral Horus Heresy patterns of battle-plate with more recent developments in power armour technology. Nearly completed, the gene-forged Primaris Space Marines lie in stasis , waiting to be awakened from their long slumber.
At the dawn of the Indomitus Crusade to retake the Imperium from the advancing armies of Chaos and xenos alike, Lord Commander of the Imperium Roboute Guilliman has gathered his new armada, along with elements of the Adeptus Custodes , a small contingent of the Silent Sisterhood and a vast war host of Primaris Space Marines as he fights to liberate the scattered bastions of the Imperium. Some, Guilliman has forged into new Space Marine Chapters, whole brotherhoods comprised only of these new transhuman warriors.
Others he has offered to the existing Firstborn Space Marine Chapters. Many Firstborn Chapter Masters have welcomed their Primaris brethren into their ranks, accepting the new reinforcements gladly.
Others, though, view these new creations with suspicion or outright hostility, claiming that the Emperor's work should never have been meddled with by mere mortals.
The newly reinstated Lord Commander of the Imperium decreed that those Chapters most devastated by the ongoing wars would be amongst the first to be reinforced with this new breed of transhuman warrior.
Starting with the Ultramarines , but also deploying these new Space Marines to every other Chapter in need, Guilliman aimed to reinforce the Imperium's scattered defenders across the galaxy. It is not just as reinforcements to existing Chapters though. Guilliman also ordered the creation of a host of new Chapters, the so-called " Ultima Founding ," composed entirely of Primaris Space Marines.
The warriors of these new Chapters were created entirely using the new processes discovered by Archmagos Belisarius Cawl and established with all the necessary weapons, armour and equipment that they will need to conduct their defence of the Imperium.
These Chapters still trace their genetic lineage back to the gene-seed of the First Founding , and scions of all nine Loyalist Space Marine Legions emerged from the stasis vaults beneath the Red Planet. They benefit from three additional gene-seed organs, larger size, better reflexes, and greater resiliency, but it still remains to be seen if Cawl was able to successfully stabilise any of the known genetic deviations or impart any additional resistance to the effects of Chaos.
Many of these new Chapters have been assigned homeworlds on the edge of the Great Rift, the Imperium's new frontline in the war against Chaos, though some have inherited the empty fortress-monasteries of Chapters that had been lost to the attrition of constant war. Many of these worlds face a continuous battle against the daemons of the Warp , as well as an unpredictable mix of xenos raiders, pirates and invaders.
Though they are a step removed from their Firstborn brothers, the Primaris Space Marines still bear the gene-seed of their primarchs, and some dissenting voices worry how this new type of warrior will react with the known genetic quirks and flaws of some of the more unusual Chapters, such as the Blood Angels and the Space Wolves. The Primaris Space Marines offer new hope to a besieged Imperium, but the future remains a dark and uncertain place. The Ultima Founding in ca. M41 was the largest mobilisation of newly-created Space Marines in centuries.
It saw thousands of Primaris Space Marines woken from stasis beneath the surface of Mars and hurled into the forefront of Mankind's galactic war. Yet this was not the only route by which the Primaris Marines joined the fight for the Emperor's realm. From beneath the sands of Mars came the Primaris warriors of the original Ultima Founding. They were lights against a tide of darkness, their advent key to the survival of Mankind after the birth of the Great Rift -- but not to securing its future.
Upon Roboute Guilliman's belated return to Terra during the Terran Crusade , the resurrected primarch ordered the fruits of Cawl's long labour unleashed. This initial wave of Primaris Space Marines emerged from over 10, standard years of stasis fully psychologically indoctrinated to each fulfil a single strategic role.
Some were Intercessors , some Aggressors and so forth, and almost all specialised only in that one area of combat. These warriors were able to immediately take up their front-line combat duties with the expertise of veterans, and all possessed a modicum of additional skill with machine spirits thanks to their Martian heritage. Yet ultimately they were somewhat strategically inflexible, for they had not undergone the gruelling progression through their existing Chapters' companies or gained the wealth of experience that progress bestowed.
