Angels Irredenta

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Angels Irredenta
Armorial of the Angels Irredenta
Brother Kenos of the 2nd Company, 4th Battleline Squad
Space Marine Chapter
Allegiance	Imperium of Man (Fidelitas Constantus)
Founding	2nd Founding
Successor of	Blood Angels (Sanguinius Lineage)
Chapter Master	Preator Oselium
Homeworld	NA/; Fleet-Based
Allies	Dawn Seraphs
Number of Marines	~1,000 Battle Brothers
Battle Cry	"Per aspera ad Sanguinem!" ("Through hardship to the Blood!")
Colours	Black, Silver, White

The Angels Irredenta Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes are a 2^nd Founding Chapter derived from the gene-seed of the winged Primarch, Sanguinius. Descended from the 82^nd Company of the Blood Angels Legion, these dark armored and grim Astartes stand apart from their kin of the Sanguinary Brotherhood. The dour brothers strictly adhere to the tenants of Sanguinius through the most draconian prism, driven by their zealous devotion to the Great Angel and their own belief that they are the truest embodiment of their Primarchs holy will. The panoply of these marines is finely wrought, and their art is sublime, just as their father chapter the Blood Angels. However, these Astartes wear the dun colors of black, white, and silver in contrast to the many hues of red that the Blood Angels and their other successors favor.

The Angels Irredenta do not find themselves worthy to wear the crimson of the IX^th Legion of old, as to them, they cannot wear that hallowed color until the territory once conquered by the IX Legion has been reclaimed. Led by their chaplain sergeants in crusades to reunite the compliances of the 31^st millennium, the Angels Irredenta campaign across the stars, solemn and unfulfilled. Until their crusades are complete, their blood is unworthy, and their deeds can never reach the heights of their ancestors of the Great Crusade.

As a Fleet Based Chapter, the Angels Irredenta are often on the move waging a never-ending war against the foes of the Imperium. Due to their obsession with reclaiming the worlds once conquered by the Blood Angels Legion, much of the chapter's time is spent defending the hallowed worlds listed upon their Scrolls of Reclamation, seeking new worlds, or brutally conquering those planets they believe to have once been tread by the blessed Great Angel. In their quest for knowledge of the IX^th Legion's old campaigns, the Angels Irredenta maintain a diplomatic cadre to try seek out the other chapters of the Sanguinary Brotherhood in order to ply them for information. These attempts are often met with failure due to the Angels Irredenta's condescending and hostile nature. Nevertheless, many old conquests have been identified and reclaimed in the name of Sanguinius. Previously conquered worlds that rise in rebellion are treated especially harshly for undoing the work of the IX^th Primarch and those traitors are often times completely wiped out in a terrifying blitz of rage by the dun colored Astartes.

The Angels Irredenta, despite their views on other chapters descended from Sanguinius, have an uncharacteristically close relationship with the Dawn Seraphs chapter. In the deep past of the Great Crusade, the IX^th Legion companies of the 82^nd and 197^th turned from bitter rivals to close allies that shared many triumphs and griefs. Ulitos Ostos, captain of the 82^nd and future founder of the Angels Irredenta, and Valian, founder of the Dawn Seraphs, were close comrades and their amity extended to their commands and their scions even ten thousand years later. The Angels Irredenta and the Dawn Seraphs have fought many battles side by side and have come to the mutual defense of their chapters on many occasions.

Despite apprehensive to join so many of their kin in battle, the Angels Irredenta were obligated by their oaths and their veneration to defend the Blood Angels chapter homeworld of Baal from the predations of the Tyranid Hive Fleet Leviathan during the Devastation of Baal. The chapter worships Sanguinius alongside the Emperor, though they fixate upon their gene-sire Through their veneration, they treat the world of Baal and its two moons as the most holy of locations. The assault by the Tyranids on the homeworld of the Great Angel was the greatest insult imaginable to the scions of the 82^nd Company. Due to the status of Baal being the homeworld and the original conquest of Sanguinius, the Angels Irredenta brought the full might of their chapter to bear.

In the ensuing battle, much of the chapter and its fleet was destroyed. The Angels Irredenta took heavy losses particularly in the void war, and later in the defense of the Arx Angelicum. Nearly 3/5^ths of the chapter was killed along with many of its officers by the claws and bioweapons of the Tyranids. Following the battle, the chapter was reinforced and brought back to full strength by an influx of the new Primaris Marines as supplied by the returned Primarch Roboute Guilliman. The integration of the new Primaris did not come easy and many of the Angels Irredenta lambasted the newcomers for having donned the red livery of the IX^th Legion while they were part of Guilliman's Unnumbered Sons. The new Astartes were eventually accepted though it took many years.

Following the opening of the Great Rift, the Angels Irredenta were thrown into crisis. Though much of the chapter had been lost in the Devastation of Baal, the greater blow was felt by the loss of so many Imperial Planets, namely those once conquered by the IX^th Legion, to the forces of Chaos and other factions. Feeling their work had been radically undone in an instant, the Angels Irredenta began aggressively plotting and conducting the reconquests of fallen worlds. The campaigns were particularly harsh in the new Imperium Nihilus and the chapter suffered great loss in the name of abiding by their chapter oath. Such losses necessitated new aggressive recruitment drives and the re-evaluation of the abilities of the chapter to reclaim so many worlds at once. Chapter Master Omenian ordered much of the chapter fleet dispersed to disparate battlefields to retake lost worlds as well as assist other Imperial assets in campaigns. The chapter would later assist the Dawn Seraphs in the defense of the Dragon Helms chapter's homeworld in the massive Battle of Hithlum during the Fourth Tyrannic War.

Chapter History

Great Crusade

Revenant Legion

The history of the Angels Irredenta started is the misty past of the Great Crusade and the Revenant Legion. Born upon Terra, the IX^th Legion of the Astartes were known as butchers even in their earliest days. In those far-gone days a warband developed within the Revenant Legion known as the Shroud Warband or Company. First formed under Captain Dagar, this warband was known for their high risk forlorn hope charges that would claim the lives of fellow Astartes and Imperial troops just as readily as a foe. The high intensity and thoughtless actions would eventually cause deep tensions with the IX^th's Dread Swords Warband under Varken, amongst the first of the Revenant Legion to be created. What started as a callous rivalry descended into bloodshed upon gore soaked fields of Tanid IV. The humans of this world defied the offer to join the Imperium and soon found itself facing the might of the IX^th Legion upon the field of battle. As the Dread Swords stormed the enemy trenches, they found themselves enmeshed in the charge of the fellow IX^th Shroud company.

In their battle fury, Captain Dagar of the Shrouds struck down veteran sergeant Akal of the Dread Swords. The sergeant had seemingly come between Dagar and the enemy commander, who the Shroud intended to dispatch himself. This brazen fratricide devolved into a pitched insane three way struggle between the two Revenant companies and the determined soldiers of Tanid IV. It took the personal intervention of Legion Master, Ishidur Ossuros to quell the blood lust of both sides. With honor demanded to be satisfied, Ossuros organized a duel between the champions of the two companies to settle the score. Captain Varken was attended to by his champion sergeants; Rarus, Yari and Balka. Opposite them stood Captain Dagar and his own sergeant champions: Gronlus, Welnet, Quintus, and Zar-nathen. The Dread Swords declined a fifth man as the spot rightly belonged to the slain sergeant Akal. The savage duel saw all combatants dead or wounded. Varken and Dagar died on each other's swords while Yari of the Dread Swords was killed alongside his captain. All of the Shroud company champions laid dead, save one; Gronlus. As Balka and Gronlus took captaincy of their respective companies they vowed their unending hostility though the two companies would never come to such violence again.

Now under the command of Captain Gronlus, the Shrouds would rebuild and sink back into the brutal campaigns that characterized their legion. For decades the ignoble warriors of the Shroud Company would continue their gore soaked existence in service to the Emperor of Mankind. Losses within the warband were high and Gronlus selected whichever wretched human stock they could get their hands on to stabilize their numbers.

Remade in Blood

Following the reuniting of the IX^th Legion with their lost Primarch, Sanguinius, the Revenants would be renamed. In a stirring display of humility and honor, the Great Angel did not use words of commands or haughty superiority when he first met his bloody and misguided sons. Instead, he knelt in the rain before his assembled gene-sons and pledged his loyalty to them. Having been treated as an equal for virtually the first time in their existence, the IX^th Legion were struck dumb by the display. Sanguinius then learned the names of each of his sons in turn and committed them to memory. It was shortly thereafter that Sanguinius led his sons in their first battle together. The IX^th conquered Teghar root and stem and at the end, the sons of Sanguinius fell to their knees weeping in pools of the blood of their enemies, basking in the light of their lord. And while they knelt in vitae, none brought any to their lips. As his gene-sons knelt to their father, just as Sanguinius had so recently knelt to them, he proclaimed to his sons the future. A future where they would not have to live as beasts. They would be angels just as he, bound together by blood. They would be his Blood Angels.

Counseled by his brother Horus, Sanguinius decided that the culture of his legion must first be brought back from the edge of darkness that the Legion had lived in for so long. To this end each of the Blood Angels companies would be paired with a company from the Luna Wolves Legion. The 82^nd "Shroud" Company would be paired with the XVI^th Legion's 67^th Company. For a decade the two companies would war side by side and the sons of Sanguinius and Horus would develop a deep admiration for one another. The 67^th company was one of the heavier assault based companies that utilized heavy Breacher Shields and Mk.III armor to wear down enemy positions in slow moving phalanxes. Wanting to move on from the reckless brazen assaults of their Revenant days, Gronlus asked Treska in assistance in retraining the Shrouds. Experience was the best teacher and above the world of Zevnary Primus, the 82^nd would put their new tactics to the test.

Aurë Catastrophe

" Our brothers, nearly three whole companies of Blood Angels, descended into those hells of iron to slay the mutant overlords and free this world. None now will ever see Baal again. In my dreams I go in after my Archein. In my dreams I stop him and we return to the surface to campaign across the stars again. In my nightmares I wish I had died with them. My heart is buried on Aurë, under miles of stone."

— Captain Valian of the 197^th Company, IX^th Legion

In 988.M30, twelve years before the Ullanor Crusade against the infamous Green Skin Empire, the 82^nd Company of the Blood Angels would be faced with their most devastating event of the entire Great Crusade. For ten years, Archein Ephrain had acted as Lord Commander of the 1066^th Expeditionary fleet. The fleet was twenty vessels in strength and was composed mainly of bulk carrying vessels and escorts alongside two cruisers supporting the battle barge Valediction. In addition to the might of the three Blood Angels companies, the 1066^th expedition carried a compliment of 8,000 Imperial Army troopers. With these tools Ephrain and his fleet had secured the compliance or cleansing of eight planets. The vaunted record of the 1066^th was soon be put to the test in their ninth compliance.

While seeking ever more planets to add to the realm of the Imperium, the 1066^th stumbled into the Aurë system. The star system was composed of fifteen planets though only one appeared habitable. To the surprise of the Expeditionary fleet, it was discovered that the inhabited world had a fleet of over thirty vessels in a cordon around the planet. It was quickly discerned that the inhabitants of the system were not human, and plans were quickly drawn up to dispatch the xenos. In a first strike, several squads from the 82^nd company and two squads from the 197^th would board two vessels respectively and bring battle to the enemy. Like squads Morand and Valian of the 197^th, Sergeants Ostos and Callistaren led their respective squads in the seizing of their assigned vessel and learned to their horror that the xenos utilized enslaved humans as rank-and-file troops.

The planet Aurë due to its planetary position within its solar system enjoyed days that lasted 72 standard Terran hours. However, due to the other planetary and lunar bodies surrounding Aurë, the nights of the planet lasted a little over 27 hours. As the war for Aurë ended its first day cycle the light faded to twilight and the viscous night life of the planet made itself known. Tens of thousands of beasts emerged from the many cave systems dotting the planet and engaged in the nightly slaughter that marked their life cycles. These beasts were not as they once were in the ancient past of Aurë. Long ago the humans of the world had once experimented on a variety of animals though the reason is lost to time. Evidently the experiments had broken their containment and quickly overrun the world. The mutants however detested daylight and fled to the dark caverns that honeycombed Aurë. Over thousands of years these mutants split off into other specialized sub species and infected nearly all corners of the planet. The long day cycle of the planet meant that only after 72 hours of daylight could the mutant beasts surface to feed, which they often did in large pacts which warred over territory and sought to claim the meat of other rival pacts. The human survivors eventually adapted to this mutant beast threat by building tall, defended walls which is the hallmark of all settlements on the planet.

The dread packs of night beast descended upon the Imperium forces who found themselves outside the walls of enemy citadels and cities and quickly overwhelmed both Imperial army and the disparate Blood Angel squads. Those cities that had their walls breached by Imperial forces now found those holes flooded by the mutant night beasts. Many chokast and human settlements under siege found their attackers swept away into fighting retreats while those that had breached walls were slaughtered. The Astartes were able to reform and create pockets of resistance hat held out until the long day cycle of Aurë began or otherwise were able to remove themselves by aircraft. Conducting the siege of a Rison fortress, Captain Dragoni of the 82^nd and ten squads from his company were soon surrounded by hundreds of the mutant creatures. Despite acting quickly, the Blood Angels were easily overwhelmed and forced to fight against both the Rison and the mutant forces. The battle lasted until daylight. Amongst the dead of those night ambushes was over 150 Astartes, including Dragoni. Sergeant Ostos had been badly wounded trying to defend his captain and paid the price in the loss of his right eye and sever damage to his face and torso. Dozens more battle brothers were missing. A full 2/3 of the Imperial Army forces deployed on the ground were torn apart and devoured by the beasts before having their remaining carcasses dragged back to caverns to be feasted on for the next 72 hours. With their commander killed, Lieutenant Tharen assumed command of the Shrouds.

After many months of slow destruction of chokast and their human slave forces the Blood Angels of the 1066^th Expedition had only the central palace of the chokasts left to conquer. The palace sprawled over the roots of the highest mountain on Aurë and lived in its vast shadow. The complex was heavily shielded and contained many walls and defenses. As the forces of the chokasts were slowly crushed the nobility of the mutant lords ordered all surviving forces to make a final stand at the seat of their power. Desiring his victory to be absolute, Captain Ephrain deployed the near totality of his space marines against the sprawling, shielded complex. At dawn at the very start of a new 72 hour cycle the assault of the Sons of Sanguinius commenced. Only four squads from each of the three Blood Angel companies were held in reserve should the assault drag on into the night hours. Captain Ephrain in his baroque Tartaros terminator armor led the main assault himself. The battle for the chokast palace was brutal and saw dozens of Astartes killed in brutal close combat within the first 24 hours.

After 40 hours of battle, the Blood Angels penetrated into the deep vaults of the chokast palace. The reserves from both the 82^nd and 217^th companies were summoned to assist with the push into the palace warrens and reinforce the depleted Space Marine forces. At the 60 hours mark the reserve squads of Asadore, Crellius, Morand, and Valian from the 197^th began to lose vox contact with their comrades as they fought deeper into the chokast vaults. Suddenly at the sixty-third hour of the assault the chokasts nobility sensing their imminent end treacherously detonated megatons of explosives placed throughout the deep sprawling caverns of the palace complex. The explosion sent earth flying kilometers into the sky and saw the remaining Imperial army forces killed along with all Legiones Astartes within the vicinity of the palace. The force of the explosion triggered a local earthquake that leveled many remaining chokast installations and collapsed thousands of caves across the region. Water, earth, and fire poured into crater left by the cowardly explosion. The four reserve squads of the 197^th were saved only by being stationed aboard the Valediction awaiting deployment. These few surviving warriors of the 197^th company could only watch from orbit as their beloved captain and all of their comrades were buried in millions of tons of rubble.

Of the 1,500 Blood Angels of the 1066^th expeditionary fleet only a scant 253 Space Marines, the majority of those being wounded from various companies, survived the final treachery of the chokast. In total the 197^th company had one hundred and seven battle brothers remaining thanks in large part to the squads held in reserve. Of the 82^nd and 217^th companies, only a few apothecaries and the wounded from the campaign remained to them with which to rebuild their companies. Ostos, having been wounded in the first night of the war, was now the most senior commander of the 82^nd Company. Horrified to find that only thirty one wounded brothers, and a few Sanguinary Priests made up the 82^nd, Ostos would become bitter and depressed.

Word of the disaster was sent out and after several weeks of waiting the Great Angel Sanguinius himself came to grieve the loss of so many of his sons. Sergeant Ostos was raised to the rank of captain by Sanguinius and ordered to take the remnants of the 82^nd back to Baal to reconstitute the company. Captain Ostos and the other survivors of the campaign begged their gene-father to remain and continue their forlorn hope of rescuing any survivors from the assault. Sanguinius, heartbroken, denied the request as the site of the chokast palace seemingly was naught by rubble, fire and churning earth. The 1066^th Expeditionary fleet was formally disbanded and the remnants of the 82^nd, 197^th, and 217^th companies boarded the Valediction for distant Baal.

