Golden Seraphs

"In blood we find truth. In the blood we shed in battle is the truth of our conviction and in the blood of our foe is the truth of our destiny. Our truth is written in blood."

- Excerpt from the Liturgy of the Blood, Stanza 7.

The Golden Seraphs is an ancient Successor Chapter that hails from the proud and noble lineage of the angelic Primarch Sanguinius. Created during the 2nd Founding in 021.M31, following the end the Great Scouring, the great war of reciprocity against the vile Traitor Legions that occurred following the bloody galaxy-wide conflict known as the Horus Heresy. The Golden Seraphs inherited their Progenitor's pride on their ability to meet the foe head-on, no matter the odds. During this tumultuous time in Imperial history, those Chapters created during this particular Founding quickly garnered a reputation as savage and merciless Astartes, who willingly struck fear into the Imperial populace to scare them into compliance.

Despite the unsavoury reputation of their fellow cousin-Chapters created during subsequent Foundings, the Golden Seraphs somehow maintained the nobler aspects of their Progenitors, winning the approbation of other Chapter Masters, Planetary Governors and even the High Lords of Terra themselves. But like many of their fellow Scions of Sanguinius, it was darkly whispered amongst some of the Chapter's detractors that the Golden Seraphs' sense of cause and purpose manifested as unflinching, unreasoning fanaticism bordering on madness. On numerous occasions, this certainty in themselves and the righteous of their cause in the name of Sanguinius often, in mere moments, turned into insane fury when their purpose was challenged. Their preternatural fury, once unleashed, drove the Golden Seraphs to scour their foes from existence, creating both dread and awe in equal measure in those who bore witness. The Chapter's reputation quickly spread across the width and breadth of the galaxy over the next several decades, and soon whole worlds fell to their knees in surrender rather than face the wrath of these 'golden angels'.

Like their Progenitors, the Golden Seraphs are the incarnation of the Great Angels' unfettered wrath unleashed upon those who reject the will of the God-Emperor. The coming of these golden Angels of Death harken nothing less than apocalyptic judgement against the guilty, delivered in the form of righteous fervour that is difficult to reign in once unleashed. Despite their fiery temperament in the heat of battle, the Astartes of the Golden Seraphs are also known for being warrior-artisans, whose pursuit in the fine arts and superlative craftsmanship of their wargear embodies the nobility to which all Scions of Sanguinius aspire. The Golden Seraphs is also known to revere their Primarch Sanguinius above all else, and their Chapter is centred around his worship.

Bludhaven
During the latter years of the 30th Millennium, the angelic Primarch Sanguinius was finally discovered upon the irradiated moon of Baal Secundus located in the distant Baal System, in what would become known as the Segmentum Ultima, by the Expeditionary Fleet of the Emperor of Mankind. Following the IX Legion's reunification with their Primarch on the storm-wracked world of Teghar, and the successful conclusion of the subsequent campaign on Teghar Pentaurus, the newly-dubbed 'Blood Angels' Legion began the Great Crusade in earnest. After a decade of Crusading alongside the renowned Luna Wolves Legion, the Blood Angels returned to Baal once more, a Legion reborn in form more fitting of their angel-winged sire rather than the disreputable, blood-soaked 'Revenant Legion' they once were. There, on the sands of Baal, they were met by the newly raised and trained contingents of The Blood, the native tribal people raised up and schooled in the arts of war. Sammael Bludhaven was one of the original members of the influx of Baal-borne recruits inducted into the ranks of the IX Legion. He would be one of the first of the Baalite Legionaries to make their oaths to Sanguinius, and their names were the first to to be etched on the walls of the Temple of the Angel aboard the Red Tear. The two halves of the Legion were joined, warriors from both spread across the many companies of the Blood Angels that they might strengthen each other and weaken the hold of the IX Legion's Terran past.

Samael would eventually rise to become one the most trusted praetorians of the Great Angel and one of his acting representatives as a Consul-Delegatus. He was frequently dispatched by his Legion's high command to demand Compliance of newly discovered worlds in the name of the Imperium. As the Great Crusade proceeded for the next two centuries, and with the outbreak of hostilities during the subsequent Horus Heresy, Samael fought in some of the Blood Angels' most notable campaigns, including the lamentable Signus Campaign and take part in the valiant defence of the Imperial Palace during the Siege of Terra.

Following the end of the Heresy, in 014.M31, Samael was reassigned as part of the first of the Imperium's Retribution Fleets - the initial wave of the Great Scouring - that swept outwards from Terra in vengeful pursuit of the Waramster's retreating hosts across the galaxy. For the next seven years, the hosts of the Emperor eagerly meted out their bloody-handed justice to those who colluded with the Traitors, offering no mercy - only retribution. Following the end of the Scouring, and the subsequent sundering of the Legions into separate Chapters during the Second Founding, Samael began to to wonder about his future. He sought some kind of sign that would lead him to his destiny - and found it in the most trivial of items - within the Reclusiam of the Fortress of Baal. Tucked away in a dark and dusty corner behind much grander relics, Samael discovered the Angel Seal, a gift to Sanguinius from a grateful world he had liberated during the Great Crusade - Esau.

Samael, with the aid of an Inquisitor, travelled to Esau where he discovered a society centred around the worship of the Blood Angels' Primarch Sanguinius. The natives recognised him as a Son of the Angel, and welcomed him eagerly. They took him to the old fortress of the xenos race that once ruled their formerly enslaved planet, where Sanguinius had led the final battle against their alien oppressors. It was here that Samael found his second sign - the Purity Mace - a weapon forged by the Iron Hands' Primarch Ferrus Manus for his brother, and long thought lost.

Returning to his brothers, Samael only shared his findings with the Chapter Command. Some were concerned by Samael's newfound, and almost zealous, reverence for Sanguinius. Others saw it as natural a way of dealing with the loss of their gene-sire. Samael was allowed to keep his beliefs, and began to spread it amongst his brothers. It spread fairly rapidly, and the echoes of it can still be seen today in the Blood Angels and their successors.

The Second Founding
Seven years after the end of the Horus Heresy, the High Lords of Terra decreed that a new Founding would take place. In wake of the disastrous galaxy-wide conflict, to ensure that such a catastrophic event would never occur again, the contentious decree of the newly penned Codex Astartes - written by the brilliant tactician and master organiser, Ultramarines Primarch Roboute Guilliman - saw the existing Space Marine Legions broken up and reorganised into smaller, existing organisation known as Chapters. With law and edict, Guilliman ripped the heart from the Legiones Astartes. This new beginning was a sundering of all that had come before. Stripped of honour and title, of history and deed, the First Founding Legions were all undone. Multiple Chapters were created from the Crimson Host of the Great Angel's noble bloodline.

Respected throughout the Legion for his tactical and strategic insight, superb martial skills and faultless discipline, Sammael granted the honour to lead one of these newly created Chapters. The newly imbued Chapter Master vowed that his Chapter would be exemplars for those newly created Chapters of the Blood of the Second Founding. They would honour the memory of the great sacrifice of their gene-sire, both in word and in deed. They would become agents of judgement, bringing the Great Angel's wrath to those who transgressed against the Emperor and His domain. Thus, Sammael bestowed upon his Chapter the name, 'Golden Seraphs'. Disembarking from the Baal System, he immediately recommended the world of Esau as a potential Chapter homeworld, and his request was granted. Arriving with his selected cadre of chosen Blood Angels veterans and a Mechanicus fleet sent to oversee the construction of their Chapter's fortress-monastery, Samael gathered the leaders of the various tribes at Angel's Landing, the spot where Sanguinius first arrived on the planet, and declared the Great Angel's sons had returned for good.

As time marched on and the original Legionaries of IX Legion passed into memory, the Golden Seraphs forged their own proud history and traditions distinct from their Progenitors. Like many of their fellow Second Founding cousins, the Golden Seraphs retain close links with their genetic forebears and will willingly answer the call-to-arms to fight alongside the First Founding Blood Angels, whenever they are needed.