The rest joined the Indomitus Crusade as " Greyshields ," fighting together with the scions of other Chapters and primarchs as part of the force known as the Unnumbered Sons until the Indomitus Crusade fleets reached their adoptive homeworld or the fleet of the Firstborn Chapters they were destined to join. Each time such a momentous occasion came, another cadre of battle-brothers would peel off and reinforce the Chapter whose colours they wore and whose genetic heritage they shared.
Not all of these Primaris reinforcements had an easy time integrating with their erstwhile Firstborn brothers, but ultimately all brought fresh strength to the Space Marine Chapters fighting furiously against the tide of horrors vomited from the Great Rift.
In every fortress-monastery and upon every fleet-based Chapter's flagship, the machineries of a grim and bloody future were installed and awoken. From these engines of genesis would fresh waves of Primaris initiates arise, their task to fight for the Emperor's realm.
Yet in the ongoing war for Humanity's survival in the Era Indomitus , a single influx of fresh strength would never be enough. This is why, along with warriors, the Indomitus Crusade fleets included Adeptus Mechanicus Genetor acolytes who integrated themselves with each already existing Chapter's Apothecarion.
It was these acolytes and their arcane machines that enabled the Adeptus Astartes to recruit and train new Primaris Space Marines within their existing Chapters.
Not every Chapter of Firstborn Marines welcomed these new arrivals; the Adeptus Mechanicus is an acquisitive and controlling organisation, known to be unscrupulous in its pursuit of power.
Chapters such as the Dark Angels , the Space Wolves and the Mortifactors are notoriously insular of culture, and some guard dark secrets they would risk much to keep out of the manipulative Tech-priests ' databanks.
However, none could deny that being able to recruit and train fresh waves of Primaris Space Marines provided the Adeptus Astartes with a long-term, sustainable wellspring of martial might. So the process began. Some Chapters implanted all of their aspirants with the full suite of Primaris organs, while others gifted only a proportion of their novitiates in this fashion, leaving the others to develop as Firstborn Astartes. These newly conditioned battle-brothers benefitted not only from the strength of their Primaris enhancement, but also from the tactical versatility imparted by a full and rounded progression through the ranks, coupled with all of the cultural and spiritual indoctrination required to properly initiate the neophytes into their Chapter.
No true son of the primarchs could long look upon the might of the new Primaris brothers and not wish to take up that mantle of power for themselves. They sought this agonising apotheosis not for personal glory, but because no true Space Marine would refuse greater strength, resilience and weaponry with which to protect the Imperium and slaughter their many foes.
The warriors of the Ultima Founding had joined their parent Chapters. The machineries developed by Belisarius Cawl had provided those Chapters with waves of new Primaris recruits who had integrated into every level of the Chapters' organisation.
For the Primaris-only Chapters, this was an end to the matter; they stood proudly as defenders of the Imperium, recruiting from their own conquered fiefdoms and forging their own rolls of honour as the years passed. Yet for those Chapters who had come before, questions remained to be answered.
Could a Firstborn Marine who had not been created Primaris undergo the necessary gene-therapies and invasive surgeries required to elevate him to that status? Could he gain the benefits of the enhanced Primaris physique, and access the potent new wargear that was theirs to wield? In short, could he cross the so-called Rubicon Primaris to become a yet-greater living weapon in the Emperor's service, or would attempts to do so simply waste priceless Astartes lives at a time when the Imperium could ill afford to sacrifice its greatest defenders?
Records differ as to who were the first Space Marines to take this perilous leap of faith. Some say it was Marneus Calgar of the Ultramarines , or that it was Kor'sarro Khan , the White Scars ' ferocious Master of the Hunt , who first made this painful transition.
Other Chapters make their own claims, or else lament the tragic loss of those who tried and failed to ascend. Yet despite the losses suffered and the unspeakable agonies of undertaking the Primaris ascension, more battlebrothers crossed the Rubicon with every passing day.
New Space Marine Chapters are not created piecemeal as required by the Imperium's strategic needs, but rather in deliberate groupings called "Foundings. It is only by an edict of the High Lords of Terra that such an undertaking as the creation of new Chapters can be instigated, for it requires the cooperation and mobilisation of countless divisions within the Imperium's monolithic and vast governmental organisations.