Horus Heresy

Heresy Campaigns

After the campaign at Signus, the Blood Angels wandered the warp in a seemingly vain attempt to contact the rest of the Imperium. The Ruinstorm, a great warp storm, had been born by the Word Bearers at Calth and it now made navigation of the Immaterium even more difficult. Eventually the IX^th Legion made contact with the Ultramarines Legion and set up base on Macragge. While stationed there, the Legion began to rebuild as best they could. Discontent to languish upon Ultramar while the warriors the XIII^th fought upon the marches of Ultramar. Gaining permission from Sanguinius, the 82^nd took control of the Battle Barge Unforgotten Vale at the head of a small flotilla that included the 109^th and 271^st Companies Blood Angels. During the duration of Imperium Secundus, Captain Ostos and his fellow Astartes would fight brutal campaigns of attrition against probing Traitor assaults.

Eventually, all legion units were recalled in preparation for the Ruinstorm campaign. Having learned that the Emperor and the wider Imperium was still alive beyond the Ruinstorm, the I^st, IX^th, and XIII^th Legions assembled to try and breakthrough to Terra. What followed was a series of grueling engagements. Eventually, after a long campaign the Ruinstorm Astartes were given a small window of opportunity to strike towards Terra. Confronted with a Traitor rearguard armada, Guilliman and the Lion declared that the Blood Angels Legion would be allowed to head to Terra to defend the Emperor while they stay behind to combat the traitors where they could. Humbled, the IX^th Legion broke through the traitors and headed for their destiny.

Siege of Terra

The Siege of Terra would be the most catastrophic of any battle of the Horus Heresy, for the Imperium, and for the Traitors. The Blood Angels were doomed to suffer severe casualties in the battle and the loss of their Primarch. As the Imperial Fists, White Scars, and Blood Angels prepared for the coming of Horus, they had time to refit and rearm. Due to casualties sustained over the course of the Heresy, the legions had turned to the use of Inductii, hastily produced Astartes which were used to fill up the rapidly depleting Space Marine ranks. The Blood Angels were no different in this respect and much of the 82^nd Company came to be filled with these new rapidly grown brothers. The Shrouds were suspicious of their reinforcements, and many could not hide their contempt for the new reinforcements. Ostos especially considered the practice as an affront to the Astartes and was highly reluctant to associate with the Inductii despite them making up over half of his company now.

Like many of the companies of the Blood Angels in the first stages of the battle, the 82^nd was first deployed as part of the loyalist forces in the Void War. As now masters of boarding actions, the 82^nd were stationed as part of the Second Sphere defense around the planet of Jupiter. There they would lead boarding actions against incoming Traitor vessels. As the Void War approached the obvious conclusion of a Traitor victory, many Astartes were transferred to the Imperial Palace to await the brutal terrestrial siege.

The Shroud would eventually be redeployed alongside the majority of the IX^th Legion in the defense of the Gorgan Bar defenses. There the Iron Warriors Legion were making their push to destroy the fortifications of the Imperium and finally cause a breach into the Palace. What followed was a brutal siege within a siege. Between the cannonades the Iron Warriors would sally forth in great waves to overwhelm the sons of Sanguinius. The 82^nd as siege forces would be sent forth with their great shields to repel the escalades of the enemy. The 82^nd held a long stretch of wall near the western flank of the Gorgon Bar. Captain Ostos spent tireless days organizing, fighting, and retreating over and over again across the Shroud's section of the wall. One notable engagement occurred when the 18^th and 288^th were pushed back by the Traitors, resulting in the 82^nd being surrounded upon the ramparts. Hemmed in from all sides, the Blood Angels fought in the eye of a bloody maelstrom but never ceded their position. The company held out so long that eventually the Great Angel himself broke the encirclement along with his Sanguinary Guard and Dawn Breakers.

When the Ultimate Wall was breached by the Titans of the Deaths Head Legion the forces in the Imperium scrambled to retreat within the Palatine zone. What followed were arduous days of running combat, rearguard actions, and bloody sacrifice in the name of retreat. Luckily for the 82^nd, the company was able to retreat as a large grouping of twenty companies and were deployed very quickly to the Delphic battlement, the last fortified wall surrounding the Eternity Gate and the Sanctum Imperialis. Eventually tens of thousands of Astartes and many more mortal troops trickled into that final bastion. Led by Sanguinius himself, the forces of the Imperium prepared for one final stand against the overwhelming forces of the enemy, The Siege had been brutal for Legion, and the 82^nd Company now stood at 178 Space Marines, down from 500 at the start of the Void War. While the Astartes made their preparations, the Shroud Company was joined by the remnants of their closest allies. The 197^th Company led by Valian and the 217^th led by Dier took up positions beside each other, determined to stand side by side as they had done in the days of the 1066^th Expedition. As the massive assault on the Delphic Wall commenced, the Blood Angel companies fought fiercely against incredible odds.

Brother of the 82nd in combat

The final seventy eight brothers of the 82^nd would be part of the mad retreat across the Grand Processional towards the Eternity Gate once it was reported that Neverborn had breached the Sanctum. Thrown into a route, the final Imperial Forces could only throw up brief and increasingly desperate holding actions against the tide of World Eaters storming after them. To make matters worse, Ka'Bhanda, greater Deamon of Khorne, appeared once again to slaughter the sons of the Angel. The Bloodthirster stormed into the Blood Angels intent on killing as many as he could as fast as he could. Sanguinius himself confronted the daemon once again, and eventually threw down his arch foe, but not before hundreds of the angels' sons had been killed, amongst them two dozen of the 82^nd Company. Acknowledging the day had been lost, Sanguinius ordered a total retreat through the Eternity Gate. Following their father's command, Dominion Ostos led his final forces into the Sanctum Imperialis.

Within the walls of the Sanctum, Ostos was granted command of Denial 91, an ad formation of Blood Angels, Imperial Fists, and Raven Guard. Once the enemy began entering this most inner precinct via Warp rifts, it was all that Denial 91 could do to survive the onslaught. High above Terra aboard the Spirit of Vengeance, flagship of the Arch Traitor Horus, Sanguinius had been slain. The death of their gene-father burst against the minds of the Blood Angles and together, they fell into a black rage. Forgetting all sense of friend from foe, save each other, the sons of Sanguinius went made with blood lust and delusion. The Siege ended shortly thereafter, and the Imperium looked to recover who they could from the rubble of Terra. At the end of the battle, only 52 members of the 82^nd remained, many of them veterans of even the Aure catastrophe. While these were bitter loses, many companies suffered even greater.

Great Scouring

Embittered and enraged at the loss of his Primarch, the crippling of his Emperor, the deaths of his brothers, and the inability to revenge himself on the formally Luna Wolf company that once was allied with him, Dominion Ostos fell into a deep hate filled depression. The IX^th Legion returned to Baal to rebuild and lay Sanguinius to rest. It was to be a time of healing and contemplation at their losses and the emergence of the Black Rage, but for Ostos, it was time spent languishing while the Ultramarines and Dark Angels led the fight against the Traitors in the Great Scouring. Despite being ordered to lead the reconstituted 30th Company, Ultos Ostos refused to relinquish the designation of 82^nd, and the name of Shroud. Taking hold of his remaining Shrouds and hundreds of likeminded Blood Angels, Ostos boarded the Battle Barge Gilded Mask and struck out for the frontlines. Disgusted by the lack of action by the IX^th Legion, Ostos would fight alongside the Ultramarines for several years. Eventually the guilt of Sanguinius' death consumed Ostos and drove him to repair the damage done to the conquests of the Blood Angels during the Great Crusade. Gathering what knowledge, he could of all compliances done by the IX^th Legion, he directed his forces in a cleansing campaign. In many corners the Shrouds found worlds in revolt who had thrown off the dominion of the Imperium as soon as the Heresy had broken out. Disgusted by these apostates, Ostos dealt harshly with these worlds, in many cases slaughtering entire worlds.

As the IX^th Legion began to reenter the fight against the Forces of Chaos, many companies leant their strength to the crusading Shrouds, even defying orders from Legion Master Raldoron. The new 12^th Company of the Blood Angles, now made up of the remnants of the 197^th Company among others, and led by Captain Valian, heartily joined the 82^nd in a number of assaults against Chaos holdouts. At the world of Gilnus XVII, a world once conquered by the 197^th and 82^nd together, the two allied companies came together once more to thrown down the Traitor Army and Dark Mechanicum forces that had taken up residency there. For the final time in their lives, Dominions Ostos and Valian would fight side by side upon the battlefield, just as they had done since before the coming of Sanguinius. As Raldoron and Azkaellon, Herald of Sanguinius, finally cracked down upon the Shrouds and their satellite allied companies, all but the 82^nd returned to the fold. Though angered by Valian breaking with the Shrouds, Ostos ultimately left in continued friendship with his closest ally. With his allies falling back in line with the Legion, Ostos began to take orders from the Blood Angels high command once again.

Chapter Founding

Several years after the reuniting of the Shrouds with the IX^th Legion, the 2^nd Founding occurred across the Imperium. Led by Roboute Guilliman of the Ultramarines, the Legions would be broken apart to form smaller chapters of 1,000 marines each. Valian of the old 197^th was granted a Writ of Succession and formed the Dawn Seraphs around the core of his old company. Valian had extended an invitation to Ostos; to have him and any surviving members of that company join the new Dawn Seraphs in retaking Aurë, the site of their companies' famous disaster. The offer was rebuffed, though the Astartes parted on good terms. The Dawn Seraphs and the future Angels Irredenta would maintain close contact over the millennium despite the dour outlook the sons of Ostos would adopt. Tired of combating the dour outlook and misadventures of Ostos and his Shroud veterans, the leaders of the now slitting IXth Legion permitted a Writ of Succession be granted to the ancient Terran. Gathering to himself the survivors of the 82^nd Company, twenty-one in all, as well as those within the crumbing Legion who shared his irredentist outlook, Ostos took to the stars as a newly proclaimed Chapter Master. Taking for his new chapter the name of Angels Irredenta and an angelic face with a single black tear of grief upon it as a badge, the new fleet based forces struck out to fulfill their "Sanguine Crusade".

Having become disgusted by the usage of red being used by the Blood Angels and now their successors, Ostos declared the use of red coloring to be forbidden in the chapter. The ancient legionary believed that only when the conquests of the IX^th Legion were made whole again would the Angels Irredenta earn the right, unlike others in the Sanguinary Brotherhood, to wear the colors given to them by Sanguinius. In the place of crimson, black paint would be the primary while silver marked out the trim of pauldrons, wrists, the back of the gauntlet, and the right knee (the only remnant of the color scheme of the 82^nd company). White was reserved for the helms of Sergeants, and white would further become an extensive honor marking in the future.

Angels Irredenta Astartes

Having only several hundred marines making up their chapter at the beginning, the Angels Irredenta first began an aggressive recruitment campaign. Though given ample resources for the creation of their chapter, including many suits of power armor, three strike cruisers, and a battle barge, the lack of manpower prohibited the young chapter from carrying out its goals. Ulitos Ostos, now known by the title of Preator, ordered the fleet to return to those worlds that the 82^nd Company had once fought upon. Whilst there, the Angels Irredenta reaped a heavy toll upon the populations in the form of a large tithe of adolescents who might furnish the Chapter with might. The reasoning, as in most things of the chapter, was that these worlds knew the touch of the IX^th Legion in their glory and had been judged as worthy of mercy by the Great Angel. This pattern repeated over half a dozen worlds until the holds of the fleet were filled with potential aspirants.

First Conquests

Liberation of Hadrio

A century after the chapter's founding, the Angels Irredenta began their first crusades in earnest. Though small teams of Astartes had contributed to battles across much of the galaxy during the last century, the Angels Irredenta had primarily been concerned with rearing a full chapter of Space Marines. The opportunity arose in what is now know in current chapter lore as "The First Conquest". The battle of Hadrio had taken on a legendary quality in the recent days of the Angels Irredenta and in its current retelling, in actuality a conflation of several early conquests, mixed with a significant amount of hyperbole, myth, and quasi-religious significance. Much of the original tale has been lost to the ages, notably in the large loss of chapter lore in the event known as the Desecration of the Scrolls. In reality, it is known that Hadrio was the location for the first conquest of a "Sanguine World" by the Angels Irredenta. Leaning on the existing knowledge of their Chapter Master, the Angels sought out the closest known to fallen outside the current boundaries of the Imperium.

The sons of Sanguinius arrived to learn that the planet had been subjugated by Traitor Astartes long ago. The numbers of the Heretics were not great, and the combined might of the Fleet Based chapter was more than enough to handle the few dozen Chaos Marines. Moving in to release the enslaved population, the Angels Irredenta were shocked to learn that much of the population had in secret been worshipping the Great Angel since the Great Crusade. In one hidden fane underground, there was a magnificent stone statue of Sanguinius that had been raised and then protected by his furtive followers. Deeply impressed with those who had withstood the temptations of Chaos, Praetor Ostos decreed that the chapter had been fated to come this way, a concept that was foreign to most Astartes in those days.

The furtive fane would become the foundation for a magnificent cathedral complex that the chapter would help build, maintain, and protect for several thousand years. Eventually, the world was cut off by warp storms in the 33rd Millenium and was purged by Traitor Marines. The planet was subsequently reconquered once more, but all that had been magnificent about the world was wiped away. Much to the chagrin of later Astartes of the Angels Irredenta, the location of the world and much of the history surrounding it was lost over the next thousands of years.

Battle of Bex Sai-Tarno

An early campaign of the Angels Irredenta saw the chapter assisting a dozen Guard Regiments against the privations of the Traitor Warband known as the Scarred Axes. Born from a collection from the Chaos Legions, the warband had descended upon the manufacturing world of Bex Sai-Tarno. A company from the Emerald Lancers Space Marines was dispatched to combat this threat within their territory, but their forces were soon destroyed by the far larger Traitors. With no other Astartes assets in the area, the 3^rd and 7^th companies of the Angels Irredenta were sent to throw back the warband. The Astra Militarum had reacted first and sent twelve regiments to try and hold back the tide of Traitors, but soon the mortal soldiers were in full retreat against the awesome power of the dark Astartes. Arriving aboard the Battle Barge Delphic Dreams, and Strike Cruiser Unshorn Wings, the Angels Irredenta quickly engaged the Traitor Fleet.

Conducting brutal boarding actions, the Angels Irredenta carved a path through their hated foes. Those Traitors who were deployed on the surface could only look up and watch their battle ships now falling like stars through the atmosphere of Bex Sai-Tarno. Wanting to demonstrate the complete dominance of their chapter, Captain Zarko of the 3^rd Company unleased a vicious orbital bombardment campaign that withered much of the Traitor forces. Seeing their enemies gather in Hive Marklia in a final show of defiance, the Angels Irredenta finally deployed to the surface to face the enemy head on. Supported by tens of thousands of Guardsmen and several Knights, the sons of Sanguinius waged a brutal war of attrition in the mega city. By the end of the battle, the hive city lay in ruins and most of the 3^rd and 7^th companies were killed along with the vast majority of the Guardsmen. Yet despite their losses, the Angels Irredenta planted their standard upon the stacked corpses of the Scarred Axes and their paltry followers.

Clarision Crusade

The campaign which was known as the Clarision Crusade after its top general, was aimed at smashing an Ork WAAAGH! which had slaughtered the entire Drepplanely star system. The WAAAGH! was led by warboss Ugalug Spinesnappa and now occupied the five worlds of the Drepplanely system. Intent on avenging the slaughtered human population that once dwelt there, the Imperium would assemble a formidable crusade. The campaign as laid out by General Claris would require nearly 20 guard regiments, several fleets from the Imperial navy as well as the the use of several Adeptus Astartes chapters. Joining this call to arms was elements of Astartes chapters, the Winged Helms, Silver Scions, Crimson Fists, as well as four Blood Angels successors; the Dawn Seraphs, Angels Irredenta, Charnel Guard, and Angels Vermillion. This campaign also marked the first time in many centuries that the former IX^th Legion captains Ostos, Valian, and Zephon had reunited. While the years after the death of their gene-father had been hard, Valian found Zephon to be dour and Ostos yet more dour. Despite the grimness of their chapter masters, the reuniting of the sons of Sanguinius was a welcome one. The Angels Irredenta and the Charnel Guard were not at full strength yet had been selected for the crusade due to their mobile nature as fleet based chapters. The Dawn Seraphs had likewise been selected due to their proximity to the conflict.

The battles against the Orks of WAAAGH! Spinesnappa were brutal yet decisive. The Imperial Navy suffered heavy losses to Ork junk vessels and especially to reckless green skin boarding actions. As the naval vessels were being smashed apart from within and without, the Angels Irredenta pushed in to blunt the worst of the xenos assaults. Enticed by the bold move of the Irredenta, the Orks rushed forward in a great wave to either blow the vessels out of the void, or take them over themselves. Hundreds of Ork assault ships swarmed over the Battle Barges and strike Cruisers of the scions of the 82^nd Company, though many of the Ork vessels were destroyed in the attempt. Ulitos Ostos gathered his bodyguard, the Umbral Guard, and moved to confront the hulking aliens himself. The Red Thirst began consuming the sons of Sanguinius as they butchered hundreds of Greenskins in their halls and the Preator even gave the command to open the hangers wide to allow easier access for the Orks to land. Gathering the cream of his 1^st Company, including two dozen hulking Terminators, in the main embarkation deck, they formed a redoubt which the incoming Orks threw themselves against time and time again. Great heaps of corpses were piled up against the boarding shields and barricades of the Angels Irredenta before Ostos gave the command to charge and route the remainder of the aliens aboard the Angelus in Absentia. As more Greenskin attack craft began to encircle the Astartes and Navy fleets, the black colored Chapter Master gave the signal for the other Astartes vessels to now push in. The vessels of the other six Astartes chapters present acquitted themselves well and soon cast the Orks out of the system.

