Feral Sons

"I can see it in their hearts. The pettiness, the pride, the seeds of ruin driving them on, feeding the tempest! With such creatures must we remake the future!"

- Brother Lieutenant Gavin of the Feral Sons, talking about regular Space Marines.

The Feral Sons is a Codex-Divergent Loyalist Space Marine Chapter comprised entirely of Primaris Space Marines, created from the venerable lineage of the Imperial Fists and raised during the Ultima Founding of 999.M41. These supreme transhuman warriors were created by order of Roboute Guilliman, the recently resurrected Primarch of the Ultramarines, who had tasked Archmagos Dominus Belisarius Cawl with crafting a legion of new transhuman warriors to serve as Humanity's last line of defence following the Horus Heresy. Even then, Guilliman foresaw a time of encroaching darkness when Chaos would threaten the galaxy itself. These gene-crafted warriors are intended to protect the Imperium of Man against the gathering darkness from Chaos, xenos and the myriad threats that threaten the Imperium on all sides. They are the key components of the resurrected Primarch's Indomitus Crusade to reclaim the galaxy for Mankind.

The Feral Sons' self-appointed task is to patrol the Cicatrix Maledictum, as many foul abominations emerge out of that great rent in reality. In addition to slaying the Emperor's enemies, the Feral Sons diligently seek a method of reconnecting with the hundreds of thousands of worlds cut off in the galactic north of the Imperium Nihilus.Chapter History

Unnumbered Sons
"A thousand battles. Ten thousand. Ten times, ten times, ten thousand - to bring about the new age. All of the certainties of the past broken down, all the beliefs that made them turned to ashes. War on every front, stretched across time until none can know when the final blow will come. There is no blessing, for blessings serve us alone."

- Brother Ancient Philomon of Second Battalion

Archmagos Dominus Belisarius Cawl had created hundreds of thousands of Primaris Space Marines beneath his forge on Mars during the 10,000 standard years he spent on the project at the direction of the Primarch Roboute Guilliman. When that massive undertaking finally came to fruition after the resurrection of Guilliman and his return to the position of Lord Commander of the Imperium in 999.M41, the Primarch directed Cawl to divide half of the newly-awoken Primaris Space Marines of the Ultima Founding into new Chapters of Adeptus Astartes. Each of these Chapters were composed of Primaris Astartes wholly descended from a single one of the nine original Loyalist gene-lines. The other half of the Primaris Astartes created by the Ultima Founding were divided up into nine armies the size of the massive Space Marine Legions of the Horus Heresy era. Unlike those Legions, however, these formations were created from a mixture of Primaris Astartes belonging to all nine of the Loyalist Primarchs' gene-lines. Each of these Primaris Astartes wore the livery of his progenitor Primarch, and each Unnumbered Sons Legion was further divided into Chapter-size units of 1,000 Primaris Marines. These units were further divided into companies and squads, each of which was a mixed formation.

Guilliman had ordered the Unnumbered Sons to fight as mixed gene-line units in the hope that the Primaris Astartes would learn how to deal with the differing temperaments and personalities of their brethren from the other Loyalist lineages in a way that had eluded their ancient predecessors. The Lord Commander believed this might prevent the eruption of inter-Chapter disputes that had so plagued the Adeptus Astartes even after the great betrayals of the Horus Heresy.

The Unnumbered Sons proved to be a potent force during the course of Guilliman's Indomitus Crusade to retake the Imperium of Man from the ascendant Forces of Chaos and the myriad xenos assaults that threatened to consume it. However, as the Crusade wore on into the second century of the 42nd Millennium, their numbers began to dwindle, both as a result of battlefield attrition and because large numbers of the force were increasingly detached to other duties on the orders of Guilliman. Whenever the Crusade encountered embattled Chapters of standard Astartes, the Lord Commander ordered members of the Unnumbered Sons of the same gene-lines to become replacements for the depleted Chapter's losses. As such, members of the Unnumbered Sons who were scions of Guilliman himself could become new Imperius Ravagers Primaris Marines, or Will Breakers Primaris Marines, or even replacement Battle-Brothers for the Ultramarines themselves. Primaris Space Marine scions of Rogal Dorn became new members of the Sable Lions, the Imperial Fists, and so on for each original Loyalist Astartes lineage encountered as the Indomitus Crusade pushed outwards from Terra.