Establishing new Astartes Chapters on an individual basis is nigh impossible -- the mobilisation of such vast resources is beyond the ability of any single segment of the Imperium.
The Adeptus Mechanicus plays an essential role in the process of a Founding, for its highest echelons are tasked with creating, testing and developing the gene-seed samples that will provide the genetic foundation of the new Chapters.
Entire Forge Worlds may be turned over to the manufacture of the mighty arsenal of weaponry, ammunition, power armour , vehicles and starships that any such force will require. There are a myriad of other concerns as well.
A suitable homeworld inhabited by Humans must be identified for the new Chapter, which will likely provide not only a secure and defensible base of operations, but also a source of new recruits as well. Such worlds might have been reported by itinerant Rogue Traders and earmarked centuries before by Adeptus Mechanicus Explorators as potential Astartes homeworlds. A degree of environmental terraforming might be required and the natives of the world if they are to become the source of the new Chapter's aspirants must be studied and tested by the Mechanicus' Magos Biologis and Genetors for many generations to ensure they are genetically pure and free of any strain of mutation that might later affect the Chapter itself.
The construction of a Chapter's fortress-monastery may be one of the greatest undertakings of all, drawing on the genius of the Imperium's most accomplished military architects and engineers.
If the Chapter is to be fleet-based, then even more work must be put into the construction of a massive Chapter Barque or an unusually large Battle Barge to serve as the Chapter's mobile fortress-monastery and all of the related capital warships and Escorts such a highly-mobile Chapter will require.
The already extant Space Marine Chapters may also have a role in this process, though to what degree can vary greatly from Founding to Founding. Many of the First Founding Chapters maintain close links with Chapters created using their own gene-seed stocks, and the Chapter Masters might have a hand in planning future Foundings using that genetic material.
In the more than 10, standard years that have passed since the First Founding of the 20 original Space Marine Legions by the Emperor, there have been 26 subsequent Foundings of new Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes; with the most recent, the Ultima Founding of the Primaris Space Marines, occurring soon after the birth of the Great Rift. Even before a new Founding is announced, entire generations of Imperial servants may have toiled in preparation. Even once the process has been declared and is underway, it is likely to be at least a standard century before the new Chapters are ready to begin combat operations.
In times of dire need for the Imperium, faster development has been attempted, but this has often resulted in disaster. Gene-seed cultured in haste is likely to degrade or to mutate, and a great many other factors can lead the entire process astray. And there is no foe more dangerous to the Imperium of Man that a Space Marine who has been corrupted by Chaos or gone Renegade for another reason.
A Tactical Marine of the Ultramarines Chapter. Each Chapter of Space Marines has its own methods of recruiting young warriors to fill its ranks. Many are based on a single homeworld and recruit solely from that populace, setting trials and tests for prospective candidates to weed out all but the strongest and the most faithful. These worlds are often technologically backward with strong militaristic societies, where male children who show potential are pushed harder and harder, that they may one day have a chance to join the ranks of the Space Marines, who are often known to such peoples as "star warriors," "sky knights," or similar names.
Because Feral Worlds are rough, primitive, and untamed, their inhabitants invariably provide excellent recruits. For true aggression and nigh-psychotic killer-instinct, however, few recruits can best the murderous city-scum that roam the darkest pits of the Imperium's many Hive Worlds. Driven to extremes of violence by the pressures of Hive World living, these merciless killers are usually ignored by the authorities. They make ideal Space Marine recruits, and whole gangs of city-scum are sometimes hunted down and made to undergo the Trials.
Some recruits are drawn from the more Civilised Worlds of the Imperium, but not very many. Those planets used by the Space Marines as recruiting worlds are observed closely by the Chapter's Apothecaries and Chaplains.
The population's genetic purity must be maintained, in order to conserve those qualities that serve the Space Marines' purposes best. Their spiritual health is also maintained, to ensure that no trace of the influence of the Ruinous Powers becomes manifest. Such observations are in general carried out from a distance, and it is rare for the society to have any direct contact with, or knowledge of, the Space Marines, or in many cases even of the Imperium.