The Astartes likewise supported the Guard regiments in systematically purging each of the overrun planets in the Drepplanely system. The four Blood Angels successors took it upon themselves to assault the citadel of Warboss Ugalug Spinesnappa. Bursting from the sky upon wings of fire, seven hundred sons of Sanguinius fell upon the very parapets of the Ork's fortress like the legion of old. The brothers of the Blood slaughtered their way into the sanctum and there faced the hundreds of elite guards of Spinesnappa. The three chapter masters then stood forth and battled the massive warboss themselves, the first time since the battle for the Eternity gate that the former Blood Angels had warred side by side. After a lengthy battle, Warboss Ugalug was felled with Zephon's power sword through his right eye. With their warboss dead the remaining Orks were routed and eradicated.

Weeping of Onariean Primus

For hundreds of years Ulitos Ostos led the Angels Irredenta from aboard the Angelus in Absentia, the Chapter Barque of the sons of Sanguinius. With flame in his hand and vengeance in his heart, the first Preator of the chapter waged an endless crusade against the foes of the Imperium and those who had trespassed upon the worlds once won by Sanguinius and the IX^th Legion. In the year 367.M32, his reign came to an end.

Upon the world of Onariean Primus, an uprising had occurred that was led by the Alpha Legion, the clandestine Traitor Legion of Alpharius and Omegon. The world's leader, King Gladio, had rallied his feudal world into industrialization and a massive conscription. Billions of troops were raised every year and under the direction of the Red Venom Warband, the world of Onariean Primus had become a formidable challenge. Great fleets were raised or redirected by the Alpha Legion and taken over, and outlying moons and asteroids were turned into fortresses riddled with cannons. All this was done in the name of freedom from the Imperium which had come to shackle the lives of the word's inhabitants and saddle it with crippling tithes. Onariean Primus had once been conquered by Sanguinius and his sons but had fallen under the sway of the Warmaster Horus during the great Heresy. For this betrayal, Onariean Primus was ordered to raise dozens of regiments every century in addition to handing over much of their harvests. A suitable reward for treachery some would say, though the people chaffed hard under these measures. With the monarchy dishonored and the citizens overworked and resentful, the Alpha Legion had but to arrive and promise independence. So it was that five hundred Astartes from the XX^th Legion made Onariean their base of operations and their task.

Ulitos Ostos, Founder of the Angels Irredenta

Word spread eventually to the Imperium that the Onariean system had turned on the Imperium and had even slaughtered the planetary governor and the thousands of PDF troops that had been stationed there. Incensed at the loss of the tithes collected from the Primus world, three Guard regiments were diverted to take back the rebel system. Despite having a naval escort and numbering nearly fifty thousand, the Imperial forces were destroyed before they could even make it past the system's outlying defenses, though several outposts and even one world had been captured. Embarrassed to have been so humbled by a rebellious system, new orders were dispatched to reform a new punitive force. While the Imperial forces were gathering, word was spread to Astartes chapters in order to try and secure but a few of the Angels of Death for the coming campaign, they were shocked when the near entirety of the Angels Irredenta chapter fleet arrived at the muster point. Enraged to hear of the betrayal of a Sanguine World, Ulitos Ostos had recalled his chapter's crusading fleets and moved to meet the Imperial forces. Although General Sara'ti was awaiting the answer from several other Astartes Chapters, Preator Ostos insisted that the Angels Irredenta would lead the Guard and Naval forces themselves and in fact, wanted to other assistance from Space Marines. So it was that the Angels Irredenta, seven companies in all, moved at the head of a retaliation fleet comprised of robust naval assets and carried over a million Guardsmen.

The war for the Onariean system was brutal. Even with the ships of the Angels Irredenta leading the way, countless traps, ambushes, forts, outposts, and full-scale naval battles hindered the void war. More than once, the Crimson Venom warband would itself assault the Imperium's fleet and cause extensive damage with their Battle Barge and Strike Cruisers, only turning to retreat when the Angels Irredenta moved to confront their traitor cousins. With the fleet being ravaged on the flanks by the rebel and Traitor Astartes attacks, the sons of Sanguinius scattered their fleet amongst the Imperial Navy assets. Though Ostos knew he was playing into the Alpha Legion's desires; he had but little choice if he was to bring the rest of the Imperial crusade force to their main objective still in one piece. As the Strike Cruisers and support vessels of the Astartes were dispersed amongst the fleet, the Alpha Legion struck again and again. By the time the Imperium's flotilla had breached the defenses around Onariean Primus, two Strike Cruisers had been lost along with a dozen Naval assets, including the tens of thousands of Guardsmen within each.

As the fleet grew closer to Onariean Prime and its blockade, the Alpha Legion assets melted away and it was even thought they may have translated back into the warp. Preator Ostos himself voiced that he believed the Traitor Astartes had withdrawn having supported the rebellion and bloodied the invasion forces during the slog through the void. With nothing left blocking their assault upon the main rebel fleet, the Imperial Navy and Angels Irredenta engaged. Though the rebel fleet fought tenaciously, the rebels were no match for a trained navy and especially not against the likes of Space Marines and their serfs. The largest rebel ships became targets of Astartes boarding actions and dozens of squads of Angels Irredenta set about the grim work of clearing each vessel, corridor by corridor. As each rebel ship fell to the bolters and blades of the black armored Space Marines, each ignited the dark of the void like flashes of stars. The Alpha Legion forces who had secured the vessels for the rebels now revealed their plans. Knowing of course, that the rebels could not truly defy the Imperium, the rebel ships were rigged to explode once they had been boarded. As the XX^th Legion's plans came to fruition, almost an entire company of the Angels Irredenta were lost.

Swearing vengeance, Ostos ordered the immediate ground invasion of Onariean Primus. The remaining Imperial Guard and Space Marines braved intense anti aircraft fire before they landed in a mountainous area. These craggy peaks became their redoubt as millions of rebels closed in around them. What followed became legendary in the history of the Angels Irredenta. Upon three small mountains and in their valleys, seven hundred thousand Guardsmen and six hundred Space Marines held off millions of enemies. The paths and valleys were filled with bodies, seas of rebel dead lay like a carpet across the battlefield, waves of farmers turned soldiers were mown down thousands of times. Artillery dueled one another as tanks climbed heights to fire upon one another. First Captain Darentius led half of the Veteran 1^st Company in repeated armored sallies into the open upon the back of a Fellblade tank. Lance strikes and orbital ordinance rained down on the rebel army, but billions more closed in on the mountains like a pilgrimage. It wasn't long before the Alpha Legion's Red Venom warband reappeared amongst the mortal troops and engaged the Angels Irredenta in devastating unexpected assaults and ambushes amongst the boulders and cliffs on the mountains.

After a week of nonstop fighting, the mountains, now called the Emperor's Tridents, were a reeking charnel house. Danger close orbital strikes had reduced large amounts of the mountains to rubble in areas, and the landscape was utterly changed. Imperial Guard forces had been ground down by constant waves of enemies and had run out of ammo long before the Rebels had run out of bodies. Reduced to bayonets and scavenged weapons, the soldiers of the Imperium were systematically killed in great numbers. All but a few thousand were slain and operated in scattered bands hitting and running. The sons of Sanguinius had likewise been greatly reduced. Far hardier than Guardsmen, the Astartes had become whirling juggernauts of death long after their bolts had run out. Even one Astartes with his fists could destroy entire companies of Rebels and did. Of the six hundred Angels Irredenta who had landed upon the Emperor's Tridents, half remained. Most of the Crusade's forces had been spent on this one battle, and only around thirty thousand Guardsmen remained in reserve with the Astartes' final two companies in the void. Captain Haldan of the 8^th Company pleaded with his Preator to withdraw from the battlefield but was rebuffed. The Chapter Master only requested additional supplies and the deployment of more Guardsmen to the surface. The Imperial Generals and Haldan complied. The reinforcements and supplies arrived just as millions more fresh rebels moved in to assault the mountains. The battle began anew.

Another several days of brutal battle went by before the enemy was beaten back again. As the battered Astartes rallied around their Chapter Master upon the tallest of the Tridents, the Red Venom Warband emerged from the corpse fog, determined to finish their prey. The Alpha Legion ships engaged the Imperial fleet above the world in a bid to distract from orbital assistance in the ground combat. Ulitos Ostos, wounded a dozen times over, stood face to face to meet his Traitor cousins. Though anticipating destroying the Angels Irredenta easily after their weeks of impossible odds, the sons of Sanguinius let slip the Red Thirst and Black Rage and charged the XX^th Legionaries. The combat was balanced on the knifes edge as the gene flaw enhanced warriors began negating the numbers of the Traitor Astartes. Praetor Ostos, his Umbra Guard dead around him, took hold of his ancient Paragon Blade, Vindex, and strove into the enemy. The ancient veteran of the IX^th Legion slew over a dozen Alpha Legionaries before being bisected by a XX^th Legion champion. Despite his mortal wounds, Ostos hewed the legs of his killer and slew him in a bloody grabble in the mud. The Astartes reserves from the fleet, despite being banned from interfering, arrived moments later and destroyed the last of the Red Venom warriors. Ostos entrusted his sword and legacy to Captain Darentius, charging him with continuing the Sanguine Crusade, and then finally laid down his burdens and died.

The crusade for Onariean Primus was won soon after by the remaining four hundred Angels Irredenta and the near total population of the world was put to the sword or enslaved. The Angels Irredenta buried their founder and their many brothers in tombs in the remnants of those battered mountains, and bid their new slaves build a great shrine to the ancient Terran. Onariean Primus would evolve into a cemetery world and become renamed to Redeelian. Here the Angels Irredenta would continue to bury their honored dead in the site of the great battle in the Emperor's Trident mountains. The world continues to give tithe to the Imperium, though tens of thousands of slaves continue to maintain the cemetery and are bound to the Angels Irredenta.

War of the Beast

Desperate Defense

In 544.M32, a colossal Ork WAAAGH! led the enigmatic Warboss known as The Beast, erupted across all sectors of the Imperium. Billions of Greenskins flooded across Imperial territory and devastated hundreds of planets. As the crusading chapter, the Angels Irredenta were spread far and wide across the Imperium. Dozens of smaller strike groups performed small operations and missions while three major crusade fleets, named Revenant, Blood, and Vengeance, acted as nomadic bases of operation, as well as the armored fist of reconquest crusades. So it was that when the great WAAAGH! broke against the borders of the still recovering Imperium, the Angels Irredenta were initially unable to offer concentrated support. Acting upon his own prerogative, 2^nd Captain Vestiel from the Revenant Fleet recalled nearby Angels Irredenta strike teams and ordered the planet of Richalo Delta-Gamma as the rendezvous point. There the Revenant Fleet fought their first engagement of the War of the Beast against an invading Ork horde. The Orks, while large in numbers, was easily outmaneuvered by the expert Astartes voidsmen, and the xenos were easily fought off when they managed to board any of the ships of the Angels Irredenta. After crushing the incursion into the Richalo system, Captain Vestiel decided to continue waring in this corner of the Segmentum Obscurus, assisting in any Imperial defenses they could.

Across the Imperium, thousands of planets were quickly falling to the unmatched tidal wave of xenos. Praetor Yamnaya, third Chapter Master of the Angels Irredenta, was torn on how the chapter should respond to such a colossal invasion. Many Imperial worlds of import were pleading for any and all reinforcements, yet it fell to the Preator to try and defend any and all Sanguine Planets currently under Imperial control. Pulled into a hundred different directions, Yamnaya made the drastic decision to break apart his fleets and scatter them into a multitude of strike forces that would reinforce PDF and Imperial Guard regiments that were either defending Sanguine Worlds or standing athwart the path to one. The main Angels Irredenta fleet, Vengeance, would disperse but leave a formidable core of vessels that would act as a response force to the most critical of fronts.

Across a hundred battlefields, the scions of the 82^nd Company fought hopeless battles against an ocean of foes. Upon the world of Vestus Nox, three Tactical Squads under Veteran Sergeant Zarlfus joined a dozen Guard regiments in combating an Ork invasion. None were heard from again, and the planet went dark after several weeks of hellish war, the glories and heroism displayed upon the surface lost forever under a tide of green flesh. Two squads of the Angels Irredenta were sent to reinforce the Palatine Heralds Chapter upon their homeworld, which now became the focus of hundreds of thousands of Orks. The world held, but the sons of Sanguinius who were sent there perished to a man. On the world of Humd XV, a demi company of the chapter deployed alongside two hundred other Astartes, but only but five brothers survived. The story was much the same across all the deployments of the Angels Irredenta in that time.

War for the Praxmodar Sector

After years of grim news from the battlefields, Praetor Yamnaya recalled all of the chapter's fleets into one force. Now mostly reunited, the Angels Irredenta performed dozens of hit and run campaigns that turned the flank of many Ork offensives and redirected entire fleets. The chapter would eventually become engaged in what was known as the Praxmodar Front, a defensive line of Imperial systems and worlds that had become a brutal charnel house of resistance against the Great WAAAGH! Joining with hundreds of billions of Imperial Guard, and thousands of other Space Marines, the Angels Irredenta fought battle after battle in defense of their small pocket. The front was based upon the vital forgeworld of Praxmodar Alpha, a planet that supplied incredibly vital equipment and logistics to the entire Praxmodar Sector. The Angels became fast allies of the Lapis Lions and the Red Tower chapters, and the three would often act as unstoppable vanguard units in the void, used to buy time for evacuations or as a blunt weapon of death against the xenos. The Imperium ceded world after world in the Praxmodar front, but only after watering their losses in the blood of billions of Orks. Though losses in the wars were great, heroic legends were born upon forlorn battlefields such as Grei Kanlo, Quintus Rex, Xil XXVIII, and Ereno.

Amongst the most famous in these dour battles was the Stand of Korde. On the world of Tani Epsilon, a massive evacuation was being conducted by millions of Imperial Guard. The world was home to many billions, but more importantly, a Mechanicus Enclave that operated a research and archive of incalculable value. An Ork splinter fleet was heading right for the world, ironically drawn by the concentration of Imperial assets there, and even millions of Guardsmen would be able to do little to stop it. Responding to this impending disaster, 5^th Captain Korde of the Angels Irredenta arrived with three Strike Cruisers from his own chapter and a motely fleet from other Chapters and the Imperial Navy. Placing their vessels in the path of the Ork fleet, a massive battle ensued in name of buying time for Tani Epsilon. Though outnumbered, each ship of the Imperium fought like a caged tiger. Hundreds of Ork ships were annihilated by Strike Cruisers even as the Astartes ships were drowning in Ork boarding actions. After an exhaustive battle, the Imperial fleet was splintered apart and forced to withdraw, all but the ships of the Angels Irredenta. Refusing the cede any ground to the xenos, Captain Korde continued the war in the void while simultaneously fighting a bitter battle for the control of his ship against thousands of rampaging boarders upon his flagship. Realizing that his ship would soon be wrested from his control, the 5^th captain ordered the Strike Cruiser to be intentionally crashed upon a small craggy moon in the hopes that the impact would kill the greater number of invaders aboard the ship. The ship crashed upon the moon in a great impact that spared nearly thirty Astartes and killed most of the aliens. Though they were now stranded, Korde ordered the few remaining functional guns on the crashed ship to continue firing against the xenos craft in the void above and managed to draw the attention of the rest of the Ork fleet.

Irrationally drawn to the defiant martial display by the 5^th Company upon the moon, the Orks charged down to the crash site in great numbers. Amongst the wreckage of the Strike Cruiser, Fanged Hand, the Angels Irredenta battled against the greenskins. Letting slip the Red Thirst, the survivors of the 5^th company fought like a force many times their size. Hundreds of Orks were butchered by mere dozens of Space Marines in the twisting monument of detritus. Orks were drawn into ambushes amongst the wreckage, chased Astartes into the twisting intact corridors of the Strike Cruiser never to emerge out, or were slaughtered in the open by daring black armored warriors. When their ammo had run out, the Space Marines took up blade and twisted metal to wield as weapons. Though they slaughtered thousands of xenos, thousands more eagerly joined the battle from the void. As the few remaining brothers of the 5^th Company fought in an ever tightening circle, an Ork Warboss pushed his way to the front of the melee. Collosal in size and wielding massive power claws, the Warboss charged the surviving Angels Irredenta. Five of the sons of the Angel were killed before Captain Korde delivered the death blow to the Ork chieftain. With only four battered and bleeding Angels remaining, the rest of the gathered Orks now rushed forward to finish the job. It is said that Korde wielded Ork jawbones as weapons in his final moment, cutting and slicing with them before falling to a tidal wave of hacking swords and claws. Brother Tarnost, one of the final remaining Space Marines in that final clash, was crushed beneath an avalanche of wreckage and presumed dead by the rampaging Orks. Tarnost survived his burial and instead slipped into a healing coma, which he would remain in for another decade before being recovered by the Emerald Banner chapter and was eventually returned to his few remaining brothers following the war.

Through the 5^th Companies valiant defiant stand, the world of Tani Epsilon was mostly evacuated before the depleted Ork host arrived to assault the planet. Because they had taken so many casualties in the Void war and subsequent battle against the Angels Irredenta on the moon, the Orks were repelled by the remaining Guard forces long enough for the soldiers to make an ordered retreat. One Strike Cruiser of the Angels Irredenta, Pale Grave, was able to withdraw from the battle along with the rest of the reinforcement fleet and rejoin the Imperial lines.