Notable Campaigns

 * Great Scouring (014-021.M31) - In the wake of the Horus Heresy, the Imperium was left a dismal, shattered thing. Across the galaxy, forces still loyal to the Arch-Traitor continued to fight the war he had declared, razing planets and claiming dominion over vast tranches of human worlds. The forbidden knowledge shown to Horus that had been the catalyst for his fall from grace bore other more sinister fruit, and dwellers from beyond the veil of reality were now abroad in the material realm. The loyal Legions were diminished, their fighting strength a paltry fraction of its pinnacle and their primarchs dead or at each other's throats in the power vacuum that followed the Emperor's internment in the Golden Throne. Primarchs bickered over how best to prevent a rebellion on the scale of Horus's from ever happening again, while the defeated traitors preyed upon worlds still loyal to the Golden Throne, as did newly emboldened xenos races. Yet for all this, the Imperium retained might enough to exact a bloody revenge upon its foes. There could be no forgiveness for the crimes of the Traitor Legions. Those who now ruled in the Emperor's name had neither the ability nor the desire to prevent a war of reciprocity. Thus began the time known in the histories of the Imperium as the Great Scouring. Sammael Bludhaven and his warriors took part in several notable campaigns of the Scouring helping to root out those worlds that were still sympathetic to Horus - to find, prosecute and execute all those who would jeaopardise the Imperium's future and seek to plunge it back into anarchy.
 * The Sundering (021.M31) - Following the end of the Great Scouring, the Imperium reorganises its hierarchical and military structure. To ensure that no one individual ever wields the power of a Space Marine Legion ever again, the Legiones Astartes are broken up into smaller existing formations, known as Chapters. By writ of the hand of the acting Lord Commander of the Imperium, the newly formed Adeptus Astartes begrudgingly accepts the strictures of the newly revealed Codex Astartes, and the IX Legion is broken up into separate, newly formed Successor Chapters. This event comes to be known as the Second Founding. Stripped of honour and tithe, history and deed, all of the original First Founding Space Marine Legions were undone. One of these newly created Chapters would be given over to Sammael Bludhaven, who was recognised for his faith, loyalty and stalwart dedication during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy. He would take the reigns of his new Chapter, naming them the 'Golden Seraphs', to act as harbingers of the Great Angel and bring the light of the Emperor's truth to the darkest corners of the galaxy.
 * Purgation of the Melchahim Sub-Sector (026-027.M31) - Following the sundering of the Legiones Astartes into separate Chapters and the subsequent Second Founding, the newly formed Golden Seraphs quickly established themselves upon the isolated world of Esau. After the completion of their fortress-monastery, the Chapter was immediately despatched to the nearby Melchahim Sub-Sector, which experienced a resurgence of Chaos activity by several remaining Traitor Death Guard warbands. Led by the brutal Captain Bronn Vurtak, his fleet had been cut off from the rest of their Legion following the formation of the great warp storm known as the Ruinstorm. Isolated from the rest of the galaxy, the cunning Death Guard captain took his forces to the foreboding Harrowgrim Marches region and began raiding and destroying several major Imperial outposts. He quickly gathered a coterie of renegades, mutants and heretics that still believed in the Arch-Traitor's lost cause, and took the name 'Grim Desolation'. Vurtak's fleet took refuge within the debris fields and nebulas of the Harrogrim Marches, and successfully ambushed and destroyed several Imperial punitive expeditions and established a reign of terror within the Melchahim Sub-Sector for several decades. Following their arrival in 026.M31, the Golden Seraphs launched an all-out assault, striking like a thunderbolt, and catching the Traitors in an elaborately-laid trap devised by Ikisat Sammael Bludhaven. Caught between the hammer of the Space Marine Chapter and the anvil of their Adeptus Mechanicus allies, the Grim Desolation suffered an ignominious defeat at the hands of Scions of Sanguinius, though Vurtak eluded capture. Over the following year, the Golden Seraphs continued to seek out, harry and purge any remaining forces loyal to Vurtak. Eventually the Death Guard captain was found and slain by Bludhaven himself during a boarding action, and the remainder of the Grim Desolation forces were subsequently wiped out. This campaign marked the first official battle honour of the newly created Chapter.
 * First Black Crusade (781.M31) - When the Abaddon the Despoiler, the former First Captain of the Sons of Horus, makes his first attempt to launch a new offensive against the Imperium of Man following the end of the Horus Heresy several centuries earlier, unleashing the first of many of his so-called Black Crusades, the Golden Seraphs answer the Imperium's call to war, and rush to the Cadian Gate to help bolster the Imperium's defences. Tragically, during the fighting, the Praetorian of Terra, the Imperial Fists Primarch Rogal Dorn, is tragically killed during a boarding engagement. However, his body is never found. His ultimate fate remains unknown. Achieving whatever dark objective he set out to do, Abaddon and his forces retreat back into the Eye of Terror, as suddenly as they appeared, their ships' holds filled with slaves and plunder.
 * Vengeance from the Void (Unknown Date.M32) - Across a hundred scattered systems in the western marches of the Segmentum Solar, cult uprisings led by a core of Traitor Astartes warbands drawn from the Iron Warriors, Night Lords and World Eaters Traitor Legions bring entire planetary governments to their knees in a year of blood and anarchy. With whole sections on the brink of collapse, events take a dramatic turn when a combined force of the Adeptus Astartes emerges from the black depths beyond the spiral arm and launches a sudden and overwhelming attack directly upon the uprising's command. Though many Space Marines fall in glory, the warlords of the Traitor factions are slain and the uprising fractures into a thousand localized rebellions which are soon put down by local forces. Subsequent Inquisitorial studies claim that these Space Marines are drawn from several Chapters, including the newly created Golden Seraphs. Extant evidence however, including the projected deployment dates, contradict these assertions, consigning the entire event to conjecture.
 * Nuprono Crusade (Unknown Date.M32) - The Nuprono Crusade was a joint-Imperial compliance Crusade carried out by three Scions of Sanguinius Chapters - the Golden Seraphs, Blood Bearers, and a detachment from the Charnel Brethren Chapter to conquer the long-lost, isolate Rusliv IV System.
 * The Oertha Suppression (Unknown Date.M32) - Following an interregnum lasting over 1,200 years, riven with bloodshed and conflict, the Imperium of Man finally cements their hold of the Jericho Reach fully, and re-designate it the Jericho Sector. The foundation of the sector is not without incident, however, as a suppression campaign must be fought against shadowy xenos forces who had begun to prey upon the stars of the southern zone around the star system of Oertha. The Golden Seraphs is one of several Chapters of Adeptus Astartes who take part in the xenocide campaign, who help drive this menace out of the system. This valiant Chapter is lauded by sector command for their stalwartness and dedication to duty.
 * Extermination of the Haimon Cluster (025-027.M32) - During the second decade of their Crusade, the Golden Seraphs encountered the worlds of the Haimon Cluster located near the galactic-southwest reaches of the Segmentum Pacificus. They found the worlds of this forgotten region had fallen fully to the corrupting influence of the Dark Gods, held enthralled by the inhuman will of a foul Daemon Prince of Tzeentch. Pronouncing judgement against the people of the Haimon Cluster, the Golden Seraphs quickly mobilised and brought swift and bloody retribution to the worlds of the sector, fighting a long and bloody campaign that culminated in the near-total destruction of both forces. During this campaign, the Golden Seraphs were merciless in scouring the Chaos-corrupted worlds which had embraced the false teachings of Chaos cultists, putting all eight worlds to the sword and subjecting them to the supreme sanction of Exterminatus to ensure no remnant of Chaos remained.