The Chapter's officers might visit the culture once a generation and will be the subject of myth and legend. These mighty warriors from beyond the stars are figures of awe, and their word is law. The nature of the trials set by the outsiders vary enormously, but all are so arduous that only a handful pass them.
Those who fail may be lucky to even survive, for many trials take the form of ritual combat, the hunting of a great beast, or the performance of incredibly dangerous feats of strength and bravery. At the conclusion of the trials, those few aspirants that have been deemed worthy are taken away, invariably never to see their people again. It is always a great honour for a family to have a son chosen by the Space Marines, even for societies with little conception of the greater galaxy beyond their world.
The Space Wolves are an example of this. The Wolf Priests of the Space Wolves scour the warring tribes of their homeworld Fenris for their strongest and bravest youths, while the Ultramarines traditionally draw their candidates from the elite training barracks of a whole group of planetary systems known collectively as Ultramar , the realm of the Ultramarines.
Other Chapters have no single homeworld and travel the galaxy in gigantic fleets of battleships, recruiting either from a regular series of worlds or from the war zones to which they are assigned. Once accepted, the young aspirants become neophytes and begin their regimen of training and biological enhancement.
Each Chapter has its own traditions regarding the initiation of the recruit into its legends and secrets. This process often runs parallel to the bio-genetic treatments the neophyte must undergo. As the physical transformation proceeds, spiritual change also occurs. Both are tempered by ongoing experience on the field of battle and the rituals in which the neophyte must participate. The nature of such rites varies enormously from one Chapter to the next.
Some are solemn affairs recalling the sacrifice the Emperor made for Humanity. Henson, a combat correspondent with the Public Affairs Office, Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron, conducts a functions check on his M50 field protective mask during chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear CBRN defense training before entering the gas chamber at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, Feb. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Jacob A.
The U. Army will be training the first batch of Space Marines. Marine Corps. The warriors that win their place within a Space Marine Chapter's Librarius are feared across the galaxy by all who seek the Imperium's downfall. One need only witness one of these proud mystics as they stride through the maelstrom of battle, untouched by bullet or flame and hurling searing lightning bolts through the ranks of the Imperium's enemies, to see what they add to the already prodigious power of the Adeptus Astartes.
Like a storm cloud that presses down upon the world, the psychic shadow of the Librarian causes allies and enemies alike to look up as he enters the fray.
Light streams from his eyes and sparks dance around his head, hinting at the intense energy of the Warp coiled within the weapon that is his mind.
The true mastery of a Librarian is evinced when he utters his incantations. In a booming voice that reaches warriors even through the roaring din of combat, his words and thoughts become lightning, flame, and swirling vortexes that ravage the air with their fury.
Psychic powers are the physical manifestation of a Librarian's abilities, and mark him as distinct from any other individual within a Space Marine Chapter.
Librarians of Codicier rank and above make use of their psychic abilities in combat. These include the ability to project their consciousness above the battlefield so that they can get a bird's-eye view of the combat in a ritual that commences with the recitation of the Litany of Sight Beyond Sight.
Doing so opens a wound on their forehead exposing their psychic Third Eye, which allows them to view locations that would normally be obscured. Librarians can channel psychic energy often through Force Weapons to deal greater damage than a normal melee attack would allow.
They can also read the minds of others, unless they are protected by psychic shields. Some Librarians are sensitive enough to determine the last thoughts of the dead before their souls were absorbed into the Immaterium and can even see the emotions that have strongly influenced a place.
Librarians are capable of telepathic communication across vast distances and can also read the ever-shifting tides of the Warp, allowing them to sometimes demonstrate the capability of foreseeing probable futures through limited displays of precognition.
Other psychic combat abilities commonly used by Librarians include the following powers:. A Storm Wardens Librarian of the Deathwatch uses the Iron Arm ability, to sheathe his arm in an impenetrable field of energy to deflect a melee attack. The ancient lore of the Chapter's Librarius is vast indeed, and hidden among its complement of ancient tomes and scrolls are the hard-won secrets of the Space Marine Librarians. Within a sacred few of these closely guarded texts are techniques that allow the user to enhance his own psychic might or quell that of his foes.