Battle of Praxmodar Alpha

Though the forces of the Imperium bled the enemy for each inch of territory, the defense of the Praxmodar Sector began to collapse under the weight of relentless xenos assault. For two years the Imperium had been subjected to a level of consuming warfare not seen since the days of the Horus Heresy, and like the Heresy, the Imperium was taken completely unawares. Terra itself had come under assault and many of the Space Marine chapters had been diverted to protect Segmentum Solar and those worlds most vital to the Imperium. With reinforcements for the Praxmodar Sector diminishing and the Ork Warlord known as the Beast executing a relentless campaign of slaughter against the domain of Humanity, the Imperium stood at the brink. Imperial forces in the Praxmodar Sector fell back to their next pre-prepared worlds, with the greater part retreating to the important Forgeworld of Praxmodar Alpha. The Mechanicus planet had two years to prepare for the inevitable coming of the Orks, and the prepared defenses had become great indeed.

A brother of the Angels Irredenta

Amongst the defenders of Praxmodar Alpha was the entirety of the Angels Irredenta, Lapis Lions, Red Tower, Carved Leviathans, and Molten Trees, supported by a smattering of units from other chapters. These thousands of Astartes joined ranks with hundreds of millions of Imperial Guard, and Imperial Navy. Central to the defense of the Forgewold, was the vast armies of the Mechanicus. Tens of millions of Skitarii, Battle Servitors, Robots, and pressganged militia stood ready to face the Greenskin onslaught. At the core of the Praxmodar Mechanicus forces however, was the Titans of Legio Tonitrus. The Legion, even in those days, was not large and could field around sixty five Titans, the most significant being the Imperator Class Iram Ferrea. Given this supreme firepower, the Imperium and the Mechanicus felt something approaching confidence in their ability to withstand the Ork hordes.

The Orks who had long assaulted the Praxmodar Sector finally arrived in their massive numbers to take the fight to the center of the Imperium's defense in that region. Legions of xenos attack craft threw itself against the stout defenses of the Imperium and were destroyed in their thousands. Moons, asteroids, and artificial stations all made up the outer defenses of the system, and many were manned by squads or companies of Astartes. Like all Ork fleets, the xenos had cobbled together whatever they could find to face the Imperium's might. Though bolstered by retrofitted or revived Imperial Naval vessels that had been lost in this region of the war thus far, they could still not compare to the organized naval battle lines of the humans. Unable to match long ranged weaponry, the Orks did what they did best, and charged their fleet straight for their foes. Though they suffered terrible losses, the Orks closed the stellar distance, and the vanguard of the void war quickly devolved into a knife fight. Ork hulks, bristling with guns, drew in close to Strike Cruisers and Cruisers, each bombarding the other with massive guns and broadsides. Swarms of Ork winged attack craft engaged Imperial fighters in a confusing and dazzling array of lights and explosions. The Carved Leviathans chapter moved to take the brunt of the xenos charge and were soon brimming with Ork boarding craft. As the Space Marines of the Carved Leviathans tried to balance repelling boarders with continuing the Void battle, the Angels Irredenta rushed in to help. Launching their own boarding craft, the black and silver sons of Sanguinius quickly came behind the Greenskins and smashed them between hammer and anvil in the narrow corridors of the Battle Barge Dark Wave. Other Naval and Mechanicus ships were soon involved in the growing battle and joined their might in repelling wave after wave of haphazard Orkish assaults.

In the third day of the war, the Imperial battle lines were involved in the wrapping up of yet another xenos push into the system. The stellar war had created a vast drifting band of detritus that created a deadly haziness to the sphere of battle, a loose wall of whirling metal and shattered hulks of Ork and human ships. As the Imperium's' ships returned to their positions around the Forge World, the unthinkable happened. Crashing in at near instantaneous speed, a colossal ramshackle moon suddenly appeared before the assembled fleets. Though word had slowly weaved through the embattled Imperium of these Ork Attack Moons, none at Praxmodar Alpha had ever witnessed one themselves, and most were shocked into silence, even the Space Marines. Appearing to be a titanic armored satellite, the Attack Moon was covered in weapons that would put an entire battle fleet to shame. Immediately, the center of the moon withdrew like the opening of a maw of some ancient and terrible void beast. Out from the yawning gap came a massive tentacle, only witnessed for a split second before it quickly extended and cracked against the Imperium's fleet in a mighty blow. The weapon was a Gravitic Whip, and it tore through a dozen cruisers in one blow, instantly detonating them and sending their remnants spinning into the void like a rain of super charged shrapnel. Tens of thousands of guns, rocket launchers, and las cannons opened up from the Attack Moon and bombarded the shocked fleet. The Imperium returned fire the best they could but were hard pressed to withstand such an onslaught.

Out from the moon's mouth came a mad rush of new Orkish ships, spilling out from seemingly within the moon itself. As the new xenos vessels joined the fight, the space around the Forge World turned into a picture of chaotic madness. Astartes vessels cut through the chaff of the attacking Orks and launched boarding party after boarding party against the strongest junk battleships to try and destroy them from within. Battle coordination between the Navy, Astartes, and Mechanicus broke down, and soon ships under attack from within by Space Marines were being fired upon and destroyed. An entire companies worth of Molten Trees was destroyed within minutes by friendly fire, causing that chapter to pull its remaining ships out of the mayhem and deploy its surviving brothers to the world below, unwilling to throw the lives of its men away. The Angels Irredenta too were caught up in the madness and began to sustain heavy losses from the guns of the moon as well as the new Ork fleet. Tired of fighting a losing battle in the Void, Captain Rohl of the 7th Company charged his Strike Cruiser at the Attack Moon. By some small miracle, the Cruiser evaded most of the moon's guns and it seemed like it would achieve landfall, before it suddenly detonated against the dense Void Shields of the massive Ork monstrosity. The Gravitic Whip lashed out again and sundered dozens of Cruisers and other Naval ships, detonating them in the cold of space. The destruction caused by this attack divided the remnants of the Angels Irredenta, with the 4^th, and 9^th companies being pushed back towards the Forge World.

As the Void battle unfolded, millions of Orks rushed past the Imperium's defenders and made a beeline straight for the surface of Praxmodar Alpha. Hundreds of thousands of Mechanicus guns turned skyward and poured forth the fury of the Machine God. Orkish vessels were destroyed in their hundreds and their thousands. Great fireballs roared across the sky, striking habs and manufactorum spires in fiery impacts. Still, millions more Orks followed behind in their cobbled together attack craft. Stormhawks and Thunderhawks from the Red Tower chapter broke off and followed the xenos down to the surface, attempting to shoot down as many of the Ork craft as they could. Tens of thousands of aircrafts, big and small made it through the flak and to the highly industrialized world below. Orks immediately threw themselves against the assembled might of the Mechanicus. Servitors were blown apart while taking dozens of xenos with them. Skitarii mercilessly carved apart entire waves of the greenskins. Greatest of all, the Titans of Legio Tonitrus ponderously waded through the legions of Orks, unconquerable icons of gods amidst a running wave of violence.

Now cut off from their fleet, the 4^th and 9^th companies of the Angels Irredenta joined the fight on the ground. Joining forces with the Mechanicus, the Angels Irredenta and those of the Molten Trees and Red Tower, manned defensive line after defensive line. Despite the advanced tech present on the Forge World, the bottomless numbers and violence of the Orks was too much. Tens of thousands of Mechanicus forces were hewn apart in less than an hour, and though they made the Orks pay in blood, the defenses continued to crumple. The world was now awash in unrestrained warfare of the comparatively primitive Orks versus the technologically advanced martial might of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Led by Captain Raldayn of the 4^th company, the Angels Irredenta went ever at the foremost of the fighting. Still utilizing in those years the old siege tactics of the 82^nd Company of the IX^th Legion, the black painted Space Marines created near unbreakable phalanxes with boarding shields. This mighty testudo marched relentlessly into the oncoming waves of Greenskins, never stopping, always killing. Supporting the Irredenta and their fellow Astartes, was Cordis Pavor, a Mars Pattern Warlord Titan from the Legio Tonitrus. Together, at what was named Strong Point Break Spear, the Orks were kept at bay. Human militia, hurridly armed from the billions of lasrifles available, joined together at Break Spear, and thousands were slaughtered, and allowed to be slaughtered, so that the Astartes might gain some reprieve. The militia was thrown against the hordes of xenos while the Astartes reloaded and rearmed, a process that usually only took less than ten minutes at a time. Though brief, these enforced surges of rank workers were easily cut down in great droves.

Above in the Void, the forces of the Imperium were at the point of desperation. Many ships were being separated from the ship lines and boarded or destroyed one by one. Rallying around the Chapter Barque of the Angels Irredenta, Angelus in Absentia, the greater part of the Navy and Space Marine Fleets fought a flagging fighting circuit around the world. Having given up combating the Attack Moon directly, the fleets could only drag the Ork craft into a long stream that caused the majority of the fighting to happen at the rearguard vessels. Chapter Master Galathorp of the Lapis Lions suddenly voxed all remaining survivors. With most of his chapter's ships trapped in the current of emerging Ork ships coming from the mouth of the moon, there was little hope for his survival. However, though his ships were all gone and the last of his chapter about to be slaughtered upon his flagship, Eye of Blue, Galathorp relayed his firsthand observations. Firstly, the Orks were pouring forth from a Transporation relay within the Moon, and most importantly, The Gravitic Whip had slowed in its usage and had only been used every several hours. Based on the lord of the Lapis Lions, the next use of the Whip wouldn't be used for another six hours. The flagship of the Lapis Lions was destroyed only thirty seven seconds later.

Armed with this knowledge that the Lions had died for, Praetor Yamnaya gathered all surviving ships to his side and charged the Attack Moon. As the Imperial Fleet finally battled its way close to the surface of the artificial satellite, thousands of Imperial Attack Craft streamed out. Determined to shut down the reinforcement portal, tens of thousands of Guard and hundreds of Astartes were transported to the metal plated surface of the Attack Moon. The Imperial forces fought thousands of Orks attempting to throw them back from the maw of the moon, but eventually the Imperium's forces made it inside. Additional reinforcements from the Angels Irredenta arrived, led by Praetor Yamnaya himself. Together a bloody path was carved into the moon. As the driver of the Teleportarium came within sight, the Orks began diverting massive amounts of numbers to destroy the human incursion. After immense casualties, the remaining Imperial forces began to withdraw to their landing zone. As the Astartes and Guard rushed over the shifting surface of the Attack Moon, an Ork Gargant emerged from within the moon. The devastating weapons of the Gargant ripped huge holes in the already ragged mob of fleeing soldiers. Enraged to be gunned down as they tried to flee, already a disgraceful act, Praetor Yamnaya rallied a dozen veterans from the Angels Irredenta, most of the 2^nd Company, and many of the Red Tower chapter. Together they charged the Gargant and unleashed whatever ordnance they had left on the colossal war machine. Aided by a relic Contemptor Dreadnought, the Ork titan was destroyed. In the resulting explosion Praetor Yamnaya was blown apart by shrapnel traveling at incredible speeds. The Chapter Master died instantly, and no final orders were given. Command immediately passed to Salek Khazarian, 1^st Captain of the Angels Irredenta.

As the Attack Craft scrambled to get away from the surface of the Attack Moon, Khazarian ordered one final gamble. The Battle Barge, Semper ad Mortis of the Angels Irredenta blazed into the mouth of the attack moon, sustaining critical damage as it did so. At the helm, 3rd Captain Eolda ordered the detonation of the Battle Barge's warp drives. Just as the Semper ad Mortis approached the teleportation origin, it detonated in a cataclysmic explosion. Like a child's festival explosive going off in fruit, the moon bloated and cracked as the immense force of the explosion distended the Attack Moon. Before long, the Ork chimera burst forth with flame that raced across its surface. The face of the moon turned to angry outrage as it was engulfed. Ships from both sides were caught in the chain reaction as the assaulting planetoid spewed fire and detritus. Unable to maintain combat against the remaining Ork fleet, 1^st Captain Khazarian ordered all remaining Imperial vessels to withdraw to the far side of the world, though not before sending as many reinforcements down to the Forge World as they could. After another stellar week, the war on the ground was won by the might of the Mechanicus and the determination of the Astartes.

At the battle's end, the Imperial and Mechanicus forces were utterly ruined. Guardsmen had been reduced to 10% of their numbers, the Mechanicus had taken heavy casualties militarily and towards their infrastructure, including a dozen Titans lost. The Lapis Lions and the Red Tower chapters were virtually wiped out, and some three fifths of the Angels Irredenta had been killed. The defunct Attack Moon became locked into the orbit of Praxmodar Alpha, where it remains still. Though they had won the battle, everyone assumed that another Ork attack was going to soon follow the last. However, far away across the galaxy, the returned Primarch of the Salamanders, Vulkan, had led the Imperium to victory against the Beast and slew the furtive Warlords. Though many Orks would remain across the Imperium, the Great WAAAGH! that had bound their will together was suddenly lost. Ork turned upon Ork in the battle for supremacy, and the Imperium had time to breath for the first time in years. With the war over, the Angels Irredenta gathered upon their crippled fleet and journeyed into the Warp once more, now in search of many new recruits to refill their ranks.

A Changing Chapter

Following the War of the Beast, the Angels Irredenta would embark upon a cultural change presided over by their newest Praetor for the next five hundred years. The deaths of the first three Praetors of the Angels Irredenta, coupled with the variety of new events led to an evolution in the chapter. While all of the Praetors, namely the Founder Ostos, were zealous, angry, and felt that it was their duty to reunite the worlds conquered by the 9th Legion, it was the 4th Praetor, Khazarian, that led to the most significant changes to the chapter since their founding. Khazarian was far more draconian in his outlook than his predecessors and discipline was more rigorously enforced than it had been, even for minor infractions. Khazarian believed that the losses taken in the War of the Beast were the result in poor discipline at the individual level, and that the sons of Sanguinius should never have been brutalized like that had been. The Praetor was especially aggrieved that the Blood Angels had supposedly destroyed an Attack Moon themselves and had not been forced into such desperate straits. Combined with the losses of so many Sanguine Worlds to the Orks in the war, and the need for a more brutal type of leader, Khazarian modified the position of Captain. Now known as Iudex, a captain would serve as a judge that presided over those under his command and would deal out punishments for things as minor as not reciting the day's prayers with enough vigor. The role of Iudex also came with wider powers, with each Iudex now having greater autonomy on how their fleet would be used or how Sanguine Crusades would be approached.

A devout worshiper of the Emperor and Sanguinius, his favoured son, Khazarian expanded the reach and scale of the Chaplaincy within the Angels Irredenta. While the chapter already had a High Chaplain, new ritual and ceremonial roles were assigned, as well as the duty to be the personal chaplain of the Praetor. After several hundred years of Khazarian's rule and patronage of the Chaplains, the High Chaplain would become known as the Pontifex Rex, more commonly known as simply the Pontifex. Extravagant, if dour, ceremonies involving the entire chapter would mark the beginning of new Crusade deployments or other strike teams to support the Imperium. Statues of Sanguinius were erected wherever the chapter conquered, and even entire churches were raised up so the people might worship the Emperor's most devout child. The size of the Chaplaincy tripled in size, with each company now having a senior, junior, and Chaplain Ancient watching over them.

After 500 years, Praetor Khazarian finally met his end in battle. His successor was decided, as was Khazarian's command, by the Pontifex. Gathering all the Chaplains together aboard the Angelus in Absentia, the Pontifex led a conclave to decide who was best suited to lead the Angels Irredenta. While obvious choices such as the 1st or 2nd Iudex were put forth, it was decided that the 5th Iudex was more suited to the role. The 5th Iudex, Zael, had led a trio of back to back successful Sanguine Crusades, reconsecrating the worlds with ardent sacrifices and the building of massive cathedrals by the now the local populations. One cathedral on the world of Caitho, was of such unsurpassed beauty that the Ecclesiarch himself had come to lead prayer to the Emperor and his Saint Sanguinius within. Iudex Zael had also become known for his rousing sermons and insight into the Great Angel, even stunning his Chaplains with his words. For these reasons, Zael was chosen over his peers.

Now having elected Zael as the 5th Praetor of the Angels Irredenta, the Pontifex contacted all of the crusade fleets of the chapter and ordered them to gather to the current location of the Angelus in Absentia, the Chapter Barque. After several months of waiting, the fleets once more gathered for the formal ceremony where Zael would be enshrined as Praetor. The Pontifex lead a stirring nine day ceremony complete with recitations of prayer, rituals, stories of the Primarch, and listing of deeds of the chapter. Finally, as the Ninth standard Terran day ended, the Pontifex bestowed upon Zael the title and duties of Praetor and gave to him the symbols of his office, the Paragon Blade Vindex, and the silver mask of Ostos.

Great Sanguine Crusade

First Conquest

With the power of the chapter now at his command, Praetor Zael stood forth and declared that the chapter would together embark on a Great Sanguine Crusade. This new Crusade would involve the conquest of nine different systems, each of them suspected, or confirmed, to have been once taken by the Great Angel. These worlds laid in the Eastern Fringe, just past the edges of Ultramar. The nine worlds had been lost in the War of the Beast, but the chaos that reigned after that time had not leant itself to a reconquest campaign. But now, the scions of the 82nd Company would see it done. At the conclusion of the campaign, the Praetor proclaimed that the Angels Irredenta would travel to holy Baal to bow down before the statue of the Great Angel that stands at Angels Landing on the moon of Baal Secundus. This would mark the first time anyone from the chapter would visit Baal since the 2nd Founding.