 * Aliris Blood Crusade (031.M33) - When a massive Blood Crusade, comprised of an exceptionally large and brutal warhost comprised of several World Eaters Warbands and Blood Cultist followers, invades the Hadronian Wall sub-sector of the Aliris Sector, located adjacent to the Cadian Sector, the entire Golden Seraphs Chapter takes up arms against these renegade forces. They are a part of a joint-Imperial Crusade comprised of several bellicose Scions of Sanguinius Chapters, including: the Blood Bearers, Children of Seth, Crimson Sentinels and Sanguine Berzerkers. Those worlds that had fallen beneath the bloody shadow of the Blood God's followers were reserved the greatest measure of the Chapters of The Blood, who granted them no quarter and no mercy. The full role taken by this independent Astartes battlegroup is impossible to collate, nevertheless, the fragmented accounts of the various battles that took place in the Hadronian Wall sub-sector are extant in the scattered records of the era. Some list no more than a Chapter's name and where they were sighted during this conflict, while other records offer a glimpse into the many savage wars fought between both sides, as several independent Imperial strike forces often fought the savage Khorne-worshipping warbands to near-mutual annihilation. Though this sub-sector was eventually cleared of the foul presence of Chaos, the destruction wrought by those dedicated to the Blood God's service and the Scions of Sanguinius, affected the infrastructure of several of these worlds, some of which are still struggling to rebuild to this day.
 * Jericho Reach Expansion (133-138.M33) - As the wider Imperium swells to the peak of power and influence, the Jericho Sector begins to bloom into a renaissance of power and achievement as scores of Imperial worlds of every type are raised up from the rubble of past failures and untrodden soil of alien worlds in Mankind's name. After nearly a century of rebuilding their numbers, the Golden Seraphs launch an Imperial Crusade into the Jericho Reach and help play an instrumental role in pushing back the horrors of Old Night and reclaiming several of these worlds in the name of the Emperor, heralding a new age of prosperity and relative peace for several millennia.
 * The Blackstar Liberation (344-346.M33) - When Warpstorm Korinthus finally abates, it reveals the long-lost Blackstar System, but unfortunately, it is firmly in the iron grasp of the Ruinous Powers. More than half of the Golden Seraphs Chapter deploys alongside their Progenitors, the Blood Angels, who also send half their number as well, to assist in the liberation of the Imperial citizens of these besieged worlds. The war that follows lasts two full years and pits the Scions of Sanguinius against a lethal coalition of Night Lords, Death Guard and Word Bearers Traitor Legions. Eventually, these two Chapters of The Blood eventually best their foes and drive them back to the Warp in tatters. The cost is great, but the Scions of Sanguinius recover a huge and populous system for the Imperium.
 * The Year of Ghosts (831.M33) - When the Segmentum Solar, the core system of the Imperial Throneworld is beset by the terrors of the warp, every available Imperial military asset is deployed in order to help hold the line against the encroaching legions of the Neverborn. It is only in the Imperium's darkest hour, when the honoured dead rise up from their eternal slumber, that the terrors of the Warp are finally driven back.
 * War of the False Primarch (780-860) - This is a dark and bloody episode of the Imperium's history, now largely lost to myth and allegory and purged from the official Imperial record, which plunged the Segmentum Pacificus into anarchy in its brutal aftermath. The Golden Seraphs were one of several Space Marine Chapters that took part in the numerous wars of this bloody conflict, but what role they played exactly remains unknown. Their battle records remain curiously empty when this campaign is mentioned.
 * The 4th Black Crusade (001.M34) - Abaddon the Despoiler launches the 4th Black Crusade, also known as the El'Phanor War, into Imperial space from the Eye of Terror. Several Space Marine Chapters, including the Golden Seraphs, answer the Imperium's call-to-arms, to help stem the tide of the invading Forces of Chaos. The Golden Seraphs take part in several void battles against several smaller Black Fleets of the Despoiler, engaging in several notable boarding actions, destroying several notable Chaos vessels in the process. Despite their valiant efforts, these smaller void conflicts were merely a distraction from the Despoiler's true objective - the world of El'Phanor - where Abaddon and his Black Legion lay siege to the Citadel of the Kormarch. Despite their valiant defence, their efforts are all for naught, as the Traitor Legions and their daemonic allies fall upon the Kormarch, extinguishing the ancient line of the ruling Imperial Commander and his kin forever.
 * The Pale Wasting (Unknown Date.M34) - During some unrecorded date in Imperial history, an unrecorded threat arose in the Eastern Fringe from the Ghoul Stars, located beyond the borders of known Imperial space. The exact nature of this threat isn't known as the majority of official Imperial records relating to this threat were purposely censored or destroyed. The Golden Seraphs were one of several dozen Space Marine Chapters that faced this "star-spawned plague" that swept away scores of Imperial worlds as their "nightmare engines" slaughtered whole sectors. The scant few records pertaining to this conflict within the Chapter's archives indicate this mysterious threat was xenos in nature and that more than one Chapter was completely destroyed during the course of the conflict. The Golden Seraphs took part in the campaign to quell the threat of the Pale Wasting, and though they count this campaign in their Chapter's battle honours, their own chronicles are curiously empty of any reference to this conflict.
 * The Hellion Purgation (012-014.M35) - In the wake of the anarchy that followed the murderous internecine conflict of the War of the False Primarch and its aftermath, the Hellion Sector declares its secession from the troubled Imperium in 870.M33. Bloodily attacking its neighbours, it becomes quickly apparent that the sector's rulers had fallen then to the worship of Chaos, and its millions of men-under-arms were corrupted and given over to darkness, while its mass manufactora were turned to churning forth twisted war machines consecrated to the dark gods. The ever widening war swells to ravage more than eighty inhabited systems and uncounted billions die in the fighting. By the dawning of M35, the Hellion Sector and its environs are reduced to little more than a waste zone of barren worlds and dead hive cities. Unwilling to let the Ruinous Powers maintain rule over an Imperial sector, the High Lords of Terra immediately call for an Imperial Crusade to be launched, to retake the Chaos-held region. Several bellicose and bloody-handed Scions of Sanguinius Chapters - including the Golden Seraphs, Blood Scorpions, Charnel Brethren, Crimson Raptors, Sanguine Berzerkers and Wings of Salvaxes - eagerly joins the massive Imperial flotilla that is making its way towards the Hellion Sector, to bring the Emperor's divine wrath against the heretic forces of the Dark Gods. The Chapters of The Blood launch themselves wholeheartedly into fallen sector, declaring a 'Day of Revelation', in which the Scions of Sanguinius are unleashed against the followers of Chaos. Many of the Chaos Warbands and daemonic legions confronted by the massive host comprised of the most savage of Sanguinius' get, are overcome with dread and awe, as the savage fury and blinding destruction delivered upon them by these Chapters of the Blood are near-apocalyptic in scale. Despite the large number of daemonic legions and formidable Chaos Warbands arrayed against the them, these ferocious Astartes deliver the Great Angel's wrath upon one benighted world after another. Extant records indicate that no few worlds still speak in awe of when the angels fell from the skies to free them from the oppression of their daemonic overlords. Within a span of two years, the Chapters of The Blood bring salvation to the once-benighted worlds of the Hellion Sector and fully purge the taint of Chaos from this region of the galaxy.
 * Nova Terra Interregnum (Early-Late.M35) - The Nova Terra Interregnum, known also as the "Time of Twin Empires", was a tumultuous period in Imperial history that lasted for over nine centuries, following the secession of the Segmentum Pacificus from the Imperium proper. Civil strife and conflict continuously raged during this time of upheaval. The Golden Seraphs were one of several Adeptus Astartes Chapters that would periodically take part in the smaller campaigns of reciprocity against several rebellious Imperial worlds that strayed from the dominion of the Emperor. The High Lords of Terra gave carte blanche to the Golden Seraphs to bring rebellious worlds back into the Imperial fold, and to ensure that planetary governors who even thought of declaring independence to reconsider the wisdom of such actions, a task for which this vengeful Scions of Sanguinius Chapter was eminently suited.