At other times, Guilliman simply created a whole new Chapter of Prime Space Marines from the Unnumbered Sons formations to meet a given need such as the defence of a strategically important Imperial world. However, these new Chapters were not mixed and composed of only a single Primarch's lineage like their standard counterparts.

During all this, the soon-to-be Feral Sons remained within the ranks of the Greyshields, fighting along sons of all of the Primarchs. Their experience left an imprint on them however, as the Feral Sons gained an unnatural level of admiration for their fellow Primaris kinsmen. To this day, the Feral Sons retained their admiration for their fellow Primaris and, according to some, may have even began admiring them more after they became what they are now.

Battle of Rakuos
By the time of the Battle of Raukos at the very end of the Indomitus Crusade, only 20,000 Primaris Astartes remained within the depleted ranks of the Unnumbered Sons. The fight to defeat the Chaos forces emanating from the ancient Warp rift in Wilderness Space known as the Pit of Raukos proved to be the last campaign of the Unnumbered Sons, for at its successful conclusion, Guilliman brought the Indomitus Crusade to its end and disbanded the remaining Greyshield armies as he moved to intervene in the Plague Wars of Ultramar. Some were formed into new Primaris Space Marine Chapters such as the Dawn's Wolves, the Void Wyverns and the Wardens Metallicus, who seemed to have personally tasked themselves with the rebuilding of the Alconeus System and its neighbors. The remaining Unnumbered Sons were dispersed to already established Space Marine Chapters, where they would take the lessons they had learned fighting alongside Astartes of different lineages into units descended only from their own Primarchs.

Though many mourned of the Feral Sons mourned being cut from their fellow Primaris, many were happy that they would finally be recognized for their deeds instead of being forgotten among the Unnumbered Sons. Forged from the gene-line of none other than the Praetorian of Terra himself, the Feral Sons personally appointed themselves with patrolling the Cicatrix Maledictum in order to fight off the horrors that left the accursed, galaxy-wide wound and to be alongside their Primaris brethren who had also been tasked with the patrolling of the Cicatrix Maledictum.

However, a dark side of the Feral Sons had become apparent during their time as the Unnumbered Sons. Tasked with assisting the venerable and ancient Murdering Sons Chapter, the Feral Sons were bewildered and offended when they found out that the Murdering Sons had slaughtered an entire Hive City for no reason other than to sow fear within their enemies. After a short yet no holds barred melee between the two sides, the Feral Sons realized just how weak their older brethren actually were.

They were smaller in size, had lesser organs that were more prone to mutation and failure, were battered over their years of servitude and were issued equipment infinitely inferior to the ones the Feral Sons and other Primaris-only Chapters were issued. And to top it all of, they were concerningly vulnerable to the foul touch of Chaos. This led the Feral Sons to the conclusion that not only were the Murdering Sons senseless fools, but also that they, and all other Chapters that weren't created during the Ultima Founding, were weakling scum that were undeserving of respect or praise.

Chapter Homeworld
Mortanis is a Death World and also the homeworld of the Feral Sons. There are scattered forests of vertical dark green sheets of plant matter. The land is a maze of steep valleys. The animal life on this planet is a kind of protoplasmic ooze capable of temporarily forming itself into myriad shapes. The planet is home to extremely dangerous apex predators, leathery brown creatures that move faster than the eye can track. They have multiple heads. Many moons can be seen in the sky. The uncounted tribes of the planet are in a never-ending war against one another.

Fortress Monastery
Like all Astartes fortress-monasteries, Feral Menace is armoured and void-shielded to withstand any siege or bombardment that might befall it. Armed to repel attackers from land, air or space, its walls bristle with enough heavy ordnance to flatten a hive city. Every aerial approach to the fortress-monastery is overlooked by Icarus Pattern Lascannons, and a Macro-laser known to the Feral Sons as Dorn's Rage stands like a spear of vengeance to lance space-borne enemies from the heavens. The fortress-monastery's Librarius is a lightning-wracked spire where the Chapter's Librarians study their lore and chronicle the deeds of the Praetorian. They also preside over the Chapter's Astropaths as they relay psychic messages throughout the void, communing with the greater Imperium and those Feral Sons Battalions hunting across the galaxy.

