A Blade in the Night

A Blade in the Night was an event in the history of the Obsidian Blades Space Marine Chapter that occurred following their mysterious absence for nearly two millennia. When they finally emerged from the shadows, they had been irrevocably changed from the Chapter they once were millennia earlier. They now wore re-painted camouflage pattern battle-plate and utilised stealth, adaptability and unconventional warfare as their tools and trade, exemplifying themselves as true Scions of the Ravenlord.

History
For nearly two standard millennia, little to nothing was heard from the debilitated chapter. Fragmented reports of silent warriors bearing the Obsidian Blades heraldry came in from wide across the Imperium, but in every instance their armour had been repainted to camouflage into the local environment. Only their left shoulder pad remaining unaltered, with the grey and black crossed blades visible beneath the camo cloaks and foliage items that adorned their armour. These marines would depart as silently as they appeared, never counting more than a squad or two in total (or at least, that was all that was observed), and often remaining undiscovered by imperial forces. The only sign that they had came and gone were the slaughtered and destroyed outposts of enemy forces. Battlefield investigations showed that the fallen forces had been taken by surprise, after long term periods of sabotage and assassination, demoralising and weakening enemy forces. Sentries and scouts were found dead at their posts, slit throats and signs of muffled dorsal eviscerations the only calling card of the silent and deadly Marines.

It is unknown to most Imperial authorities whether the Obsidian Blades are still an active Space Marine Chapter, but since they were never officially destroyed, they were never entered into the annals of the dead. They seem to prefer it this way, as if most believe they do not exist, they may better enact their covert operations and stealth attacks. What reports of the enigmatic marines that do surface, all tell a similar story. Silent warriors clad in shifting cloaks of camo about their similarly disguised power armour, Bolters equipped with marksman's sights and Combi-weapon additions, and armour often cannibalised from fallen allies and enemies alike. By far their most distinctive trait however, is the often ornate, and exotic, combat blades that they bear as personal sacred items and markers of certain achievements.