 * Cleansing of the Dark Destiny (494.M41) - A Space Hulk code-named Dark Destiny drops out of the Warp, dangerously close to the Golden Seraphs' homeworld of Esau. Strike Forces of the Golden Seraphs and the fleet of the Blood Bearers moves to intercept the massive Hulk, deploying squads of their 1st Company Terminators via Boarding Torpedoes. A vicious battle erupts throughout the kilometres of tangled corridors, chambers and ducts as the Seraphs and Bearers battle furiously against the Hulk's Genestealer infestation. A force of 160 1st Company Terminators eradicated a force of more than 100,000 Genestealers, cleansing the Dark Destiny, its secrets plundered in the Imperium's name.


 * Scions of Sanguinius Conclave (999.M41) - - The Baal System is reinforced like never before. Answering Commander Dante's call, the Golden Seraphs are but one of many Chapters of The Blood heed the Blood Angels' call-to-arms. The Golden Seraphs lends its full strength to help defend Baal. The Golden Seraphs and the rest of the Successor Chapters unanimously agree to hand over to the Blood Angels some of their own Neophytes to help their ancestral Chapter rebuild its strength in the wake of the Chaos assault, and in preparation for the oncoming assault by the Tyranids and the Forces of Chaos on Baal itself.
 * The Devastation of Baal (ca. 999.M41) - Unwilling to cede void supremacy to the Tyranids of Hive Fleet Leviathan without a fight, Lord Commander Dante orders his naval vessels to strike at the enemy and slow their advance. Across a hundred fronts, the red-armoured voidcraft of the Blood Bearers and many other successors along with their progenitors strike at the fleshy Tyranid Hive Ships. Dozens of Tyranid bio-ships are butchered, hundreds of thousands of warrior organisms slain before they ever see the irradiated sands of Baal. Still the Blood Angels and their successors are driven back, every victory carrying its own butcher's bill in flaming hulks and dead Battle-Brothers. Soon enough the void war becomes unsustainable as more and more Tyranids flow from the darkness in squamous waves. On Baal, Baal Prime and Baal Secundus, aircraft-sized Mycetic Spores darken the skies in their millions. The Shadow in the Warp settles like a shroud, choking off any further hope of reinforcement. The Sons of Sanguinius stand alone. Five Chapter Masters fell in that bitter fighting, three in the Battle at the Dome of Angels alone. The Tyranids began the process of absorbing all biomass from Baal and its moons, absorbing even the radiation-poisoned deserts of Baal Secundus. With their defences in ruin and Baal's moons stripped and broken, the remaining Space Marines retreated back to the rubble of the Blood Angels' sprawling fortress-monastery. There, they prepared for a last stand as the next wave swept downwards. Doom, it seemed, had at last come to the Sons of Sanguinius. It was then that the Great Rift cracked open the galaxy in the wake of the fall of Cadia to the 13th Black Crusade, and the withered Baal System was blasted by the aetheric storms. Although no further attack waves came from the Leviathan Hive Fleet, not a single Imperial defender remained alive upon the last moon, Baal Prime.Looking skywards, the Tyranids on the surface of Baal sought contact with their Hive Fleet, but it was gone, replaced by a newly arrived Imperial fleet. Like an angel of vengeance came Roboute Guilliman and his Indomitus Crusade. After many more battles, Baal was finally cleared of the xenos threat.

Gene-Seed
Like all Blood Angels' Successors, the Golden Seraphs share many traits with their progenitors, including the tragic flaw that afflicts so many of the line of Sanguinius. This curse manifests itself in many different ways, but in the case of the Golden Seraphs it has lead to a fiery, zealous temperament that drives the Chapter to scour their foes from existence with preternatural fury. The gene-seed of the Golden Seraphs is similar to the gene-seed of other Blood Angel Successor Chapters, apart from some changes to the twin-curses of the Red Thirst and the Black Rage, the most obvious change being that they both occur with far less frequency than in many of their fellow Scions of Sanguinius.

While in other Chapters the Red Thirst is kept at bay under a slowly worn veil of nobility, within the Golden Seraphs Space Marines, however, the Red Thirst only appears at the height of battle, driving the afflicted warriors in a blood-maddened rage which causes them to disregard everything in order to get to grips with the foe. Although many have fallen fully under the sway of the Red Thirst over the centuries, the Golden Seraphs seems to suffer from this particular Flaw of Sanguinius at a much reduced rate. The exact reasons for this is unknown, though some suspect that the Chapter must have bought this boon through some sort of dark and secretive means.

When an Golden Seraphs battle-brother is afflicted by the genetic curse known as the Black Rage, the effects of this particular flaw affects them slightly different. For their fellow Successors, when the Black Rage manifests, it normally causes their warriors to believe that they are Sanguinius himself, fighting against the Traitor Legions during final days of the Horus Heresy during the Siege of Terra. An Golden Seraphs Astartes afflicted with the Black Rage believes that they are true angels fighting alongside their gene-sire against the Arch-Traitor Horus and legions of Daemons. Like all those afflicted by this particular flaw, they are granted a portion of their Primarch's unearthly power, boosting their strength and vitality to superhuman levels. Although the increase in strength the receive is no less, they are far more vigorous in combat, defending the one they believe to be Sanguinius (usually their commanding Grail Priest or other important figure such as a Captain) while madly crushing their foes.

Command Ranks

 * Ikisat - A name that means, 'Burning One', this honourary title is equivalent to the esteemed rank of Chapter Master, and is bestowed upon the chosen lord of the Chapter for their ardour and unwavering devotion.
 * Archein - An ancient title of the old IX Legion, equivalent to a Captain.
 * Power - Another bygone title once utilised by their Progenitors, this rank is equivalent to a Lieutenant.

Specialist Ranks

 * Abalim - The Abalim, or 'Thrones', are equivalent to a standard Chaplain of other Chapters, however, the responsibilities and duties of the Abalim are solely geared towards standing eternal vigil over their fellow battle-brothers for signs of the insatiable bloodlust of the Red Thirst or the dark psychosis of the Black Rage. They watch the Chapter for signs of treachery and madness, and act to assuage their Chapter's guilt by removing the stain of those who fall too far from grace.
 * Grail Priests - Grail Priests are a unique officer class within the Chapter. They perform a combination of roles as both Chaplain and Apothecary found in Codex-compliant Chapters. The Grail Priests administer to the physical and mental well-being of the Chapter's battle-brothers and also choose potential Aspirants. They are also responsible for the survival of their Chapter by performing the most vital of duties - retrieving and conserving the fallen's gene-seed so that a new generation of Astartes can be raised. Grail Priests also conduct the Chapter's holiest rites and ceremonies. During the heat of battle, they exhort their fellow battle-brothers to embrace the Red Thirst and unleash its strength when all hope seems lost or the battle goes ill. For those battle-brothers 'gifted' with the Black Rage, it falls to the Grail Priests to guide the Chapter's Death Company in battle, their litanies and prayers the thin thread that directs the doomed warriors toward their foes.
 * Hashmallim - The Hashmallim, or 'Glowing Ones', are the Chapter's psychically gifted warriors who are highly talented and trained to master the power of the Immaterium at the highest levels. When not battling in war zones, Hashmallim have a host of other, more mundane, duties to attend to. In addition to testing recruits and tending to their own training, these potent psykers are responsible for maintaining the Chapter's Librarium - the silent and sacred place of whispered secrets and hidden truths.

Line Ranks

 * Virtues - Equivalent to a standard rank of Veteran Sergeant of other Chapters, these battle-brothers stand as a Dominion's exemplars of martial prowess and strength of will.
 * Eshim - Eshim is the equivalent rank of a standard Sergeant.
 * Malak - This low tier rank encompasses the rank and file of the Chapter, the warriors that ply blade and bolter on the battlefield.