The combined chapter fleet arrived at the first of the targets of the Crusade, a world called Phoeban. The world once was a bountiful Knight World before the arrival of the Beast's WAAAGH! Though the Knight House fought for weeks against the Greenskin, they ultimately were destroyed one by one. For five hundred years the Orks had played havoc with the world and had turned the carcasses of the Knights into Stompas and other scrap meks. The Ork clans on Phoeban had plagued sectors surrounding it since the War of the Beast ended but never had created enough problems to draw a massed Imperial response. The Orks had raided with impunity and warred amongst themselves and the surrounding systems, but now at the edge of the system, a large fleet arrived. At the tip of the spear went the Angelus in Absentia, flanked on either side by the Battle Barges Delphic Dream and Mors Argentea. With these juggernauts of battle at the Chapter Barque's side, the Ork scrap ships were quickly destroyed. The Crusade fleet stationed itself above Phoeban and prepared for the ground campaign.

While the battle for the Void was easily won, the war for the surface of Phoeban was much different. The surface of the world had become home to three major Ork clans that vied constantly for supremacy, creating a world of constant warfare that created legions of brutally strong xenos warriors. After a campaign of strategic bombardment, the first landings were conducted against the enemy. After a night of prayer in the Grand Cathedral aboard the Chapter Barque, lot were chosen by the Pontifex on which Iudex would be first to assault the planet below. After drawing the token of the 5th Company, many took this as a favourable sign since Praetor Zael had so recently commanded that unit. Now under the command of Iudex Raydal, the 5th Company disembarked from the Mors Argentea in a wave of drop pods and gunships, followed by the company's heavy armor. Despite softening the landing zone with orbital fire, the 5th was still surprised to find so many Greenskins already flooding the area. With no where else to go but into the sea of green, the Angels Irredenta loaded and locked their bolters. Storming out of their drop pods and gunships, the black colored Astartes became whirlwinds of death. Already becoming rapidly surrounded, the Angels Irredenta created a loose corridan as the company's aerial assets tried to cover their brothers below. Creating mobile barricades with their siege shields, the 5th Company met each charge of the Orks and left them piled high. Iudex Raydal did not have long to wait however as Dreadnoughts and tanks swiftly entered the battle, driving all challengers away. More and more Orks and heavier mechanized weapons of war arrived to destroy the Space Marines, but the 5th held firm. Having been the famous company of the current Praetor, and having seemingly been chosen by the will of the Emperor and Sanguinius for this battle, the 5th had much to prove. Waves of xenos broke time and again against the scarred ceramite of the Angels Irredenta. Soon Ork Stoompas and tanks were entering the fray, cannibalized from the hulks of Knights killed in the War of the Beast.

So pleased was Praetor Zael with the fortitude of his old command, that he and his Umbral Guard took a single Thunderhawk down to the surface to join the battle. Though weary of overwhelming battle, the 5th was reinvigorated to see their old Iudex, now the Scion of Sanguinius, coming to fight beside them. Charging into battle with the ancient blade, Vindex, and wearing the silver mask of Ostos over his Mk.IV helmet, Zael cut a terrifying path through the xenos. Warded by the strong shields of his Guard, the Praetor cut and hacked his way face to face with an Ork Warboss. Though the brute was more muscled than a Space Marine and shone with the scars of many battles, the new Praetor killed his foe in three easy slashes. With honor of the 5th and himself satisfied, Zael signaled for reinforcements to begin landing. In the order that the Pontifex Rex dictated, the other companies and units of the Angels Irredenta descended to the surface of Phoeban, many launching themselves directly into combat much as the 5th had.

The war for Phoeban was brutal and often of a high pitch. The converted Knights and the scrap monstrosities made from them caused significant challenges for the chapter. Land Raiders and Predators dueled in seas of Orks while Space Marine infantry fought with blades and fists. At the ridge named Galaeth's Heap, Iudex Galaeth of the 4th Company battled his way up a ridge bristling with Ork artillery in order to take the pressure off of the chapter's main offensive. The Space Marines took the heights after a fierce uphill battle but were soon confronted by thousands of Orks determined to retake the high ground. Having proven themselves formidable by taking the ridge, Galaeth had placed a target on his company in a game of king of the hill. Utilizing the Siege specialty of the Angels Irredenta, waves of Ork attackers were held at back as they tried to fight up the narrow defile. Ork Deffkopters flew in swarms at the exposed crest of the ridge and strafed the Astartes in looping runs that saw many shot out of the sky. The hill had taken on such a focus for the Orks, that one entire clan, of which the three on the world had made common cause for now, made it their central focus to retake. Entire Ork mobs broke off battle with the main assault of the Angels Irredenta and charged off for the ridge, which was quickly being called Galaeth's Heap by the Space Marine brothers.

Praetor Zael, though recognizing the dire situation that the 4th company was now under, determined that the hyper fixation of the xenos could be used to achieve a faster end to the campaign. The Angels withdrew from combat and allowed a vast swarm to gather around the ridge. From afar it appeared like ants climbing a high mound. Just as the battle on the Heap was entering a mortal conclusion, Zael ordered the near entirety of the Angels Irredenta to encircle and envelop the Orks around the ridge. In order to repulse what was now an unnecessary diversion, the entire chapter's complement of Terminators were transported to the zenith of the 4th Company's position. Two dozen Indomitus and Cataphractii pattern Terminators suddenly appeared amongst the embattled remnants of the 4th and quickly began tearing their way down the ridge. In a surprisingly quick operation, the Greenskins who were enveloped were quickly mowed down by the combined might of a chapter and squads began racing up the heights to connect with the descending Terminators. By the time the Heap is fully cleansed, over half of the 4th Company was killed and the near rest were wounded. Though these were grievous casualties, the slaughter that the 4th had enacted was much worse for the xenos, not that they cared. Galaeth's Heap became an apt name for the battle as so many Orks were killed and tumbled down or off the ridge, that a sizeable heap of Greenskins had been erected in several areas.

The war for the Heap was soon the be one of the last of the greatest engagements on the Phoeben. The final battle itself saw the combined might of the Angels Irredenta meeting the remaining strength of the Orks upon the world, many using the last of their great converted Knights. A massive armour battle erupted that saw the chapter's complement of tanks square off against the ingenious, if crude, Orkish machines. After a hard battle against the xenos, the sons of Sanguinius won the field. Half a dozen tanks had been destroyed in the battle and nearly fifty brothers had been killed, but the victory was seen as well worth the price. The level of carnage seen that day rivaled the War of the Beast, and such a triumph would never have been bought easily. At the conclusion of Phoeben's conquest, Praetor Zael and Pontifex Oedeo led their battered forces in prayer to the Emperor, and his demi god son, Sanguinius. Lacking any means to erect a proper place of worship on the desolate world, Zael instead ordered the time consuming work of constructing a massive scrap statue of the Angel made from the numerous wrecks of Ork war machines and weapons. Though the origin of the material was lacking in grace, the Angels Irredenta used their great artistic mastery to create a stirring and warlike rendition of the Great Angel, the scrap building material expertly plied to look worthy of its subject.

Battle of Trei

For nearly thirty years the Great Sanguine Crusade had marched on. After the war for Phoeben, the Angels Irredenta had taken seven more planets. While Phoeben had been the first and most difficult of their Crusade, that did not mean that the successive worlds were easy battles. Each of the eight worlds had been haunts of xenos, pirates, and heretics. The sixth world, Dronos, had even experienced their own revolution in the darkness outside of the Imperium's shadow and had created their own pocket empire that went unnoticed by most. Since the War of the Beast, Dronos had fought off Orks, lesser xenos, and even rogue Imperial elements. They were no match for the Angels Irredenta however, and the now enslaved population was set to work to repent for turning against the light of the Emperor.

Now the last of their battles lay before them. The planet of Trei had become overrun by a minor race of alien known as the Roeblex. Though they appeared weak, the pheromones released by the insect like xenos could easily create a hivemind effect on humans. The human population of the world had managed to hold off the Great WAAAGH! but were undone by this simple sect of xenos who wormed their way onto the world and turned the inhabitants docile. For hundreds of years the humans had lived and died for the whims of their insect masters. Towering rock structures were created for the Roeblex to live within, and millions of controlled humans made up their vast armies. The pheromones of the Roeblex were potent and could even slow down the aging of a person, though at the cost of their free will. After several decades linked to the hive, the individuality of the afflicted was totally removed and replaced with the desires of their master.

The battered Angels Irredenta arrived on the edge of the Trei system and were surprised to see Imperial ships in high anchor. Though assuming the ships were those of traitors anyway, Praetor Zael ordered contact made with the human fleet to ascertain their loyalties. The vox transmissions that were returned were marked with a clear mix of human and hive language, and the Space Marines were driven to act with certainty. Roeblex void ships joined the former Imperial navy vessels, but they counted for little in the coming engagement. Driven by the hate of the alien, the sons of Sanguinius easily and viciously destroyed their foe. It quickly came to light that the former human colony had been taken over by the xenos and the Angels cursed them for their weakness.

Plans were drawn up for the invasion of Trei, and much the same as the first attack on Phoeben, lots were drawn by the guided hand of the Pontifex. To the surprise of many, Iudex Arca of the 1st Company was chosen to lead the assault. Arca and his Veterans had thus far not been selected through the many rituals of the Crusade, and the veterans had played a fairly minor role thus far. Now it was time for the Revanchists to bring their glory to the battlefield, and their selection seemed to have been ordained by Sanguinius himself for this most sacred task. The combined might of the 1st Company was assembled, and Praetor Zael himself blessed each member of the Revanchists with a slashing of the ancient sword Vindex across the right palm. The Sanguinary Priests then slashed their own palms and let their vitae mingle with the wounds of the Veterans. Lastly, the Pontifex Oedeo daubed a black tear under the right eye of the veterans with his own blood. With the ritual complete, the 1st Company prepared for landing.

Black Thunder Hawks covered in streaming Purity Seals dashed across the sky. The enslaved army, though devoid of free will, had become well drilled with their weapons and fired relentlessly into the air, but none of their munitions struck home. The entire 1st Company of the Angels Irredenta charged out of their transports, their Red Thirst let slip and the Astartes howled for blood. Thousands of mind controlled humans were slaughtered in the first hour, and the Roeblex quickly pulled their forces back to their towering hives. Resistance stiffened yet the Revanchists pushed on, urged forward by their Chaplains and Confessors. Iudex Arca led from the front, his Cataphractii pattern Terminator Armour unstoppable as he cleaved a path of gore.

Though this initial assault was highly successful, the war dragged on for months. Each assault upon Roeblex hive towers were met with incredibly fierce resistance by the enslaved humans, and even the xenos themselves. Imperial armor and weaponry were brought to bear, even several Baneblades that had survived the occupation. These proved especially deadly in clash near the end of the campaign that saw the combined remnants of the 6th and 9th companies further savaged before orbital strikes managed to obliterate the Super Heavies. In a final battle near the central hive infested citadel on Trei, the battered Angels Irredenta wagered their faith and skill in one last assault. The conflict was massive and saw each Space Marine fighting alone as an island in a sea of foes. Over twenty warriors of Sanguinius were killed in that battle alone. Praetor Zael himself was wounded when a sally by the last of the warrior class of the Roeblex assailed the Chapter Master and his guards. Though they emerged victorious, Zael lost his right eye, and nearly half of his face to a blow from the xenos, badly damaging the Mask of the Praetor in the assault. Finally, the world was finally conquered. The loss of their masters drove the remaining humans mad, so steeped in the alien pheromones. Praetor Zael ordered a complete purgation campaign alongside the war proper.

Pilgrimage's End

The Great Sanguine Crusade finally drew to a close as the chapter entered the Baal system. Not since Ulistos Ostos departed from the home of the Great Angel in fury at the end of the Heresy had any of his scions returned here. Now, five hundred and seventy-seven ragged survivors of the Angels Irredenta looked out upon the holy trinity of terrestrial bodies. Aboard the Angelus in Absentia, joyous and fervent prayers were shouted through broken speaker grills, Astartes collapsed to their knees as they stared out of the view ports. The Pontifex stood and began reciting from the Book of Black and Blood, a holy scripture that he himself had penned. Standing upon his command dais and staring out at the revered red sands of myth and legend, Preator Zael shed a single tear of blood from his ruined eye.

Hailed by the defense fleet of the Blood Angels, the Angels Irredenta made themselves known and announced their intention to make pilgrimage within the Baal system. Arriving first on Baal Secundus, the second moon of the system and homeworld of Sanguinius, the chapter disembarked at Angels Landing. Here it was where the Great Angel himself had set down after falling from the heavens, and it was here that he was discovered by the unmutated peoples of the moon. A city, great in the standards of the poverty and privation in which the inhabitants of the moon lived, had grown around the site. Though much of Angels Fall was ramshackle and ugly, one thing of surpassing beauty towered over the city: a colossal statue of Sanguinius. Upon a raised platform, surrounded by a plaza, was the Great Angel with a chalice in one hand and a sword in the other.

Led by the Praetor and the Pontifex, the bustling city fell silent at their procession. Their armor was black, battle worn, and filthy with dried vitae. many bore wounds still, and their demeanor was both startingly grim and awed. Beneath the statue of the Great Angel, the Angels prayed. For nine days they knelt motionless while the Pontifex read once more from his book. On the sixth night, the Preator rose and began his oratory. For the remaining three days and nights, the Chapter Master recited the deeds of the chapter's heroes, mighty battles, and the worlds of the IXth Legion that had been defended or reclaimed. Finally, as one the Angels Irredenta rose and removed their right gauntlets. With a slash of their combat knives, they cut their palms and bled a trickle of vitae at the feet of Sanguinius. With the ritual complete, they departed for Baal Primus.

Praetor Zeal the "Blessed", at the conclusion of the Great Sanguine Crusade

Their circuit of Baal Primus was with far less ritual significance to the chapter. After all, of the Baal Triple, the moon of Baal Primus was far less noteworthy than its sister moon or the world of Baal itself. Finally, the chapter descended to the red sands of the home world of the Blood Angels. The Angels Irredenta set their transports down in the dunes outside of the colossal Arx Angelicum, the fortress monastery of their progenitor chapter. In carefully practiced steps, the black and silver scions of the 82nd Company of the IXth Legion walked once more upon the oceans of sand that was their spiritual home. A number visibly trembled at the honor of looking upon the fortress of Sanguinius, while others stared in shocked silence. Breaking the trance, the Pontifex Oedeo turned and gave the order for the Space Marines to cleanse themselves. Raggedly, the sons of the Angel collapsed to the knees and began to scour their armour with the red sands of Baal, while the Pontifex recounted the departure of their founder from this world thousands of years ago.

Finally, with their armour and spirits cleansed, the Angels Irredenta marched to the Arx Angelicum. Even the most injured of their chapter limped, hopped, or even dragged themselves across the sands in a macabre spectacle that drew strange glances from the Blood Angels awaiting their guests high above on basalt walls of the Arx Murus. A massive gate within that mighty outer wall opened and out strode Kephralen, the Lord of the Blood Angels. Leading a procession of his Sanguinary Guard, a dozen battle brothers, and a clutch of Astartes from the Sanguinary Priesthood, and Reclusium, they met their battered brother chapter in the shadow of the fortress. Kephralen heartily welcomed them, never before having been aware of the chapter's existence, but seeing upon the newcomers the resemblance of the Angel's sons.

Praetor Zael stopped his host and spoke for his chapter. He spoke of their holy crusade and the nine worlds that were conquered in the Angel's name. Speaking further, he declared their pilgrimage at its end but, to the shock of everyone, demanded a reward for their service to the Imperium and Sanguinius. Having completed the reconquest of nine "Sanguine Worlds", Zael proclaimed that they had earned the right to reap a crop of new recruits from the moons of Baal. The Lord Commander of the Blood Angels was nonplussed at such a suggestion but ever the diplomat, tried to subdue such a notion. The Preator pressed further, his own haughtiness and zeal pushing him to argue his case. This time the Lord of Blood flatly refused, and tempers quickly flared between the two chapters. Declaring his chapter as the true heirs of Sanguinius, and lambasting the Blood Angels as blaspheming pretenders, Zael turned his Astartes around and marched back across the dune sea. The Angels Irredenta departed, humiliated, and boarded their fleet. As they journeyed to the systems edge to reenter the warp, they were shadowed by the fleet of the Blood Angels all the way.

Notable Campaigns

Great Crusade

Revenant Legion- Battles of the Shroud Warband/Company

• Tanid IV (ca. 820.M30)- The battle for Tanid IV started as a compliance against a human world but soon devolved into inter-Legion strife between the Shroud and Dread Swords warbands of the IX^th. This fratricide led to the famous honor duel between the champions of the Dread Swords and the Shrouds which would see the death of many champions of both sides.
• Exbadol (ca. 822.M30)- Under new leadership of Gronlus, the Shrouds are used to break the defenses around the bio labs of a non compliant human world.
• Yulyok (ca.840.M30)- The Shroud Company was deployed to purge a world of mutants.
• Axrael Campaign (841.M30)- The last battle fought by the 82^nd Shroud Company before the discovery of Sanguinius. Deployed as the vanguard for the Imperial Fists upon an alien world, the Shrouds would fight alongside the Imperial Army tanks against armored xenos.