The Feral Sons live apart from their people, descending down to the jungles only once in a standard decade to observe the wars between the tribes and to choose potential recruits for the Chapter. The constant warring ensures that the people remain strong, though the Feral Sons have to be vigilant that such feuds are not retained as recruits or recruit initiates.

Recruitment
Feral Sons, during years-long service, have come to the conclusion that a recruit must be strong of body, mind and soul. Due to the nature of their trials however, the Feral Sons usually require more recruits than other Chapters of their lineage would to get the same successful recruitment rate as them. Because of this Feral Sons usually pick their recruits in huge groups and pitting them against one another then handing the survivors in groups of 2 to 5 to a Brother Librarian and a Brother Chaplain so that they can manage the trials the recruits must go through together.

Though the trials change over time and certain inventive Chaplains and Librarians may come up with new ones, the following is a list of well known and regularly utilized trials a recruit must pass before joining the ranks of the Feral Sons:
 * Witnessing Their Doom: The recruit is stranded onto a chair that they can't escape from and then forced to watch hours of vid-recordings of their fellow humans being slaughtered by the alien, the mutant and the heretic. The lesson here is two-fold, the first being to understand the tactics of the enemy and learn from them before you even fight them. The second is to understand that the enemy cannot be trusted, negotiated or reasoned with, to understand that the enemy must pay for what they did to Mankind and its glorious people. Sometimes the chair is also equipped with sensors that will deliver pain to the one sitting on it to make the experience feel a lot more real than it is.
 * The Long, Silent Hunt: The recruit is released to the wilds with a chip-sized teleportation device implanted on his body and expected to survive a week without any assistance. At the end of the 7th day, he will be teleported back to the Fortress Monastery of the Feral Sons. If he does not survive, his body will be tossed into the seas of Mortanis and he will remain forgotten.
 * Your Best Nightmare: The recruit is put into sleep and will be subjected to countless visions, nightmares and offers by a Brother Librarian for approximately 15 hours. If the recruit survives it all without going insane, he may continue the trials.
 * Test of Iron: The final trial for a Feral Sons recruit. A rank and file Battle Brother is hand-picked by the Chapter Master to duel the recruit. While the Battle Brother is unarmed and unarmored, the recruit may choose to take light armor and a melee weapon of his choice. If the recruit survives against the Battle Brother for an hour, he will be accepted into the Feral Sons.

Chapter Beliefs
"The Space Marines have outlived their usefulness. The Ultima Founding and, by association, our creation is proof of the fact that the Adeptus Astartes were not strong enough to protect the All-Father and his people. Unfortunately however, those foul creatures believe us to be mutants and hell spawns, created by a madman and a heretic who thinks he can improve upon the All-Father's work! I ignore these accusations however, as such denial is only the second stage of grief and nothing more."

- Chapter Master Augustus Komna, talking about the Space Marines and the accusations coming from them.

Feral Sons have a remarkably grim determination to survive and out-do both their allies and opponents during battle, which ties directly to their tactics involving information warfare. This has tempered their character with a general disregard and suspicion of the mere trappings of honour and glory, favouring results by any means necessary. When faced with insurmountable odds, the Feral Sons manifest the ability to bend rather than break, and to change their tactics and withdraw to fight again where more prideful Chapters would perhaps chose to stand and die. Due to their unorthodox nature, the Feral Sons show an apparent disregard for the Codex Astartes, only using it when it is an absolute must.

The more important part of the Feral Sons belief system however is their complete and utter hatred for their older kin, whom they commonly refer to as "normals" or simply as "creatures" instead of Space Marines or Adeptus Astartes. This unnatural hatred stems from the Feral Sons' first encounter with Space Marines, where they fought alongside the Murdering Sons to bring a Hive World to compliance. Finding their older kin to be senseless, irrational and unreasonable creatures that lacked the strength, organs and overall genetical superiority the Primaris Space Marines had, the Feral Sons came to the conclusion that such creatures were not worthy of serving the Emperor, whom they refer to as the All-Father, and had outlived their usefulness. This wave of thought has resulted in the relationships between the Feral Sons and any Chapter that were founded before the Ultima Founding to, at the very best, be shaky or, at the very worst, to boil down to outright hostilities between the two sides. Despite this hatred however, the Feral Sons still respect their primogenitor Chapter, the Imperial Fists, with respect. Though this respect could be thought of as mere pity in secret, Feral Sons are stubborn in their respect hiding no pity within.