Specialist Formations

 * Elohim - The Golden Seraphs' Death Company, known as 'Samael's Chosen', are warriors who are held in the highest degree of honour and respect in the Chapter. These warriors, known as the Elohim, are the incarnations of the divine wrath of Primarch Sanguinius. In fact, they are as revered as the Erelim of the Chapter, and as a sign of this reverence, wings are carved onto their helmets and they are given reliquary jump packs with black feathered wings identical to those of the Erelim. In battle they are lead by Grail Priests. Despite their special belief in the Black Rage, the Golden Seraphs somehow have a slightly lower incidence of battle-brothers succumbing to this genetic curse, compared to other Successor Chapters of the Blood.
 * Erelim - Another major deviance from the Codex Astartes is the inclusion of elite Honour Guard of the Golden Seraphs known as the Erelim, or 'valiant ones', the same formation comparable to the Blood Angels' Sanguinary Guard. Like other Scions of Sanguinius, the Golden Seraphs' Erelim is comprised of the Chapter's most elite veteran warriors. In battle, they are clad in artificer-wrought battle-plate of burnished gold and wielded the deadliest of weapons. To add to their fearsome appearance they also wear highly ornate death masks modelled on the fearsome aspect of the Great Angel himself. These masks project a halo of golden light, which adds to the Sanguinary Guard's fearsome appearance, inducing abject fear in their enemies and providing these warriors a psychological advantage in combat. The Erelim also wear modified winged jump packs that are designed to emulate their beloved Primarch's own angelic wings, which enables these warriors to take flight like avenging angels of legend. They are armed with ferocious wrist-mounted bolters, known as Angeulus Bolt Guns, which fire rare and potent Bloodshard Shells, whose razor-filament payloads can slice through ceramite armour with ease. Sanguinary Guard also wield deadly relic weapons known as Glaive Encarmine. These broad two-handed blades are the epitome of the Golden Seraphs artificers' master-craftsmanship and elegance. They usually take the form of a long-bladed sword or heavy axe, and when wielded by a Sanguinary Guard, could easily cut down their enemies in a perfect display of perfection in the arts of war. In the Golden Seraphs, there is no higher honour than to be chosen for the ranks of the Erelim.
 * Ofanim - The Ofanim, known as the 'Many-eyed', are comprised of a choir of five Golden Seraphs Chaplains. They vigilantly stand in the shadows, charged with protecting the hidden reclusiam of High Chaplain Beleth upon Esau, whose location is only known to the Chapter Masters of the Golden Seraphs. Stripped of all insignia and adornment save their Chapter's symbol emblazoned upon their shoulder plates, they are as dark mirrors to the Erelim that stand in the light of Lord Mikial Arch. Even their skull helms have been daubed death-black and their jump packs are framed by halos of darkest feathers. Nothing but the glow of their crimson coloured optics betray them in the half-light.
 * Keruvim - The Keruvim, or the 'Storm Winds', for the sudden onset of their anger and the lasting fervour of their hate. They are the Chapter's veteran warriors that take to the field clad in reliquary Terminator armour or power armour. They stand as a bulwark against the foe and shield for their fellow battle-brothers. They are unyielding and resolute, standing as a bulwark against the foe, a mighty bastion to stand against the encroaching darkness. It is through their sacrifice that the Golden Seraphs a free to give vent to the noble fury of their Chapter.
 * Seraphim - Amongst the Golden Seraphs, it is customary for the mightiest of their officers to be accompanied by Seraphim - an Honour Guard of dedicated, elite warriors. Its members are distinguished Terminator-armoured elite from the Chapter's elite 1st Company. They are superbly geared and equipped with the Chapter's finest weapons. One member of the Honour Guard may be nominated as the Sanguine Custos or 'Blood Guardian', who serves as the Company Champion.
 * Malakim - The Malakin, or 'Messengers', are the elite assault formations of the Golden Seraphs. They embody the purity of the Great Angel and the swiftness of his wrath.
 * Teraphim - Known as the 'Broken Blades', are the deadly heavy weapons specialists of the Golden Seraphs that serve in place of the more common Devastator Marines of other Chapters. They are known for their cruel devastation they bring to the foe, each individual warrior bears the title of Teraphim, and serves as Sanguinius' wrath made manifest as set forth by the Ikisat's will to scour away those he decrees as unworthy of being saved. They only take to the field of battle rarely, serving as agents of destruction against those deemed worthy only of annihilation. Armed with ancient, dark-forged weapons spawned from the Dark Age of Technology, they descend upon their foes unannounced, with oaths of retribution on their lips, leaving nothing in their wake but utter devastation and ash. Upon assuming the mantle of Teraphim, the individual battle-brothers selected for this onerous duty surrender their names and identities for their term of service, taking one of the ritual names that identifies them as a true Angel of Death, a harbinger of destruction and remorseless killer.

Hierarchical Formations

 * Host - An equivalent to a Strike Force, this Chapter formation is comprised of several companies grouped together for campaigns requiring greater force of numbers than that possessed of a single Dominion, though each Host is a temporary ad hoc formation that is broken and made as needs require.
 * Dominion - Company formation equivalent.
 * Principalities - Squad formation equivalent.

Order of Battle
Represented below is the composition and deployment of the Golden Seraphs Chapter circa 999.M41. For logistical reasons, each squad is assumed to have a nominal strength of ten battle-brothers, although battlefield attrition and instability brought on by the Flaw inevitably reduces this tally. In addition to the forces shown here, each company or strike force will also have a Death Company, although this is considered to be an auxiliary force. The Death Company's strength varies according to the onset of the Black Rage, and it therefore does not appear as an "official" fighting body:

Esau's History
The Feral World of Esau was discovered during the Great Crusade by the IX Legion and their Primarch Sanguinius. The local human population had become enslaved to an unnamed xenos species. The Primarch was disgusted by how the people of Esau had, for centuries, suffered under the tyranny of these xenos nightmares. Enraged, the Blood Angels swiftly set about re-taking the planet for humanity. Committing the entirety of his Legion, Sanguinius led the massive orbital assault on the besieged planet himself, spearheading the attack on the wretched alien spires of the foul creatures. With righteous wrath, the Blood Angels broke and cut down the outmatched xenos, shattered their forces with their brutal deep strike. The salvation of Esau had come at last and the freed slaves quickly began to revere the Great Angel as their saviour. Although Sanguinius was concerned about this potentially religious view, he admired the people of Esau for surviving so long under the alien occupation throughout the dark years of Old Night.

After the xenos were utterly annihilated, the Blood Angels' Expeditionary Fleet set up a Planetary Governor and made preparations to move on to other unexplored regions. Before doing so however, Sanguinius received a gift - the Angel Seal - a simple wax seal with the image of Sanguinius standing triumphant, holding his sword aloft, as the people of Esau bowed in supplication. The long parchment affixed to the wax seal contained prayers and litanies to the Great Angel inscribed upon it. This simple gift was given as token of the love and appreciation to both the Great Angel and his Legion from the grateful people of Esau. Sanguinius was humbled by such a gift, and promised that he would one day return to the planet. After the Angel Seal led Samael Bludhaven to Esau, the people welcomed him with open arms. They have also been supportive of the Golden Seraphs whom they view as the fulfillment of Sanguinius' solemn promise.

Esau's Society
As a Feral World, Easu has little in the way of technology; it's people are hunter-gathers, constantly moving across the ocean-less surface. Much of the terrain is red-grass land, with a number of mountain ranges especially near the poles. There are only two permanent settlements on the planet -- the Fortress-Monastery of Nosgoroth and Angel's Landing, the place where Sanguinius first landed on Easu. It has become a centre of worship of the people, and is also a trade-hub and neutral ground. Tribes will pass through Angel's Landing every few years, selling their goods and visiting the holy ground. The town is also home to the Blood-Beards; when a tribal elder becomes too old to continue travelling, they are often left in Angel's Landing for a more comfortable life, while acting as priests and advisers.

The worship of Sanguinius is fairly simple on Easu. Prayers are offered up to the Great Angel before battle, during births and deaths, and at annual celebrations. Icons are usually as simple as a small angelic figure, usually made of stone, wood or bone and worn around the neck. The amulets are often dipped in blood to dye them red.

Whenever visiting Angel's Landing, chieftains will perform a Blood-Giving, spilling their blood on the ground where Sanguinius first stood on the planet. Other tribesmen will also perform this act, sometimes for luck or forgiveness. Angel's Landing is also the site of the Winged Hope festival; marking the day on which the IX Legion descended to free Esau from tyranny. The various tribes that attend take part in displays in martial prowess and skill. The Golden Seraphs usually sends observers to the festival, both to select new aspirants and to retain a connection to their people.

Fortress-Monastery
Located upon one of the highest mountains of Easu, Nosgoroth was once the fortress of the xenos race that ruled the planet, and also the site of the final battle between their forces and the Blood Angel Legion, lead by their Primarch. For almost two thousand years the ruins were left undisturbed, the natives avoiding them out of fear, until the Angel's sons returned. The fortress was rebuilt as the fortress monastery of the new chapter, and its past was washed away.

The fortress consists of six blood-red towers, each large enough to house a full company, arrayed on the edge of the mountain top. They are connected by a high wall, a thousand metres tall and a hundred thick, covered by defences obvious and hidden. Behind the walls is the fortress proper; a massive keep that smoothly narrows to a point, giving it the appearance of a tear drop. Landing and defence pads extended from the keep. Inside are all the rooms necessary to the running of the chapter, including the Librarius, the Armoury, the Medi-wards and much more.