In battle, those trained in the Librarius discipline can batter enemies with ethereal force, strengthen their own minds and bodies with the power of the Warp, or sever the connection of other psykers. Technomancy affects the spirits of machines the same way other psychic disciplines manipulate the minds of sentient creatures. No technology is proof against this power, and weapons, vehicles and even fortifications can be cursed by a talented technomancer.
The psyker reaches into the workings of his target, subverting its vital energies to turn weapons on their owners or cause tanks to roll to a shuddering halt. The power to destroy can also be turned to more benign ends, and Technomancy is equally effective in mending ailing Machine Spirits , readying them for war once more.
Some psykers regard lightning as the crackling essence of life, a vital force that the Warp-touched can draw upon to annihilate their foes. Fulmination is the power of arcing energy and electricity, and a psyker can wield it with but a flicker of thought. At its most basic, this discipline allows the user to hurl bolts of lightning across the battlefield, but this is only the beginning of what might be achieved. Fields of sparking light can be summoned by the Librarian to ward away damage or, with a blaze of light, he can teleport allies across a battlefield.
The ground shudders beneath the feet of a geokine as he summons forth his powers. The discipline of earth and stone, Geokinesis is the art of reaching down under the skin of a world and turning its natural might into a weapon.
The battlefield yawns open to swallow up those that oppose the Space Marines, or is riven by brutal earthquakes.
Even whole segments of the battleground might be levitated high in the air by the Librarian -- enemies fall screaming to their deaths from floating plateaus, and yet more are crushed as the psyker relinquishes his control, causing hundreds of tonnes of rock to plummet from the sky. Those Space Marine Vanguard Librarians seconded to Vanguard Marine operations are trained in the psychic arts of obscuration and illusion.
They weave impenetrable cloaks of Warp energy around their battle-brothers, conjure haunting visions to distract and terrify their foes, and ease the Vanguard formations' passage through enemy territory.
The Aspirants and newly-implanted Neophytes of all Space Marine Chapters are screened by the Chapter's Librarians for signs of psychic capability. Those who possess the potential to become a Librarian are then forced to undergo the same trials and sufferings all other Space Marine Neophytes of their Chapter face, but they also have to learn to harness their powers and protect their minds from the daemonic dangers of the Warp.
As Space Marines are far stronger mentally and physically than an ordinary man, their flesh is ideal for daemons to inhabit as a daemonhost.
For a Librarian, each day is a long walk along a narrow path which, should they stumble or stray, leads only to madness, possession and the deaths or destruction of all that they hold dear.
The training within a Chapter to become a Librarian is very difficult, as new Librarians must not only be strong enough to survive the rigours of their training, but possess enough mental discipline to fend off the daemons and entities of the Warp , as these creatures see the enhanced form and mind of a Librarian as a great prize through which they could work much evil in the material world.
A Blood Angels Librarian summoning forth his psychic abilities. Each Chapter selects its Librarians in its own way, either from seed worlds, as it does with the bulk of its Initiates, or from the ranks of gifted psykers brought to the Scholastica Psykana.
Most Chapters train and test chosen psykers following the ancient ways laid out in the Codex Astartes. Librarians of the Ultramarines , Blood Angels , Dark Angels , and Storm Wardens are all trained in this way, and, with few minor traditional variances, have been taught to live by the word of the Codex.
There are, however, a few notable Chapters that do not follow the Codex Astartes and its laws regarding the treatment and control of psykers, including the following. Most of the Librarians called to serve in the Deathwatch hold the rank of Lexicanium , the most junior of the four ranks of the Space Marines' combat psykers.
They are nonetheless warriors of fearsome ability and renown. However, a small number of higher-ranked Librarians do serve as the Watch Commanders ' most valued counsellors. Within their own Chapters, Librarians may have different titles and unique methods of utilising their powers but they fulfill a number of similar roles within the Deathwatch. Chief amongst them is that of the combat psyker.