Though they may respect the Imperial Fists, their relationship with them is nevertheless shaky. This is primarily because of the aforementioned "hatred for normals" the Feral Sons carry and secondly because many Imperial Fists interpret the Feral Sons' respect as nothing more than mere pity, something which the very first Sons of Dorn refuse to accept from younglings who have declared themselves superior to all.

Interestingly enough however, the Feral Sons do not carry this insufferable level of hatred for mortals such as the Battle Sisters of the Adeptus Sororitas, the Imperial Guardsmen of the Astra Militarum or even the Techpriests of the Adeptus Mechanicus even though their mortality is questionable. As a matter of fact, in a sort of sick twist, the Feral Sons seem to actively adore and even glorify their mortal allies. This is thoroughly showcased in the Feral Sons' love for the Catachan Jungle Fighters, whom they refer to as "The Greatest of Them All" and in their love for the Adeptus Arbites, whom they claim are "Warriors and lawmakers who shine the brightest within the darkness of the All-Fathers worlds". This love for mortals comes at a great cost however, as the mortals Feral Sons adore so much have begun to treat the Feral Sons as their equals and thus have worsened the Feral Sons' already terrible relationship with non-Primaris Chapters even further.

However it appears that Feral Sons are confident enough to not be worried about these issues and, in a sort of sick twist, seem to have improved with this constant pressure applied to them by non-Primaris Space Marine Chapters and their supporters. While many consider this proof that they are true sons of Dorn even if they are Primaris Space Marines, others claim this to all be a facade they use to hide their inner worries and insecurities.

Chapter Gene-seed
The Feral Sons originate from the Imperial Fists gene-seed. However, due to their Primaris form, they do not suffer lacking the Sus-an Membrane or the Betcher's Gland. With the introduction of the genetic material from the Mortanian Tribesmen, the genome appears to have inherited their unnatural levels of patience and cunning as well as their more negative traits like lack of respect for outsiders.

Deathwatch Service
Due to the pre-existing xenophobic approach Feral Sons take while interacting with Non-Primaris Space Marines, finding them in Kill-Teams primarily made out of Non-Primaris Space Marines is a rarity unlike any other. When they do serve as a part of the Deathwatch however, they usually act as the intelligence officers or tactical planners of their Kill-Team while being sent on scouting missions semi-frequently.

Chapter Combat Doctrine
"The life of a good man is a continual warfare with his enemies."

- Brother Crobnus of the Feral Sons 2nd Battalion, 3rd Company.

The Feral Sons have refused to adopt the doctrines of their primogenitor and of the Codex Astartes, choosing to utilize doctrines of their own instead. First and foremost, the Feral Sons are a shock and awe force that utilizes regular and irregular Primaris Space Marine forces in open, urban areas while using and abusing each and every bit of information they have on their enemies to ensure a brutally efficient victory against their enemies. Because of their operations primarily relying on the information they have on their enemies, each and every member of the Feral Sons is expected to know each and every bit of information there is to know about the enemies the Imperium of Man has faced thus far.

Due to the nature of their tactics, Feral Sons have become well-known for being adept at fighting foes that rarely rely on stealth, such as Chaos Space Marines and Orks. Because these enemies are well known and usually utilize tactics similar to those of the Feral Sons, they have become easy prey for the young Primaris brethren of the proud sons of Dorn that are the Feral Sons.