Chapter Recruitment
There are two ways a young Esauan tribesman can become a potential Initiate of the Chapter; they are either chosen or they choose for themselves. Every year at the Winged Hope festival, as the tribes display their martial prowess, the Grail Priests of the Chapter are watching, and once it is finished they chose the best to be brought back to Nosgoroth. However, the way to the fortress-monastery is open to any who can climb the mountain upon which it rests; up narrow cliff faces, across loose scree, almost eight thousand feet up without aid.

Once the Initiate finally arrives at the fortress, they are housed in one of the six towers surrounding the fortress and are tested, body and mind. Those that fail cannot return to their people; the shame of being unworthy of the blessing of the Great Angel's Father would mark them as an outcast. Instead they stay, forever more, serving their Astartes masters as humble Chapter Serfs.

Those that past the first test face more, as they are trained and taught all they will need for their service to the chapter. Once a Initiate becomes a Neophyte, they join the 10th Dominion, and go on missions as Scouts. Should they prove themselves worthy, they are granted the honour of joining the ranks of the Malak - the rank-and-file battle-brothers of the Chapter - and granted their own suit of reliquary battle-plate, which they will maintain until their death.

Revere the Angel
The Golden Seraphs worships their Primarch, with only the God-Emperor of Mankind having a higher priority of worship, although some in the Ecclesiarchy have their doubts. The Golden Seraphs worship of Sanguinius occurs in all parts of their service. They pray to him before battle, and chant his name as they engage the foe. They drink his blood as they join the Chapter, and his name is the last word on their lips as they die. Due to this almost religious mindset for their Primarch, the Black Rage is never considered a curse but rather a gift, so that they may carry out his will.

Sanctum Sanguinius
Sanctum Sanguinius, also known as the 'Blood-Oath', is a ritual that every Golden Seraphs Astartes has to partake in when they become a full-fledged battle-brother. These newly promoted Astartes swear mighty oaths, binding them forever more to their gene-sire, as they solemnly promise to uphold the Great Angel's righteous virtues, bravery and sacrifice until their dying day.

Immortal Legacy
The Golden Seraphs continue the practice of the IX Legion of old, where they make use of their unique genetic mutation inherent in their omophagea implant. Due to the natures of this particular Astartes organ, this enables an Astartes to absorb information as a set of memories or experiences that are the recipient's own through the ingestion of blood or consuming the flesh of the fallen. The overactive nature of this organ in those descended from the bloodline of Sanguinius led to the development of a number of flesh-eating and blood-drinking rituals which became known in the ancient IX Legion's earliest years. The effects of the omophagea allowed for new recruits to be inducted and granted a basic competence with extreme rapidity through the flesh of the newly fallen. This ghoulish practice is still commonplace within the Chapter, allowing for swift replacement of battlefield casualties. For this reason, the Grail Priests of the Golden Seraphs are known to carry large stocks of gene-seed into combat zones, ready for the harvest of new souls that follow both glorious victory and ignominious defeat alike.

However, this grisly practice also serves another, more noble purpose - to preserve the hard-won skills and experience of the Chapter's fallen commanders. As a mark of honour as well as practicality, the consumption of a fallen Ikisat, Archein or hero of the Chapter by the followers of their order, ensures that the fallen's legacy lives on. To ensure the fallen brother's immortality, the Chapter's newly inducted recruits will often take on the names of those whose skills they have absorbed, and Powers (lieutenants) will assume the names of their captains. Such is the physical resemblance of each member of the Chapter to their flawless brothers that most outsiders fail to notice this subtle brand of immortality.

Throughout the Chapter's long and glorious history, their extensive battle records often lists certain heroic individuals' names, which often appear over and over again down the centuries. Each time these notable heroes seem to fall in battle, they rise again like some gore-soaked phoenix to once more take the reigns of command and lead their warriors to victory, continuing their legacy for the sake of the Chapter. However, upon closer examination, these records often show these names having died numerous times, only to be replaced by another. This ancient practise has become an honoured tradition of the Chapter - a visceral ritual that binds the survivors together - keeping the legacy of the Chapter's greatest heroes alive and granting them a sort of pseudo-immortality.

The False Angel
Unlike other Blood Angel Successor Chapters, the Golden Seraphs view the mysterious Sanguinor with, at best, distrust, and at worst, murderous fury. They view the golden-clad warrior as an impostor, attempting to take the place of their Primarch Sanguinius. The Chapter's Astartes have orders to detain him on sight, while many would prefer to shoot first instead. Despite this, the Sanguinor has appeared to aid the Chapter many times, in his first appearance saving the life of the First Ikisat Samael Bludhaven. This did nothing to improve Samael's opinion of the stranger however, and this grudge has carried on down the long millennia.

Deathwatch Service
The Golden Seraphs have sent numerous battle-brothers into the service of the Ordo Xenos' Chamber-Militant down the long millennia, and each has only increased the reputation of the chapter; both good and for ill. Although they are each skilled warriors and fight against xenos threats without flinching, their zealous worship of Sanguinius has caused some disputes, both from fellow Blood Angels descendant chapters and Inquisitors.

Combat Doctrine
"We are the Great Angel's harbingers of woe, we are his blazing swords of fire made manifest, we are the final vision you will behold before your destruction."

- Vox cast from Archein Azaziel Haimonos, Golden Seraphs 2nd Dominion, before the assault on the world of Pygorius, 5th Black Crusade

In battle, the Golden Seraphs are the incarnation of the Emperor's wrath upon those who reject His divine will. The coming of these golden angels is nothing less than apocalyptic judgment delivered upon the guilty from on high. Descending from the skies on wings of fire the Golden Seraphs conquer rebellious worlds by their preternatural fury as well as by the dread and awe they create. When the Golden Seraphs Chapter wages war it does so with a fury to shake the heavens, but they do so with a deep well of discipline and keen intellect. Entire nations fall to their knees cowering before the wrath and splendour of these golden angels, lest they too perish beneath the Astartes' glimmering blades. Against xenos, no such quarter is given and the wrath of the Chapter is made manifest as a tide of unrelenting carnage that only gives way once complete extermination has been achieved.

Like their Progenitors, they favour shock assault to shatter an enemy's resistance in a single, devastating blow, falling upon the foe suddenly and without warning. The last thing many a foe sees is a vision of a thousand burning lights against the dawning sky, the wrath of the Great Angel himself given golden form. This isn't to say that this is the extent of the Chapter's skills, for though the sudden onslaught is their preference, they know full well the value of the feigned retreat, the gun line and hundred other stratagem besides.

The Golden Seraphs assault is often preceded by a brief, but highly accurate orbital bombardment that cracks the surface of a planet and shatters the guns of their foes. Once a path is opened, the Chapter then launches its Drop Pods and assault craft that follows on its heels. The Chapter utilises it's elite assault formations - the Malakim - and other fast moving units to cause confusion in the enemy lines. Brutal close quarter combat then ensues, as the Golden Seraphs carve a bloody path through the ranks of the enemy, while the slower but more powerful armoured units and dreadnoughts move forward to exploit the breakthrough. This then allows the assault units to carry on into successive enemy positions beyond the front line, preventing an organised response, while the rest of the Chapter's units take out the remaining enemy forces and move into positions of support, pinning down the next target with available firepower. The Chapter will continue to harry and beset the enemy, even if they resist with great fervour, fighting to the bitter end and imposing upon the Golden Seraphs a high cost for each watch station or outpost that falls.

If the enemy acquit themselves well, and with honour, it is not unusual for the Ikisat to decree for a temporary ceasefire in honour of their foe's valour and sacrifice. However, should a foe or rebellious world prove callous, dishonourable or particularly treacherous, then the Ikisat will call for a Day of Revelation - a dire reckoning for their doomed foes and a redress for the wrongs done to the innocent. In this case, the enemy has proven themselves unworthy of a place within the Emperor's Imperium and unworthy of the Golden Seraphs' respect or mercy.