By focusing his prodigious psychic powers, the Librarian is able to unleash withering blasts of searing Warp energy at his foe, reducing them to ashes with but a thought. Often, the energies are directed and multiplied through the blade of a specially crafted weapon such as a Force Sword or Force Halberd , with which even the mightiest of foes will be cut down as wheat before the scythe.
Death can be unleashed from afar as well, for the Librarian is able to project his powers at distant enemies, launching deadly bolts of psychic energy from a staff, an outstretched hand, or through his very gaze. Librarians are also the guardians of the secrets of the Deathwatch. Within each Watch Fortress is to be found the sealed Vault which stores weapons and relics too dangerous to be allowed to fall into the hands of Mankind's enemies.
Also within the fortress' Vault is an archive of forbidden knowledge. Not even the Watch Commander has access to these archives -- only the Deathwatch's Librarians are entrusted with their access codes, and only they are judged strong enough to withstand the sanity-shattering secrets sealed within.
It is only in the direst of circumstances that a Librarian will enter a Watch Fortress' Vault archive, for each time he does so he is exposed to the whispering voices of long-dead alien beings, tempting him with the power to rule the whole of humanity in the name of ancient and blasphemous gods. Another role carried out by a Watch Fortress' Librarians is that of providing the Watch Commander with counsel.
Given their access to forbidden knowledge and their innate understanding of arcane matters, the word of a Librarian rarely goes unheeded in the Watch Commander's plans. In addition to this, many Librarians are gifted with some degree of prognostication -- whether by way of visions, meditation, consulting the Emperor's Tarot , or seeming intuition, Librarians can often discern something of what will come to pass.
Though such a premonition is rarely clear enough to provide complete certainty, it often provides clues that enable an experienced Librarian to make a sound judgement concerning potential dangers that may be faced in an upcoming mission, and to advise the Watch Captains accordingly.
Often, the premonition focuses upon the actions of the Librarian himself, telling him that his own presence will be required if a mission is to succeed. Many Deathwatch Librarians have foreseen their own death at the hands of some alien monstrosity, and gone proudly and stoically to their fate, with certain knowledge that their death will sow the seed of their battle-brothers' victory. Another task at which many Librarians excel is the sending of psychic messages.
Most Librarians are skilled enough to send telepathic messages from the surface of a planet to a vessel in orbit, and more powerful Librarians might even be able to contact a fellow Librarian in another sector. Generally, the further the message is projected in realspace , the less clear it becomes. However, in several cases, a Kill-team that has been considered to be lost has been recovered due to the efforts of a Librarian, who managed to invoke a simple insight from the mind of a battle-brother light years away.
Given the nature of some of the places into which the Deathwatch must go, such an ability is invaluable, and has saved the lives of many of Mankind's mightiest warriors. Such is the bond between the battle-brothers of a Kill-team that to separate them is to degrade their considerable combat effectiveness.
Deathwatch Librarians are able to make a significant contribution to a Kill-team, lending their singular abilities to the eternal war against the alien horrors of the galaxy. Codex Astartes Librarian Rank Icons. Within the Chapter, all Librarians hold a rank based on their level of training and their standing amongst their peers.
In part these ranks indicate their principal role, be it on the battlefield or in the Librarius, but they are also used to establish a clear chain of command from the chief librarian down to the lowest lexicanium. A lexicanium plural: lexicani is a young Librarian who has generally not yet seen combat and is still learning to fully control and make use of his psychic powers.
This is the lowest rank amongst a Chapter's Librarians, awarded to those who have passed their trials and who are now deemed fit to serve the Chief Librarian.
Reporting to the codiciers , it is the lexicanium's role to aid in the endless task of maintaining, studying and cataloguing the vast amounts of texts within the Librarius. In time of conflict, however, lexicani will leave the Librarius and take to the battlefield alongside their battle-brothers, using their powers to smite their foes.
In time, and with training and study, a lexicanium will eventually rise in rank and take on a more active role within the Chapter as a codicier. As codiciers they are often given more significant combat assignments, able to harness their powers with greater clarity.
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