Blood Angels Legion- Battles of the 82^nd "Shroud" Company

• Battle of Teghar Pentaurus (ca.846.M30)- This was the first battle where the IX^th Legion was led by Sanguinius
• Battle of Zevnary Primus (ca.848.M30)
• Campaign Against the Ulishi Empire (853.M30)
• Aurë Catastrophe (ca. 988.M30)
• Battle for the Nok Asteroid Belt (Late M30)
• Purging of Espa XXV (Late M30)

Horus Heresy

• Signus Campaign (ca.005-006.M31)
• Wars on the Marches of Ultramar (ca. 010 or 011.M31)
• Ruinstorm Campaign (ca. 010-011.M31)
• Battle of Beta Garmon (ca. 012-013.M31)
• Solar War (ca. 014.M31)
• Siege of Terra (14.M31)

Great Scouring

• Reconsecration of Gilnus XVII (ca. 019.M31)

Campaigns of the Angels Irredenta

• Liberation of Hadrio (Unknown Date M32)
• Battle of Bex Sai-Tarno (Unknown Date M32)
• Clarision Crusade (Unknown Date M32)- This war against a budding Ork Kingdom is put down by the combined might of seven Astartes chapters and over twenty Guard regiments.
• Purging of Beckat (Unknown Date M32)
• Siege of Quilzargis VII (ca. 323.M32)- A massive Traitor force led by the Serrated Tusks Warband laid siege to the critical forge world of Quilzargis VII. The Angels Irredenta, Dawn Seraphs, and Blood Angels responded to the pleas from the world and fought a bloody battle for control of the precious planet. Archein Valian, Chapter Master of the Dawn Seraphs and close friend of Praetor Ostos, was slain upon the field of battle by the forces of traitor Astartes.
• Crusade Against the Serrated Tusks (ca. 330-340.M32)- Led by Archein Dameus, the Dawn Seraphs were joined by Praetor Ostos of the Angels Irredenta in a crusade to avenge the death of Archein Valian. The crusade was largely successful, but the Serrated Tusks managed to survive in greatly reduced numbers.
• Weeping of Onariean Primus (367.M32)- This Sanguine Crusade saw the death of Ulitos Ostos, founder of the Angels Irredenta.
• War of the Beast (ca. 544-546.M32)
• Destruction of the Canvas Hands (924-926.M32)
• Great Sanguine Crusade (ca. 170-199.M33)
• Crusade of Embrace (ca. 587.M33)- This crusade was launched by the Angels Irredenta chapter with the assistance of their close ally the Dawn Seraphs. This marks the first time in a thousand years that the two chapters had shared a field of battle together. The Crusade of Embrace was successful and the Riv system was purged of Ork and Chaos infestation.
• Siege of Shining Colossi (802.M33)
• Recapture of Hasti (Unknown Date M33)
• Breaking of Mount Agrith (Unknown Date Early M34)
• Pursuit of the Emishan Confederacy (ca. 400-420 M34)
• Fortress Strife (452.M34)
• Defense of Aurë (ca. 952-954.M34)
• Hunting of the Chrono Staff Chapter (ca. 500-508.M35)
• Devastation Over Greimund (514.M35)
• Liberation of the Ullishi System (ca. 745-760.M35)
• Conquest of Rivor (ca. 881.M35)
• Prosecution of Bree Tak-Suhl V (Unknown Date M36)
• Suppression of the Xuthruun Sector (ca. 301-314.M36)
• Iudex Leoum's Sanguine Crusade (ca. 329-334.M36)
• Gentle Schism (ca. 390.M36)
• Execution of the Unnumbered Mountains Chapter (799.M37)
• Mission to Caspa Delta (Unknown Date M37)
• War in the Fringes (ca. 550-622.M38)
• Shame of Wilvahn (721.M38)
• War of the Sanguine Saint (872-878.M38)- Also known as the Battle of Lein or Iken Campaign, the War of the Sanguine Saint was a brutal war fought over the Shrine World of Lein within the Segmentum Ultima. In M38, the Angels Irredenta would fight one of their brutalist campaigns. Upon the Shrine World of Lein within the Segmentum Ultima, a young woman named Sara Ferri began to experience visions of the Great Angel, Sanguinius. Lein itself was devoted to the Primarch of the IXth Legion and was a popular pilgrimage site for millions who revered the martyrdom of the God-Emperor's favoured son. Given the role of the Shrine World, the claims of visions of Sanguinius were not immediately siezed upon by the masses, when Sara began to perform miracles however, she was suddenly catupulted to a position of emense holiness. Proclaimed as the Sanguinary Saint by the legions of pilgrims upon Lein and by follows of Saint Sanguinius, Sara Ferri gained the attention of even the Angels Irredenta. Sharing the religious devotion to Lord Sanguinius, Lein became yet another important pilgrim center to the chapter. Praetor Calu, known to chapter history as the "Ebon Wolf", led several pilgrimages himself to the Shrine World, and met and prayed with the Sanguinary Saint multiple times. War eventually arrived to Lein in the form of a massive Chaos invasion led by a collection of Traitor Warbands known as the Riven Eyes, all of the Black Legion. The Shrine World was bitterly contested by the Imperium with dozens of Imperial Guard regiments, strike forces, Sisters of Battle, and dozens of Astartes from half a dozen chapters all arriving to combat the invasion. Becoming aware of the attack by the scions of the Arch-Traitor Horus, the Ebon Wolf called forth a Sanguinary Crusade made up of more than half of the Angels Irredenta's strength. After six years of war, the devestated world fell to the Forces of Chaos. Having spent much of the battle protecting the Sanguinary Saint, Praetor Calu ordered Sara Ferri's evacuation to the Chapter Barque, the Angelus in Absentia. There she was kept as a living holy relic of the chapter, revered and honoured. Eventually mortal decay began to claim the Saint and measures were taken to preserve her life. Centuries passed and the Sara Ferri was reduced to a wizened old women strapped to machines, later a mummy, to a skeleton, to only a skull and several bones strapped to a banner.

• Crusade of Penance (ca. 880-980.M38)- In the aftermath of the failed War of the Sanguine Saint, the Angels Irredenta embarked on crusade to atone for their loss at Shrine World Lein. After a century, the already battered chapter was reduced to only a third of their strength. Suitably chastened, the Angels Irredenta aggresively recruited new aspirants from Breom, one of their favoured "Sanguine Worlds".
• Naeth Crusade (ca. 356-368.M41)- In 356.M41, the Angels Irredenta chapter reached out to their close ally the Dawn Seraphs in assistance in retaking the Naeth system within the edge of the Segmentum Pacificus. Like the target of most of the Angels Irredenta's wrath, the Naeth system had once been conquered by the Blood Angels Legion under the leadership of the Great Angel, Sanguinius. In the intervening ten thousand years the Naeth system had been conquered and reconquered by various factions. For the last thousand years prior to 366.M41, the Naeth system was divided up between Ork infested planets and several that had become home to several Chaos warbands and their cults. Under oath to recapture all planets that were brought to compliance by the IX^th Legion of old, the Angels Irredenta prepared a crusade to retake the 14 worlds of the Naeth system. Eager to maintain ties with their grey clad, somber brothers, Archein Orilan led the 2^nd, 4th, and 6th companies in support to the crusade. For 12 years the two chapters of the Blood crusaded side by side. Millions of xenos were butchered, billions of heretics were burned in orbital fire. The crusade was hard going however. Despite the assembled might of the Angels Irredenta and three companies of Dawn Seraphs, the Astartes were fighting foes that outnumbered them 10,000 to 1. In each successful conquest a few more battle brothers were killed. The worlds of Butwi and Qruy were particularly hard fought against tides of greenskins. On the world of Cthava a heretic Astartes warband of Iron Warriors led their millions of mortal thralls in a stiff defense of their citadels. Lastly, during the battle of Monari Literius, a cadre of Word Bearer heretics triggered a daemonic incursion that summoned a tidal wave of Neverborn that drowned many Space Marines. It was in this final battle that Archein Orilan and much of the 6^th Company of the Dawn Seraphs was killed. The Angels Irredenta and the Dawn Seraphs finally completed the conquest of the Naeth system in 368.M41. The event has been treated with a substantial degree of infamy within the Dawn Seraphs as it is believed that the rashness and zeal of the Angels Irredenta led to a high amount of Astartes being killed during the crusade. Despite the success of the Crusade, the disagreements of prosecution of the campaigns strained relations between the chapters until the end of the Vetrum Crusade some two hundred years later.
• Vetrum Crusade (ca. 560-583.M41)
• War for Valdarin (ca. 712-730.M41)
• Triple Blood Crusade (ca. 820-841.M41)
• Battle of Hive Iccrag (ca. 999.M41)
• Ambush in the Yio System (ca. 999.M41)
• Devastation of Baal (ca. 999.M41)
• Angels Halo Campaign (Early M42)
• Fourth Tyrannic War (Early M42)
• Battle of Hithlum (Early M42)
• Compliance of Atarminiar (016.M42)

Chapter Organisation

Chapter Command

Praetor- The zenith of the Angels Irredenta's rank structure is that of the Praetor. Originally created in response to that rank which was common during the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy, the Praetorship now represents something recognizable yet very different from those who used to carry the rank. Given the fanatical, zealous, and Crusade obsessed nature of the Angels Irredenta, the leader of these Astartes has to be the epitome of this. The Praetorship is reckoned as one who is both high judge, an expert tactician and warrior, and an expert on spiritual matters. Strict additional guidelines control who is eligible for this highest honor. The candidate must be at least three centuries old, have been a Chaplain, a Captain, a proven warrior ten times over, and must have memorized those conquests of the Blood Angels Legion as well as those of the Angels Irredenta down to the most minute detail. It is additionally unthinkable for any within the chapter to consider any Space Marine who has not conquered or saved a world once taken by the IX^th Legion Astartes as worthy of holding the title of Praetor.

The Praetor resides within the ancient spine towers of the Angels Irredenta's Chapter Barque known as the Angelus in Absentia. From here the many campaigns of the chapter are planned and tracked as well as the more private rituals of the chapter. The Praetor will take it upon himself to lead the last legs of the training of aspirants, as well as conducting the final rituals alongside the Pontifex for most ceremonies of the chapter, save the techmarines. Praetors will lead their chapter upon the field of battle when required or desired and are accompanied by their bodyguard, the Umbral Guard.

While many Praetors have varied widely in temperament, it is the norm to deal haughtily with others of their geneline, even other Chapter Masters. Believing themselves to the be the embodiment of the will of the Angel and the heritage of the IX^th Legion, the Praetor will oft times be referred to as the Scion of Sanguinius. Most Praetors thus regard themselves to be the true head of the Sanguinary Brotherhood and not Dante of the Blood Angels. This attitude has made the Chapter Masters of the Angels Irredenta outcasts amongst their brother chapters, and it is a rare sight for the Praetor to be seen taking council with any Chapter Masters from the geneline of Sanguinius, save the Archeins of the Dawn Seraphs, and even this is often grudging. Despite this arrogant and condescending demeanor, the Angels Irredenta and their Praetor Omnius would forge bonds of brotherhood and mutual respect during the brutal Devastation of Baal which saw much of the chapter destroyed defending the homeworld of the Great Angel.

Officer Ranks

Iudex- The rank of Iudex is equivalent to that of a captain in other chapters, though it contains additional duties. Like many thousands of other chapters of the Adeptus Astartes, those who would command companies are amongst the most veteran and skilled of the Angels Irredenta. Having proven themselves in many campaigns and centuries of war, Iudex will be assigned to a company that best suits their particular skillset and seniority. There they will command their company and act as fonts of wisdom due to their vital experience and insight. Each Iudex will also be assigned a command squad made up of an Apothecary, Standard Bearer, Company Champion, two veterans, and a Chaplain.

Due to the close intermarriage of the Reclusium with the rest of the chapter, the Iudex is required to have been at least a Veteran Confessor Sergeant (that is a Confessor Sergeant within the 1^st Company), though full experience as a Chaplain is far more preferred. In addition to this, Iudex are required to perform Company rites alongside the company Chaplain (also known as Blood Chaplains), before and after battle. The Iudex, as their name suggests, are also required to render judgment. Given the nature of the disparate crusades that the Angels Irredenta embark on, the Iudex is given broad authority to deal with intercompany affairs generally as he judges necessary as well as authority on how to approach a campaign, unless previously dictated by the Praetor. Those accused of dealing with the reconquest or defense of one of the holy "Sanguine Worlds" in an inappropriate matter or with a perceived lack of reverence are brought before the Iudex for judgement. Oft times the sentence carried out is death or penitent actions as carried out by the Chaplaincy. Each Iudex will carry a relic power weapon reckoned to belong to one of the ancient members of the 82^nd Blood Angels Company from which the Angels Irredenta are descended. This relic weapon is seldom used in actual combat is usually used ceremonially, especially during rites and punitive judgement.

Consul- After the return of Roboute Guilliman, Primarch of the Ultramarines, the Codex Astartes was updated to reintroduce the role of Lieutenants. The Angels Irredenta likewise adopted the role of Lieutenant into their chapter but modified it to fit in with their culture. Like other chapters, the Consul is a skilled warrior and a veteran of many battles. They lead Demi Companies and act as the left and right hand of the Iudex. To best adapt this new role to the Angels Irredenta, Consuls are promoted Confessor Sergeants or Veteran Confessor Sergeants. Like the Iudex, the role of the Consul is partially ceremonial and ritualistic. A Consul will assist the Iudex and Blood Chaplain in company ceremonies as well as aid in the judgement proceedings of the Iudex in times of need.

Specialist Ranks

Pontifex- The High Chaplain of the Angels Irredenta is known as the Pontifex. The Pontifex acts as the spiritual center of the chapter and is in charge of the Chaplaincy and defacto head of the Reclusium. As head of the Chaplaincy, the Pontifex coordinates the assignment of Blood Chaplains to their appointed companies as well as the convoluted appointments of lesser Chaplains. The Pontifex leads chapter wide ceremonies in those rare occasions when the entire force of the Angels Irredenta is together. Stationed in the Sanctum Sanguine aboard the Chapter Barque Angelus in Absentia, the Pontifex leads daily prayer to the Emperor and Sanguinius. The High Chaplain will also administer directly to the Praetor and act as their confidant and councilor. In past days of the Angels Irredenta, the Pontifex and Praetor would occasionally strive for power within the chapter. Such tensions eventually caused a small civil war to break out within the chapter in 452.M34 but was swiftly quashed when most of the Chaplaincy turned upon their Pontifex.

The Pontifex traditionally wears the Sanguine Skull, a relic skull helmet traditionally believed to have once belonged to Warden Balaeus of the 82^nd Company of the IX^th Legion. The helm was recovered by the Dawn Seraphs chapter on the planet Aurë, where that chapter had settled and was once the site of a catastrophic compliance that claimed the better part of three IX^th Legion companies, including the 82^nd. In addition to this, the Pontifex wields the Unredeemed Crozius, a relic formed from the shattered armor of the Blood Angels fallen in the final hours of the Siege of Terra.

Angel's Champion- Similar to the role of Emperor's Champion that can be found in some chapters, notably the Black Templars, this role is unique to the Angels Irredenta. The Angel's Champion is that Astartes of the chapter who has earned the role of Chapter Champion. Like most champions, the Angel's Champion is charged to seek out enemy leaders or rival champions and defeat them upon the field of battle. Inspired by the actions of Sanguinius during the Siege of Terra, the Angel's Champion utilizes a baroque winged jump pack as well as ornate power spear and relic blade, in the image of the Great Angel. Additionally, the ancient set of Mk.IV Maximus armor is painted gold, an extreme rarity amongst the Angels Irredenta. For hundreds of yearfs, the Champion would wear a golden death mask of a crying angel. This mask was a relic supposedly taken from a fallen Sanguinary Guard from the time of the Heresy, though the story remains debated. In M34, the mask was lost along with the Champion's head during the Battle of Adel-Link.

The Angel's Champion, holy chosen warrior of the Angels Irredenta

The Angel's Champion is often times used not as a master duelist, but rather as Sanguinius at the Eternity Gate. Many times, a champion has been placed in the rearguard of the Angels Irredenta or at a choke point and ordered to hold the line against all attackers. Legendary names have been recorded in the honour roles of the chapter of Champions who single handedly held back tides of foes and lived.

An Angel's Champion, as in most things within the Angels Irredenta, is chosen via a religious ceremony. If in the heat of battle a brother is granted a vision of Sanguinius fighting at the Eternity Gate during the Siege of Terra, and the vision is not due to the onset of the Black Rage, then this individual is subject to a battery of rites and ceremonies. Should the candidate meet the requirements of prophecy, signs, and other portents, then the Pontifex shall bestow the title of Angel's Champion upon the brother. A champion will serve until death. The current champion is Vexillian.

Herald of the Sanguine Saint- The role of the Herald of the Sanguine Saint is one of the most revered in the Angels Irredenta, and a rare honour that only the most pure and fanatical of Chaplains may be chosen for. In M38, the Angels Irredenta would fight one of their brutalist campaigns. Upon the Shrine World of Lein within the Segmentum Ultima, a young woman named Sara Ferri began to experience visions of the Great Angel, as well as producing miracles. Proclaimed as the Sanguine Saint by the legions of pilgrims upon Lein and by followers of Saint Sanguinius, Sara Ferri gained the attention of even the Angels Irredenta.