Like their genetic forebears, the Golden Seraphs show a passion for perfection in all things martial and otherwise, adding to the longevity in which they achieve this, which can be seen in their strategic and tactical planning, which is exemplary. However, they cannot be counted upon to hold a position in the same disciplined way as such Chapters as the Wardens of Orask or the Ebon Knights, as their inherent genetic curse of the Black Rage can afflict any battle-brother in the midst of battle, inciting the afflicted into charging forward in an attempt to tear the enemy limb from limb. Though great victories are often created in the unlikeliest of situations through these displays of sheer aggression, Imperial Commanders have been known to refrain from asking for the assistance of the Golden Seraphs or other Scions of Sanguinius due to the fear that such savagery could become uncontrollable.

Day of Revelation
"People of Haimon, I bring ill tidings. Your degradations and transgressions against His Holiness, the God-Emperor, have been deemed 'Diabolicis Extremis'. You have willingly trafficked with the Neverborn and other foul denizens of the Dark Gods. You have been judged and found wanting, and for your multitude of crimes, you shall face swift retribution. We will not stay our hand, nor will clemency or mercy be granted. But know this..for this task, we take no pleasure, as we put your worlds to our burning blades."

- Vox broadcast issued by Lord Commander Samael Bludhaven, First Ikisat (Chapter Master) of the Golden Seraphs, prior to the extermination of the worlds of the Haimon Cluster

Throughout the history of the Golden Seraphs, they have become renowned for their 'wars of ultimatum'. These campaigns of open domination against non-compliant worlds begin with the Ikisat (Chapter Master) or one of his Archeinii (Captains), affording a world one opportunity to embrace the Emperor's grace or face a 'Day of Revelation', in which they will then suffer the full fury of the Golden Seraphs unleashed. Many of their foes confronted by the Chapter's hosts are overcome with dread and awe, and capitulate without hesitation. Those who do not will see the shining countenance of the Golden Seraphs transformed into savage fury as blinding destruction is delivered from on-high.

The Chapter fleet of the Golden Seraphs will then surge forwards, annihilating any resistance from their foe's remaining void ships and then rain nucleonic fire onto every remaining outpost, leaving only ashes and glass. All of the foe's attempts to defend themselves fails in the face of the Golden Seraphs' unleashed fury as their vessels envelop the doomed world like a brutal constellation of lights in the night sky. There they wait, while below, the enemy awaits their inevitable doom. Panic and then eventually blind terror strikes, as a doomed worlds anxiously awaits their preordained fate and the wrath of the golden angels. As dawn finally approaches, the Golden Seraphs fall from the sky, at their head a host of Malakim, the Chapter's elite assault formations.

They chose as their target the single largest enemy force marshalled in defence against them, seeking to cut the heart from the enemy in a single stroke. Like meteors, the Drop Pods smash home amid the enemy's lines, opening like lethal flowers to reveal missile pods that spit flame and death, while others disgorge golden-clad killers, their bolters roaring and chainswords whirring angrily. With the main formation of the enemy broken and their forces in disarray, the main force of the Golden Seraphs descend on fiery contrails, alighting at the battle's frenzied centre and throwing themselves into the fray without hesitation. What begins as a battle swiftly becomes a rout and then a slaughter, as the Golden Seraphs pierce the heart of the enemy formation and slays their command echelon, throwing their soldiers into complete and utter chaos. The enemy driven before them, the Golden Seraphs, without pausing to regroup or resupply, drive forwards relentlessly.

Their sorrow concealed by their golden helms and ornate masks, the Malakim and their brothers sweep across the planet like a crimson tide. Any who raises arms against them are slaughtered, for this is not to be a battle, a matching of wits and blades in honest combat, but instead a massacre. Cities become charnel fields of broken corpses, forests and fields become cinders and ash, and fortresses open and blackened wounds. The foe is not simply conquered, but utterly ruined. No man-at-arms is left alive, no stone left upon stone and those of its people that survive the fighting will become serfs to labour in the belly of the Chapter's ships or in distant manufactoria. Thus, the fighting ends, and the the doomed planet becomes yet another bloody tribute to the rage that still festers at the heart of the Scions of Sanguinius.

Notable Golden Seraphs

 * Samael Bludhaven (First Ikisat) - Born on the irradiated desert world of Baal, Samael was one of the original members of the influx of Baalite-borne recruits inducted into the ranks of the IX Legion, and one of the first to make their oaths to Sanguinius following the Primarch's reunification with the Emperor. Samael would eventually rise to become one the most trusted praetorians of the Great Angel. He fought in some of the Blood Angels' most notable campaigns, including the Blood Angels' valiant defence of the Imperial Palace during the Siege of Terra. Following the end of the Scouring, Samael began to to wonder about his future. He sought some kind of sign that would lead him to his destiny - and found the Angel Seal, a gift to Sanguinius from a grateful world he had liberated during the Great Crusade - Esau. Samael travelled to Esau where he discovered a society centred around the worship of Sanguinius. The natives recognised him as a Son of the Angel, and took him to the old fortress of the xenos race that once ruled their formerly enslaved planet. It was here that Samael found his second sign - the Purity Mace - a weapon forged by the Iron Hands' Primarch Ferrus Manus for his brother, and long thought lost.
 * Mikial Arch (Current Ikisat) - Mikial was born on a unnamed Civilised World. In his youth the world came under attack by invading Ork forces. A detachment of the Golden Seraphs, including the Chapter's Elohim (Death Company), were dispatched to help assist the beleaguered planet, but one of the Death Company became separated from the rest and encountered Mikial in the rubble of a devastated city. Under the influence of the Ordo's unique Black Rage the Astartes saw Mikial as his lord Sanguinius and defended him against small groups of Orks. The pair eventually encountered a massive Ork Warboss, and after a brutal but short close-quarters battle, the Astartes was severely wounded. The young Mikial hefted the fallen Astartes' bolt-pistol and managed to kill the War-boss himself, with a well-placed bolt round through the feral beast's skull. When the slain Astartes' fellow battle-brothers finally arrived to claim his body, they saw what the youth had done. Taking this as a blessed sign of the Great Angel's favour, Mikial was taken with the Space Marines as a potential Aspirant. Mikial was then put through the long rituals and inculcation into the traditions and teachings of the Golden Seraphs - tested in both body and soul near to the breaking point. He passed the Chapter's tests and eventually assumed the mantle as a righteous warrior of the Emperor. As he was further crafted into that of a noble warrior of the Adeptus Astartes, so too was his mind honed. His surety of purpose and dedication to the Chapter's teachings quickly drew notice from the Chapter's leadership. Many a great deed was performed by Mikial, as he quickly rose to the battle companies of the Golden Seraphs. Fighting tirelessly and fearlessly, he earned even higher respect and and recognition, and soon found himself commanding his own company. His meteoric rise through the Chapter's hierarchy soon saw him elevated to the esteemed rank of Chapter Master, following his predecessor's glorious death in battle. Following in the mighty footsteps of the Great Angel, Mikial has continued to lead his Chapter to victory for over five centuries, and is the epitome to which his fellow battle-brothers aspire.
 * High Grail Priest Haema Blood-Beard - A father figure to many in the chapter, Blood-Beard is so named due to his permanently bloodstained white beard. Many battle-brothers seek him out when worried, finding wise advice in his piercing blue eyes. He was part of the squad that found current Lord Arch on his devastated home-world, and had risen to High Grail Priest by Mikial's accession to Chapter Master.
 * Hasmallim 'El (Chief Librarian) Asmodeus - Chief Librarian of the Chapter's Librarius.
 * Brother Adanicio - Current Warden of Nosgoroth.
 * Brother Leviathos - Current Master of the Forge.
 * Archein Merith - Current commander of the elite 1st Company who also holds the position of Warden of Esau.
 * Archein Delios - Current commander of the 2nd Company who also holds the position of Master of the Watch.
 * Archein Malchavian - Current commander of the 3rd Company who also holds the position of Master of Sacrifice.
 * Archein Rayfin - Current commander of the 4th Company who also holds the position of Lord Adjudicator.
 * Archein Malvolios - Current commander of the 5th Company who also holds the position of Keeper of the Arsenal.
 * Archein Kristos - Current commander of the 6th Company who also holds the position of Caller of Fires.
 * Archein Bellerephos - Current commander of the 7th Company who also holds the position of Master of the Marches.
 * Archein Astaron - Current commander of the 8th Company who also holds the position of Lord Axefall.
 * Archein Azriel - Current commander of the 9th Company who also holds the position of Master of Sieges.
 * Archein Haemon - Current commander of the 10th Company who also holds the position of Master of Recruits.
 * Archein Bellerophon - Current commander of the Chapter's fleet who also holds the title of Master of the Angel's Wing.
 * Brother Serkan - Known as the Er'el of Sanguinius, this mighty warrior currently serves as the Chapter Champion and the head of Lord Arch's Erelim Honour Guard.