Chapter Fleet

 * My Darling (Vengance-Class Grand Cruiser) - Flagship of the Feral Sons.
 * Magnificent Bastard (Victory-Class Battle Barge)
 * Blessings of Dorn (Nemesis-Class Battle Barge)
 * Masquerade Suite (Strike Cruiser)
 * Mighty 7th (Strike Cruiser)
 * Waltz (Strike Cruiser)
 * The Stone-Faced Witnesses (Strike Cruiser)
 * The Shrike (Strike Cruiser)
 * The Thorn (Strike Cruiser)
 * Iron Crusher (Strike Cruiser)
 * Grand Obliteration (Strike Cruiser)
 * Last of The Last (Strike Cruiser)
 * Holiness of War (Strike Cruiser)

Notable Feral Sons
Augustus Komna: The Chapter Master and General of the Feral Sons, Augustus Komna is a ruthless strategist who leads his Chapter with an iron fist. He was originally hand-picked from the Imperail Fists' homeworld of Inwit and sent to Mars to take part in the Primaris Project, he would be woken up during the Ultima Founding to become the Chapter Master of the Feral Sons. Not much is known about Augustus' personality other than the basics: He hates "normal" Space Marines, adores mortals and loves to taunt his enemies in open engagements.

Brother Hektor: Current Master of the Forge of the Feral Sons Chapter, Hektor is ambitious and multi-talented but ultimately worries that his Primaris status and his Chapter's huge amount of notoriety will cause him to meet the same fate as his family has in the past. He's also off put by how easily his brothers are killed once caught and makes sure this does not happen as often as it has thus far by giving them better equipment overall.

Chapter Relics
Dance of Decadence: A Master-Crafted Lightning Claw currently used by Augustus Komna, taken from the body of a fallen Slaaneshi Chaos Lord during an unknown campaign. This weapon seems to almost "empower" it's user, giving them endurance and agility way above that of the normal Primaris Space Marine.

Allies
N/A

Murdering Sons
"...Is this to make an image for yourself, or are you actually this demented and uncivilized?"

- A Feral Sons Battle-Brother to a Murdering Sons Astartes, during the Indomitus Crusade. The reason for the acrimony that exists between these two Chapters is not known with any certainty. Though many Imperial scholars theorise that some sort of crime was committed against one another, the truth is far simpler. During the long years of the Indomitus Crusade, when the forces of the Imperium were beset on all sides by the myriad of foes that beset the length and width of the galaxy, inevitably, many of the newly created Space Marine Chapters of the recent Ultima Founding often found themselves fighting alongside older and more esteemed Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes. It was during one such campaign that the Feral Sons came into contact with the brutal Astartes of the Murdering Sons. Both Chapters participated in a joint campaign upon the world known as Nekruhn. During this campaign the Feral Sons became infuriated with their fellow Chapter and how they had conducted themselves.

During one notable incident, the Murdering Sons systematically rounded up the inhabitants of an entire hive city and slaughtered every man, woman and child. When the Feral Sons came upon the abandoned city, this once vibrant settlement had been turned into a bloody abattoir. The Murdering Sons had performed such a cruel act in order to sow fear amongst the world's populace and to demoralise the insurrectionist forces that were responsible for instituting massive uprisings and insurrection across the planet. When the Murdering Sons were confronted by the newly arrived Feral Sons about their actions, a brief scuffle ensued between the two Chapters. Though there were no serious casualties, several Astartes were wounded during the ensuing melee. Considering their task complete, the Murdering Sons took their leave and left the Feral Sons to their own devices.

Following the conclusion of this campaign, the Feral Sons reported the Murdering Sons' conduct to the High Lords of Terra, but as of yet, there has been no recriminations or punishment meted out to those responsible for committing such an atrocity, much to the Feral Sons' chagrin. This incident has sown the seeds of lasting animosity between the two Chapters, causing a rift that would further widen as the Indomitus Crusade wore on. The relationship between these two Chapters is a cold one at best. The Feral Sons vehemently refuse to serve within any warzone that the Murdering Sons are operating in. The latter Chapter cares not for such petty squabbling, and shows casual indifference to their offended, younger Primaris brethren.

Quotes
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By the Feral Sons
"We should all have Plasma Incinerators! You get a Plasma Incinerator, you get a Plasma Incinerator, EVERYONE GETS A PLASMA INCINERATOR!"

- Hellblaster Sergeant Anthonius of Second Battalion, 3rd Battle Company.

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