War eventually arrived to Lein in the form of a massive Chaos invasion. The Shrine World was bitterly contested by the Imperium but most ardentaly by a crusade force of the Angels Irredenta. After six years of war, the devestated world fell to the Forces of Chaos. Praetor Calu ordered Sara Ferri's evacuation to the Chapter Barque, the Angelus in Absentia. There she was kept as a living holy relic of the chapter, revered and honoured. Eventually mortal decay began to claim the Saint and measures were taken to preserve her life. Centuries passed and the Sara Ferri was reduced to a wizened old women strapped to machines, then a mummy, to skeleton, to only a skull and several bones strapped to a banner.

Herald of the Sanguine Saint

As the Saint was eventually reduced to a comatose, ancient human far beyond her normal lifespan, the care of this most holy relic was given to one of the chapter's most honoured Chaplains. The Chaplain and his serfs cared for the body of the Saint for centuries, washing and anointing it in holy oils and scrolls. After thousands of years, the Saint began to be chained to a banner and carried into battle as a holy relic. The Chaplain responsible for the Saint was thus dubbed as Herald of the Sanguine Saint and acted as an Ancient, carrying the body of Sara Ferri into the direst of combat. Though officially attached to the 1st Company, the Herald will often move between crusade fleets, inspiring all those brothers who look upon the washed bones. Many Heralds have died carrying the Sanguine Saint, though only one is remembered to have dropped the holy bones. In 641.M41, a Herald named Warik (known as "the dishonoured") was killed by cannon blast, the bones of Sara Ferri being scattered in the explosion. Only the skull and a smattering of bones could be recovered, though they were promptly attached to a new banner, where they remain still.

Specialist Units & Formations

Mors Angeli- Taking their orders directly from the Praetor, the Mors Angeli, the Angel's Death, are the greatest of the Angels Irredenta's Terminator elite. These nine specters of death are rarely seen together since the events of the Fortress Strife in M34. Since that event, one member of this unit is assigned to a Iudex to watch over them, though the posting is not meant to relegate the Mors Angeli to the role as simple bodyguard. Indeed, the elite Terminator has been granted the unique duty to prevent the Iudex from ever acting against the wishes of the Chapter Master and the High Chaplains, even if that means killing the captain. Those of particular suspicion will have an entire squad of 3 Terminators following them should they prove unfaithful. Despite this dour assignment, the Mors Angeli will still protect the Iudex during combat.

Dreaded brother of the Mors Angeli.

These Terminators are clad completely in archaic Cataphractii plate and wield the chapter's most storied and powerful weapons. Strapped to the left arm of each Mors Angeli is a towering shield upon which is carved the entire legend of Sanguinius, interspersed with religious texts, all surrounding an embossed statue of the Great Angel laying slain by his brother, Horus. Nearly to a man, the Mors Angeli will wear a skull fashioned helmet for their terminator armour, though sometimes this is not the case. In one bizarre case, a brother of that terminator elite fashioned a death mask over his helmet that was the very image of the Iudex he was being sent to watch over.

Prior to the fortress strife, the Mors Angeli would remain on board the Chapter Flagship to attend to the Praetor. While nominally the Cairn Guard are the chosen protectors of the Praetor, it was often said that it was the Mors Angeli who were the true guardians of the Chapter Master. During combat, these Terminators would form an unbreakable bulwark around their lord. In rare instances, the Mors Angeli have been deployed as a single unit, either in daring Boarding Assaults, Vanguard actions, or as additional bodyguards to the Praetor. To see this elite unit fighting together is a morale shattering experience for the enemy.

It is said that the Mors Angeli have never failed a mission they were assigned to, nor have they been reduced to less than a third of their number. Once a brother joins the Mors Angeli, he forgoes his previous names and titles and is granted a new name from the Pontifex. A brother of the Mors Angeli will never serve with a company he was assigned to in his previous life, but the new name and permanent hiding of one's face behind the skull mask of their helmet solidified that the brother cannot be turned from his duty by previous brotherly attachments.

Cairn Guard- Also known as the Umbral Guard, amongst other names, the Cairn Guard acts as the personal bodyguard of the Praetor and as the chapter's version of the more commonly named Sanguinary Guard. The origins of the Cairn Guard are traced back to the personal bodyguard of Praetor Ostos who followed him during the early days of the Great Scouring. These bodyguards would eventually take on the moniker of "Cairn Guard" in response to the continued use of the Sanguinary Guard unit amongst the other IXth Legion successor chapters. The Cairn Guard believed that the use of the Sanguinary Guard title and aesthetics was blasphemous and a mockery as the famous bodyguard of Sanguinius had so utterly failed the Great Angel. The use of the word "cairn" in the name was derived from original intent of guarding the legacy of Sanguinius, encapsulated in the Praetor of the chapter, a concept that was referred to for centuries as "the Cairn". As the Cairn Guard transitioned into a role in line with the Sanguinary Guard of other Blood chapters, the more symbolic nature of the name was lost, though would eventually be taken up again by the Kenotaphion Sentinels.

Clad in the deepest black artificer armour, skeletal winged jump packs, and wearing the chilling Death Masks of their order, the Cairn Guard have continued in an unbroken line since the 2nd Founding. While their function was originally only as bodyguards and not as a morbid reflection of the Sanguinary Guard, it has since become the case that the Cairn Guard are Sanguinary Guards in all but name. Where most chapters of the Blood's Sanguinary Guard wear the gold of their ancient ancestors, the Cairn Guard wear the colours of their chapter. They wield much the same weapons as the Sanguinary Guard though the rites and rituals associated with the Cairn Guard are naturally much different. Unique to the Angels Irredenta, however, is the rank of the Sacerdos which is a Jump Chaplain that directly administers to the Guard.

Kenotaphion Sentinels- This elite unit stand as guardians of the Kenotaphion, the symbolic empty tomb of Sanguinius aboard the Angelus in Absentia, as well as wardens of the Pontifex. Like the Mors Angeli, the Kenotaphion Sentinels is made up of the numerologically significant nine Astartes. However, where the Mors Angeli stand as the agents of the Praetor, the Sentinels are of a largely symbolic role. At all times, five brothers guard the Kenotaphion while the remainder guard the Pontifex or takes what minimal rest is necessary.

The size of the Sentinels once rivaled that of the Cairn Guard, and they often went into battle as representatives of the Pontifex. As the power and influence of the Pontifex continued to grow over the course of the chapter's history, so too did the prominence of the Sentinels. Soon the Praetor and Pontifex were vying for power and influence within their own chapter, and there were centuries where the Pontifex reigned supreme over the Angels Irredenta. After thousands of years, the issue eventually came to a head. During the so called Gentle Schism of 390.M36, Pontifex Garridan "Perpetua" attempted to combine the roles of Pontifex and Praetor once and for all. Rallying his supporters, Perpetua attempted to force the submission of Praetor Varrick, to little success. The eventual civil war that followed was brief and led the strong curtailing of the Pontifex's direct power, the most tangible of these being the reduction of the Kenotaphion Sentinels from over thirty well armed brothers, to just nine, half of whom must stand vigil at the Kenotaphion at all times.

Despite their role as symbolic guardians for the empty tomb of Sanguinius, the Kenotaphion Sentinels have been called on to fight in the defense of the chapter and the Pontifex multiple times, most recently in the Devastation of Baal. In that harrowing struggle for survival, all but three of the Sentinels were killed, alongside Pontifex Skrimar, while defending the Kenotaphion. The guard has since been rebuilt.

The Sentinels are wrapped in highly intricate blue, hooded robes, beneath which is some of the most ancient relic armour which the chapter posseses. While the plate is the customary black, with silver trim, the armour is a riot of fine filigree work in gold and platinum. Hundreds of prayers and lore is etched in miniscule writing across the face of the armour, though is difficult to discern from even a short distance. Each brother wears an ivory mask in the shape of an angel's crying face.

Line Ranks

Veteran Confessor Sergeant- Analogous to a Veteran Sergeant in other chapters, the Veteran Confessor is an elite noncommissioned officer that has seen countless battlefields and led Astartes for centuries. Like standard Confessors, the Veteran Confessor will be trained by a Chaplain in the ways of the Reclusium as well as battlefield leadership roles. While not Chaplains themselves, the Confessors act as anchor points of spiritual dogma for their squads and extol the virtues of the Great Angel and the Emperor on the battlefield. As Veteran Confessors, these white helmed members of the 1^st Company are amongst the best leaders within the chapter. The Veteran Confessor acts not only as an elite squad leader of veteran troops, but also as the backbone of the entire chapter. Many Initiates and Scouts seek out these rugged veterans in order to tap the deep well of knowledge and wisdom that resides behind their helms. Veteran Confessors will often be assigned to other companies along with squads of five to ten Veterans in order to reinforce their brother companies. These leaders will often go on to become leading figures in their chapter and many are selected to be Iudex. It is a requirement that one serve as a Veteran Confessor Sergeant before selection to be a Consul or Iudex.

Confessor Sergeant- Amongst the Angels Irredenta, the role of Confessor or Confessor Sergeant, is alike to Sergeant in other chapters, though with significant differences. Like standard Codex Compliant chapters, the Confessor will act as the grizzled NCO of a squad of five to ten battle brothers. The marked difference from a standard sergeant, however, is the ritual and spiritual duty of the Confessors. As a battle brother displays qualities of squad leader or fervent veneration mixed with martial skill, they will be selected by their company's Blood Chaplain to receive instruction by the Chaplaincy aboard the Chapter Barque. There they will be trained, albeit far less than Chaplain Neophytes, in the ways of the Chaplaincy. They will become spiritual leaders for their squads and be trained in the galvanizing power of religious fervor. After passing their trials, Confessor Sergeants will be assigned a squad when the time comes and be presented with a white painted helm reflecting their new role.

Confessor, spiritual sergeants of the chapter

Confessors are always on the lookout for wavering faith and the signs of the Flaws and are quick to restrain any within their command that falls short of expectations. If signs of the Flaw are detected or a battle brother is in need of censure, the Confessors are the first to address the situation before formally turning the brother over to the Iudex for sentencing. The name Confessor came about due to their roles as first addressing signs of the Flaw amongst their squad. Whether a quirk of subtle gene-seed mutation or the result of chapter psychology, those who begin to experience the visions of the Black Rage are highly reluctant to admit it and often seek to hide it. Before the Black Rage becomes advanced enough, the visions may come and go for a period of time before firmly bombarding the afflicted with delusions and visions of the last days of the Horus Heresy. It is the role of the Confessors to learn the less obvious signs of the Rage and extract the truth from their battle brother. Once the accused has confessed to their descent into the Black Rage, they are turned over to the Chaplains for induction into the Death Company.

Battle Brother- The lowest rank and most numerous of all the Astartes of the Angels Irredenta. These Angels of Death utilize bolters and blades of all manners upon the battlefields of the galaxy and hold back the tide of the mutant, heretic, and alien. Once a Scout graduates from their assigned roles within their company fleet, they will often times undergo a pilgrimage. This can be a pilgrimage to a Sanguine World, Baal, or back to the Chapter Barque. After the completion of their pilgrimage, they will be inducted into the company that had helped train them.

Scout- Scouts of codex compliant chapters represent those within the chapter who have started their journey to be full Space Marines but are still in training. Formed into squads within each of the companies, Scouts will spend decades learning the basics of the battlefield as well as working in a scouting and assistance role for their chapter. Once a Scout is deemed worthy to join the chapter, they will undergo the proper rites and receive their Black Carapace.

Structure of Chapter Deployment

The Angels Irredenta are a fleet based crusading chapter, meaning that their almost never operate as a unified fleet. Instead, companies typically operate as their own small fleet based around their Strike Cruiser flagships. While this is often the case, it is common for fleets to temporarily come together for a larger campaign, most notably a Sanguine Crusade. The main fleet of the chapter is based around the Angelus in Absentia, the Chapter Barque of Angels Irredenta. This ancient Battle Barge has served as the home of the chapter since it was first used by the 82nd Company of the Blood Angels Legion before the 2nd Founding. This primary fleet includes the 1st Company of the chapter, and acts as the most powerful of the crusade forces. Company fleets will return to the Chapter Barque when possible so they might engage with the rites and rituals that occur aboard the Flagship, as well as make use of the more robust access to supplies, artificers, and chapter culture. The Angelus in Absentia is commanded by the Praetor himself, with the 1st Iudex commanding their own vessel.

Given the crusade nature of the Angels Irredenta, each company operates with the same configuration of units. In violation of the Codex Astartes, the chapter does not use reserve companies, nor a dedicated Scout company. Instead, companies are responsible for their own recruitment, training of Scouts, and in many cases their own supply. The chapter has good relations with a number of Forge Worlds scattered across the galaxy, and intermittent stops are required for fleets to resupply their companies.

Each fleet of the Angels Irredenta is unique in their own right and represent the history and culture of that company. Depending on the company, the flagship of the fleet may be an immensely powerful Battle Barge, or a weaker, yet incredibly formidable Strike Cruiser. Dozens of other vessels accompany the fleet, with many having multiple Strike Cruisers, or even a controversial Nova Frigate. The Gladius Frigate is the most numerous of the chapter's vessels and is used to devastating effect in combat. Other vessels in the fleet include separate ships for cultivation, armouries, training, fabrication, ritual, amongst others.

While often operating as part of nomadic, company based fleets, it is common for small strike teams to be separated from the fleet and deployed to warzones across the galaxy. It is true that the Angels Irredenta have an obsessive dedication to crusading, particularly for Sanguine Worlds, but they also recognize the need for Astartes to defend the Imperium elsewhere. Like the bulk of other Astartes chapters, these units, sometimes singular squads, are used as shock troops, special forces, or zone mortalis soldiers alongside far larger deployments of Imperial Guard and other forces of the Imperium.

Order of Battle

Headquarters

Headquarters
Praetor Oselium Scion of Sanguinius Chapter Master of the Angels Irredenta Cairn Guard Aegai, Lord of the Cairn Guard 15 Honour Guard 5 Command Squad Astartes Vexillian, Angel's Champion Mantus, Chapter Herald Thanitus, Purifier of the Mors Angeli
Librarium	Apothecarion	Armoury	Reclusiam
Veles Master of the Librarium 5 Epistolary 9 Codicier 10 Lexicanum 20 Acolytum	Eitan High Sanguinary Priest 15 Apothecary 12 Apprentice 50 Medicae Serfs 30 Servo Meds	Radovak Master of the Forge 20 Techmarine 18 Tech Adepts 80 Tech Servitors 18 Predators 100 Assault Bikes 100 Attack Bikes 15 Land Speeders 5 Vindicators 7 Land Raiders 60 Gunships	Osiris Pontifex Rex Reclusiarch 20 Chaplains 20 Apprentices 60 Acolytes

Companies

Battle Companies
1st Company	2nd Company	3rd Company	4th Company	5th Company
1st Iudex Orcus Sword of the Angel 2 Consuls Company Champion 5 Command Squad Astares 5 Honour Guards 1 Mors Angeli Terminator 20 Terminators 75 Veterans 4 Dreadnoughts Attack Bikes Transports	Iudex Dramphare Master of the Watch 2 Consuls Company Champion 5 Command Squad Astares 5 Honour Guards 1 Mors Angeli Terminator 60 Battleline 20 Close Support 20 Fire Support Scouts 3 Dreadnoughts Attack Bikes Transports	Iudex Serik Master of the Arsenal 2 Consuls Company Champion 5 Command Squad Astares 5 Honour Guards 1 Mors Angeli Terminator 60 Battleline 20 Close Support 20 Fire Support Scouts 3 Dreadnoughts Attack Bikes Transports	Iudex Necromus Master of the Holy Rage 2 Consuls Company Champion 5 Command Squad Astares 5 Honour Guards 1 Mors Angeli Terminator 60 Battleline 20 Close Support 20 Fire Support Scouts 4 Dreadnoughts Attack Bikes Transports	Iudex Zalfoss Master of the Marches 2 Consuls Company Champion 5 Command Squad Astares 5 Honour Guards 1 Mors Angeli Terminator 60 Battleline 20 Close Support 20 Fire Support Scouts 2 Dreadnoughts Attack Bikes Transports
Battle Companies
6th Company	7th Company	8th Company	9th Company	10th Company
Iudex Laekar Master of Rites 2 Consuls Company Champion 5 Command Squad Astares 5 Honour Guards 1 Mors Angeli Terminator 60 Battleline 20 Close Support 20 Fire Support Scouts 4 Dreadnoughts Attack Bikes Transports	Iudex Wahrdian Axelord 2 Consuls Company Champion 5 Command Squad Astares 5 Honour Guards 1 Mors Angeli Terminator 60 Battleline 20 Close Support 20 Fire Support Scouts Attack Bikes Land Speeders Gunships	Iudex Ovidius Lord Executioner 2 Consuls Company Champion 5 Command Squad Astares 5 Honour Guards 1 Mors Angeli Terminator 60 Battleline 20 Close Support 20 Fire Support Scouts Bikes Land Speeders 3 Dreadnoughts Transports	Iudex Trodrux Master of the Relics 2 Justsicars Company Champion 5 Command Squad Astares 5 Honour Guards 1 Mors Angeli Terminator 60 Battleline 20 Close Support 20 Fire Support Scouts Land Speeders 6 Dreadnoughts Transports	Iudex Sorantes Master of Renewal 2 Consuls Command Squad 60 Battleline 20 Close Support 20 Fire Support Scouts Attack Bikes Land Speeders Transports
Death Company
Chaplain Februss Herald of the Redeemed 5 Erelim Unknown number of Death Company Astartes

Chapter Culture

The Angels Irredenta are shaped by their perception of themselves as ironically both being not worthy of the legacy of Sanguinius, yet believing themselves to be the clear successors of Sanguinius. This duality exits in the eternal mission of the chapter. The Angels Irredenta wage a crusade with the goal of reuniting the conquests of the Blood Angels Legion, and thus the work of the Great Angel Sanguinius. This "Sanguine Crusade" is in pursuit of not only reuniting this disparate realm but also allowing the chapter to become worthy of being successors to the IX^th Legion.