Chapter Relics

 * Purity Mace - A unique relic Crozius Arcanum, this priceless heirloom is wielded only by the Chapter Master or the Grail High Priest. The Purity Mace takes the form of a mighty mace, the haft the colour of finely wrought gold, elaborately worked with precious bloodstones and carved ivory. The haloed-head of the Great Angel's patrician features is meticulously crafted into the collar of the haft. Finally, this mighty weapon is capped with an angelic figure with a pair of pearly white wings which represents Sanguinius, a pair of deadly flanges flanking each side. According to Chapter legends, this finely-wrought, master-crafted weapon was said to have been forged during the Great Crusade on Terra beneath Mount Narodnya, the greatest forge of the Urals. It was created as a gift for Sanguinius by his brother Ferrus Manus, the Primarch of the Iron Hands. This weapon was unmatched by any yet crafted by the hand of Man at that time, and when Sanguinius gazed upon its exquisite craftsmanship, he was awestruck by the sheer beauty and master-artisanship displayed by his brother. With the gifting of this weapon, both Primarchs sealed their eternal friendship. The formidable power field of this weapon is said to be so potent, that the Purity Mace is able to sunder flesh, ceramite or event heavily armoured vehicles. It is said that the wielder of the mace is also able to launch themselves short distances, and slow their fall with the weapon's ancient anti-gravitic technology of its in-built, miniaturised anti-grav suspensor/repulsor plate. The mace is also rumoured to do no harm to those pure of spirit, and only a warrior of such virtue is allowed to wield it. This Chapter relic carries such great spiritual significance and import to the Golden Seraphs that it is displayed on their Chapter iconography.
 * Angel Seal - A simple wax seal with the image of Sanguinius standing triumphant, holding his sword aloft, with the people of Esau bowed in supplication. The long parchment affixed to the wax seal, which is wrapped in electrum, has prayers and litanies to the Great Angel inscribed upon it. On the reverse of the electrum case is inscribed, "From Esau to Sanguinius and his sons." This simple gift was given as token of the love and appreciation to both the Great Angel and his Legion from the grateful people of Esau. This relic is usually kept in the reliquary of the Chapter's Reclusiam behind a stasis field. It is only displayed during the Chapter's most important events.

Chapter Fleet
The Golden Seraphs' Chapter fleet is comprised of 2 Battle Barges, 6 Strike Cruisers, 14 Rapid Strike Vessels and dozens of smaller gunships and transports.

Below are listed the known primary vessels of the Golden Seraphs:


 * Blade of Righteousness (Battle Barge) - Flagship of the Golden Seraphs Chapter.
 * Carmineseeker (Battle Barge)
 * Crimson Chalice (Heavy Cruiser)
 * Angel's Blade (Strike Cruiser)
 * Crimson Knight (Strike Cruiser)
 * Crusader of Esau (Strike Cruiser)
 * Incarnadine (Strike Cruiser)
 * Scarlet Seeker (Strike Cruiser)

Chapter Appearance
Like their Progenitors, the Golden Seraphs also adheres to a strict heraldic system, allowing them to recognise what company and squad any given battle-brother belongs to at a glance. The advantages of such swift recognition amid the din of battle are both advantageous and obvious. More so, however, the Golden Seraphs revere their heraldry, and bear these markings as badges of pride. For ease of identification, the Golden Seraphs incorporate the same company markings, as designated by number of blood drops and their colours, which differ from the usual company markings as outlined in the Codex Astartes. The Chapter also utilises the same squad markings as their Progenitors. They are comprised of a single symbol, in lieu of a number, which is worn on the right poleyn (knee guard) of their battle-plate.

Weapons & Armour
The Golden Seraphs consider themselves warrior-artisans, and are known for crafting exquisite examples of master-crafted weapons by their Chapter's finest artisans, many of which feature golden inlays, gold casings, or inset precious bloodstones. Their weapons are perfectly machined, with every component being hand-crafted by the Chapter's master artisans, and are of such superlative quality, that never in the Chapter's recorded history has one of their weapons suffered a mechanical failure in the heat of battle.

The Golden Seraphs also takes great pride in the artistry of their war-gear, as they believe that such artistic pursuits help them develop a discipline and an understanding of the broader needs of Mankind, and helps them reinforce their commitment to the defence of humanity. These Astartes are also known for creating glorious examples of fine craftsmanship, decorating their battle-plate with blood drops, golden wings and other emblems of their Chapter's holy creed. They believe that by embellishing their war-gear with such flourishes it is a means of expressing their inherent appreciation for aspects of human life beyond war, and embodies the nobility to which all Sons of Sanguinius aspire.

Chapter Colours
The Astartes of the Golden Seraphs typically wear golden-yellow coloured power armour, which includes the top of the power pack, the helmet, the couter (elbow guard), vambrace (forearm armour) and gauntlet. The cuisses (thigh armour), poleyn (knee guards), greaves (shin armour) and boots are also golden-yellow in colour. Their brightly coloured helmets are said to symbolically represent a halo. Parts of their armour are also blood-red in colour, which includes the rest of the power pack, the top of the helmet, gorget (neck armour), shoulder pauldron trim and wrist armour. Red is said to represent the blood shed by Sanguinius when he sacrificed himself so that the Emperor could strike down the Arch-Traitor Horus. The chest guard and inset of the shoulder pauldrons are white in colour, said to represent their Primarch's purity. Veterans of the Chapter almost always don a blood-red coloured robe to represent the sacrifices made over centuries of service - an homage to their beatific Primarch. It is a very rare occurrence for an Golden Seraphs Veterans Astartes to shed his robe - it is said to only occur when an Astartes has disgraced himself in some way, or have joined the ranks of the Death Company. Like all Successor Chapters of the Blood Angels, the Golden Seraphs maintain an elite force of Assault Marines known as the Sanguinary Guard and a Death Company to contain those Space Marines who succumb to the Red Thirst and the Black Rage.

Chapter Symbol
The Golden Seraphs' Chapter symbol is a golden death mask of their angelic Primarch Sanguinius resting upon an Imperial laurel and centered between a pair of stylised, golden angelic wings standing erect on either side. Three blood drops are centered below, indicating their Primarch's valiant sacrifice and the Chapter's willingness to emulate their fallen genesire's example - to give all for the sake of the Imperium.

By the Golden Seraphs
Feel free to add your own "If I had known...if any of us had known our father's fate, we would have abandoned the walls of the Imperial Palace in an instant. We would have thrown ourselves in front of the Arch-Traitor, just so our lord could live. But no. We failed him. We failed Mankind. We failed ourselves."

- Samael Bludhaven discussing the death of his gene-sire.

About the Golden Seraphs
Feel free to add your own "If the Angel could see these sons of his, he would weep; in joy or sadness, I cannot tell."

- Inquisitor Jacob Flux on the Golden Seraphs

"Eeny Meeny Miney Mo; Fear the Angels clad in black rightfully so; If the Gold ones come, you have to go; Eeny Meeny Miney (BLAM!)"

- Laughing Skull Khagarsan Marine having fun with the Golden Seraphs' unique concept of two winged harbingers of death.

"A Bolt Rifle that is? I thought it was an ornamental art project!"

- Shield Arkanol Decius of the Steel Guard

"Pray to your winged father all you want you whelps! You'll end up just like him, shattered and broken, laying at the feet of a true warrior."

- Ashrol the Mauler of the Crusaders Once Crossed

"We will kill you like wolves kill birds, like our Primarch killed your "Angel"! We are the greatest ones! We are the followers of the true Emperor! For the Warmaster!"

- Unknown True Sons Chaos Space Marine just before being executed by beheading

"Sanguinius' crimson seed always reeks with the stentch of heresy! May a scarlet corpse be the final shape of form that the sons of the Red Angel bear."

- Carolus Imperator, Grand Chaplain Imperialists