Unworthy Crusaders

One of the cornerstones of the Angels Irredenta is their lack of worthiness to the legacy of Sanguinius. Ulitos Ostos, founder of the chapter believed that the Blood Angels had not done enough to save their lord and especially has not done enough in the intervening millennia to make claim to continuity with the IX^th Legion. This belief carried on into the Angels Irredenta who campaign in the hopes of someday reaching the heights of glory that was seen in the Great Crusade. This has left many brothers over the years as melancholic and bitter over their legacy, but hopeful nonetheless that the geneline can be redeemed. It is in this acknowledgement of unworthiness that the Angels Irredenta find solace. They believe that since they are aware of their unworthiness, they are in fact the closest to worthiness. This contradictory philospohy has nonetheless been at the core of the chapter for thousands of years.

The Sanguine Crusade is the most important goal of the Angels Irredenta, and while it is typically of the utmost importance, it will often take a temporary backseat to some of the more pressing aims of the Imperium, especially if the next target of the Crusade is not in danger of falling to an enemy (in the case of a defensive crusade), or in danger of a window of opportunity closing (such as a temporary opening in a Warp Storm, or another chapter claiming or cleansing the world). The Angels will actively participate in other Imperium led campaigns and often will assist in other missions and battles as they see fit for the greater preservation of the Imperium. This is, however, a fine balancing act. Worlds of the Imperium will be helped if the Angels are able and willing, but Sanguine Crusades do typically take precedence and result in other sectors under threat being ignored.

Sanguine Crusades are also typically a solitary affair, and it is very seldom for another chapter to participate in one as part of the initial plan. Over the many millennia of the Angels Irredenta's existence, only five times have another chapter become involved in a Sanguine Crusade at the outset of one. This statement does not include campaigns which were already subject to a battle or campaign which already involved another chapter of the Imperium's other forces. For example, the War for Valdarin took place on a "Sanguine World" and later involved a large commitment from the Angels Irredenta in retaking the world, and thus was a Sanguine Crusade, but the Imperium had been fighting over the world for a number of years before the Irredenta became involved. Notably, the Dawn Seraphs joined the Angels Irredenta in the Crusade of Embrace in mid M33 and was the first time that the chapter had requested assistance in a Sanguine Crusade.

Unredeemed Chosen

The second half of the dual nature of the chapter is that of being the true and chosen successors to the IX^th Legion. Ulitos Ostos, founder of the Angels Irredenta, was massively disillusioned with his legion following the death of Sanguinius. In his belief, the Blood Angels chapter has no legitimate claim to the name, and its successors are mainly sycophants who bow and scrape to their progenitor's chapter. Ostos decreed that Sanguinius would be ashamed to see his Legion broken up on the 2^nd Founding and sickened to find that the conquests that his sons died for are abandoned or ignored on a whim. Taking on the black of mourning, the Angels Irredenta proclaim themselves the true successors of the IX^th Legion and believe that only they can reunite and protect the conquests of Sanguinius and his sons. Due to this, the Angels Irredenta view themselves as the natural leaders of the Sanguinary Brotherhood, not the Blood Angels chapter. This stance has greatly affected its relationship with others of the geneline of Sanguinius and many actively avoid the haughty and condescending scions of the 82^nd company.

Despite this, the position of Dignitary was created by the Angels Irredenta in order to further their goals by presenting their brother chapters with a more diplomatic representative. This thankless job is utilized to try and gather historic data from some of the early founding chapters on potential whereabouts or statuses of Sanguine Worlds. Often the dignitary is stalled or outright turned away from those chapters it was sent to as the Sanguinary Brotherhood has become aware of the true feelings and demeanor of the Angels Irredenta. Occasionally the Dignitary is successful however, and information gleaned from his target can lead to new crusades. A particular target for delegation is the Blood Angels chapter, who typically deal with the representative with grace and honor befitting their noble heritage, though often leave their visitor dissatisfied.

Worship of Sanguinius

It is no secret that the Angels Irredenta are amongst some of the most ardent followers of Sanguinius, a reverence that eventually transformed to worship. Numerous depictions of the Great Angel cover the insides and outsides of the chapter's many ships as well as the armor of the brothers themselves. The Astartes of the Angels Irredenta carry prayer rosaries dedicated to Sanguinius, as well as litanies covering armor sections, purity scrolls, prayer scrolls, and religious icons. Statues of Sanguinius are erected on each vessel in the Chapter fleet, as well as on each world that the Angels Irredenta conquer or reconquer. These sites become locations of pilgrimage and prayer to the son of the Emperor. Of particular interest to the Angels is the Baal system.

A Chaplain of the Angels Irredenta, proclaimer of the divinity of Sanguinius

As the home system of Sanguinius the Angels Irredenta has proclaimed each of the worlds as holy. Pilgrimage to Baal is very regular in the chapter and sand from Baal Secundus is gathered and used in ritual to signal the start of a new crusade. This fanatical devotion to Sanguinius played the primary factor in the decision of the Angels Irredenta to support their one sided rivals, the Blood Angels, during the Devastation of Baal.

Every action that the Angels Irredenta perform is usually preceded by ritual or prayer. Deployments of Astartes is selected via ritual or meditation as performed by one of the Chaplaincy, signs and portents are read to ascertain strategies or plans of action, and the use of blood in rituals is so ubiquitous that rites without them are few and far between. Despite this, blood shed outside of deliberate ritual is seen as blasphemous. It is preached by the Chaplains and Sanguinary Priests that the very divinity and life of Sanguinius can be found in the blood of the Angels Irredenta and thus the loss of that blood is an affront to the Great Angel, unless victory is achieved in its shedding. Those who are injured in combat without result often suffer the wrath of the Chaplains for their failure.

Prohibition of Crimson

As part of the belief of being unworthy of the legacy of Sanguinius, the Angels Irredenta eschewed the use of red in their color scheme, something that is extremely common amongst other Blood Angels successors. In addition to using black and silver as the primary colors of their official color scheme, the Angels Irredenta took the further step to explicitly ban the use of wearing red, with the exception of Bloodstone gems, purity seal wax, though often many brothers will use blue or purple wax instead of red. Many within even the Deathwatch have refused to don a red squad designation due to their beliefs. Only by a complicated written decree from the Praetor and Pontifex can red be forced upon the armour of a Space Marine of the Angels Irredenta, though still only grudgingly.

Any other use of red beyond blood gems is strictly forbidden. More than a few brothers since the founding have been found or accused of wearing red and have been killed for it. Even wearing a red brocade or cloak often ends with a very public execution upon the orders of a company's Iudex and Chaplain. Those who stand in violation of the prohibition, yet have not yet been censured are known as Apostatae ad mortem parati, Apostates prepared for death. More commonly these Apostates are called Red Blasphemers. Special search squads led by Chaplains are dispatched oft times to hunt down these Blasphemers and return them to the fleet for execution. Occasionally, if active combat is heavy enough or the Blasphemer is not able to be reached, they will be informed in some way of their censured status, if communications are possible. That Astartes may continue their mission to its conclusion before returning themselves for punishment. Only rarely has an Astartes truly tried to flee from the censure.

A recent case of a Blasphemer continuing to fulfill their mission despite being notified of their immanent execution, is that of Brother Rozarian. Rozarian fought as part of a Solblade during the Fourth Tyrannic War and was exposed to the mindsets of many different Astartes from different chapters. Eventually, Rozarian was all that remained of his brothers of the Angels Irredenta. After a grueling battle upon the Shrine World of Brayya, a red brocade was used to honour the black clad Astartes by a brother of the Gilded Spear chapter, not knowing this was mark the Angel for death. After many battles, it was learned from Scouts of the Angels Irredenta's 4th Company that Rorarius wore the honour brocade upon his pauldron, and furthermore refused to dishonour his cousin chapter by removing it. Despite the message of immediate capture and execution being relayed to his Solblade, Rorarius signaled his intent to continue battling the Tyranids upon Brayya until he died.

Sanguine Cult-Religion of the Angels Irredenta

Religious History

The Angels Irredenta did not fall into their religious fervour immediately at their founding, nor were they religious before it. Like most all Legionaries, Ulitos Ostos and his company were atheistic in accordance with the Imperial Truth. While they revered and honoured their genefather during his life, they never approached true worship or religiosity. When Sanguinius was killed and the Black Rage began to affect the geneline of the Great Angel, the Angels Irredenta still held firm to their lack of belief in the divine.

This all began to change about 500 years into the life of the chapter. The reverence and sanctity with which the Sanguine Worlds were treated began to slowly change from respect and honouring, to true religious zeal. The belief started small but eventually transformed into the foundations of what would become known as the Sanguine Cult. Ulitos Ostos himself began to be morphed by his own puritanical beliefs about himself and his chapter as the true successors of the legacy of Sanguinius. Recitation of the deeds of their genefather became myth, which became religion. Those new recruits of the chapter listened in enraptured awe at the stories of Sanguinius and of the Angel was something out of old Terran religion, especially Catheric. It was not long before sayings of the Great Angel spoken before battle turned into prayers to Sanguinius himself.

While the burgeoning beliefs of the chapter began to spread, they were not truly embraced until after the death of the first Chapter Master in early M32. Darentius was the chosen successor of Praetor Ostos and is said to have converted to the Sanguine Cult shortly after Ostos' death. Despite the conversion, the Praetor did not openly worship. In tandem with the growing direct worship of Sanguinius came the worship of the God Emperor. Unlike the Sanguine Cult, the worship of the Emperor as a God had by now far more legs on which to stand and propagate. By the death of Darentius, half of the chapter professed a belief in the Emperor as divine. The third Praetor, Yamnaya was the first to profess believe in the God Emperor, but likewise did not move to engage with the cult beliefs in an official capacity.

The religious life of the chapter was radically changed following the death of Yamnaya at the conclusion of the War of the Beast. His successor, Khazarian, was a deeply religious man who worshiped the God Emperor and Sanguinius as his favoured son. Disgusted at the losses suffered during the War of the Beast, the new Praetor took the opportunity to reshape the shattered chapter into one of piety and devotion. Under his reign of 500 years, Khazarian tripled the size of the Chaplaincy, replaced the Captain rank with that of Iudex, instituted draconian religious laws, instituted the role of Pontifex Rex instead of High Chaplain, created the Conclave system for elections, and made the worship of the Emperor and his winged son paramount. Because of all of these extreme reforms, Khazarian is remembered as the single greatest impact on the religion of the Angels Irredenta. The Fourth Praetor is also regarded as the first of the so called "His Holy Triarchy", for the incredibly impactful roles of the 4th, 5th, and 6th Praetors.

The 5th Praetor, Zael, also known as the Hammer of the Angel or Saint Zael, was responsible for the chapter making its decision to almost solely worship Sanguinius instead of the God Emperor. This in no way meant that the Astartes thought that Sanguinius was above the Emperor, but that they simply wished to properly worship their demigod father. Zael was a prodigy before his ascension to Praetor, and he became the embodiment of all the desired traits of the Angels Irredenta. He was pious, could interpret the teachings of Sanguinius, erudite, a rousing sermonizer, and a martial genius. He firmly believed that the chapter had to solely follow the path of Sanguinius and so he galvanized the supremacy of the Sanguine Cult over the Cult of the God Emperor, which remained as a secondary fixture. Upon gathering the scattered scions of the 82nd Company to his Ascension, Zael proclaimed that he would lead a Great Sanguine Crusade to reconquer nine Sanguine Worlds in the fringes of Segmentum Ultima, after which the chapter would pilgrimage to Baal. The Crusade drowned the chapter in religious zeal and introduced dozens of new religious rites and observances that continue in the chapter. Zael also created the pilgrimage to Baal as part of required chapter life through the Great Sanguine Crusade. Though he became virtually canonized amongst his brothers within his own lifetime, the young Praetor was consumed by the Black Rage only nine years after the completion of the great pilgrimage to Baal. While the numerology was satisfactory, the loss of Zael ended a hopeful and revivalist era in the Angels Irredenta that has never been recaptured. After Zael, no major changes would rock the religious lives of the Angels Irredenta. While rites, ceremonies, holy texts, are still refined, nothing has occurred to so radically redefine the Sanguine Cult. Even Praetor Elekon, successor of Zael and last of His Holy Triarchy, is renowned for solidifying the changes wrought by Zael rather than forging his own path for the chapter. Elekon was a return to dour dogma and the redeployment of the Angels Irredenta back to "business as usual" following the intensity of Zael's reign.

Though the politics surrounding the religion has changed over the thousands of years of chapter history, the teachings and practices have not. Each new generation of Angels Irredenta brought with them new changes, even if they were subtle. One of the largest additions to the spiritual life came after the death of Praetor Elekon; the holy writings of Pontifex Oedeo. In what became known as the Book of Black Blood, the Pontifex wrote the religious history of the chapter, the holy teachings of the Great Angel and his Praetors, as well as all the religious ceremonies, rites, rituals, and laws created by the Praetors during the reigns of His Holy Triarchy. Oedeo himself was ancient and had lived through the entire Praetorships of His Holy Triarchy. This book is the most important holy writings of the chapter, and it is said that is more oft read than the Codex Astartes amongst the black and silver sons of Sanguinius. Another important change in the chapter came in 471.M33 during the days of the 7th Praetor, Solus. An incident during a campaign saw a battle brother suddenly fell to the Black Rage in full sight of a clutch of Astartes from another chapter. The Angels Irredenta slaughtered their allies in order to maintain the secret of the Twin Flaws. Disgusted at the signs of the Rage having been missed, Praetor Solus commanded Pontifex Kahrvo to have the Chaplains provide religious instruction to the chapter's sergeants. A single Chaplain could not be reliably trusted to catch every sign of the Black Rage, so Sergeants would be made into Confessors. The Confessor rank created intense microcosms of spirituality and worship within squads and only increased the zealousness of the Angels Irredenta.

Holy Writings

After witnessing the reigns of His Holy Triarchy with his own eyes, Pontifex Oedeo set about compiling, editing, writing commentary on, and restoring the disparate religious writings of the Sanguine Cult, as well as writing his own mythical and contemporary accounts of the chapter. These writings were combined into the Codex Umbra Sanguine, or the Book of Black Blood as it is more commonly known. This book is used and studied hand and hand with the Codes Astartes, and is often clipped to the belt of members of the chapter, from serf to Praetor.

Known Sections of the Codex Umbra Sanguine:

• Apocrypha Angelicum- Stories and myths about Sanguinius, from his arrival on Baal Secundus, to his death aboard the Vengeful Spirit. These stories often take the form of Sanguinius imparting wisdom and morals as embraced by the Angels Irredenta.
• History of the 82nd Company of the Blood Angels- Pieced together and often times embellished and legendary accounts of the Angels Irredenta's ancestors, the 82nd "Shroud" Company of the IXth Legion are featured and referenced. The Siege of Terra is a central setting for many mythical accounts of this company and sometimes crosses over with the Apocrypha Angelicum.
• Mythical Early History of the Angels Irredenta- Added in the thousands of years after the original writing of the Book of Black Blood, a history of the chapter was added, though it is fragmentary and focuses on the first six Praetors and their religious piety and instructions.
• Oaths- The laws of the Chapter, including the many prohibitions observed by the Angels Irredenta.
• List of Rites- A detailed list of religious rites to be performed take up a large section of the book.
• Songs of Sanguinius- List of prayers of to be performed to Sanguinius, and when they should be used.
• Praise to the Emperor- Like the Songs of Sanguinius, this section covers prayers to the God Emperor.

Chapter Gene-Seed

Genetic Flaws

Like all of the gene-seed of Sanguinius, the Angels Irredenta suffer from the twin flaws of the Red Thirst and the Black Rage.

Red Thirst

In order to combat the Red Thirst, the Angels Irredenta are not greatly different than their progenitors. Like the Blood Angels and a myriad of others within the Sanguinary Brotherhood, the Angels Irredenta turn to the creation of art in order to drive away the all consuming thirst for blood that threatens to overwhelm the Astartes at any time. While other chapters are able to marvel at the creations of their chapter, the Angels Irredenta are mostly disappointed in what they create. While any outsider, even those also of the Blood, would marvel or greatly appreciate the vast quantities of sculpture, metal work, and painting created by the black clad Astartes, the Irredenta themselves view most of their work with a level of disdain. Even the greatest craftsmen within their chapter believe that their creations will always fall short of that created by the IX^th Legion under the tutelage of Sanguinius himself. So, while the chapter pursues the arts, it is in their usual dour mindset. This drives the Irredenta to create incredibly delicate and beautiful works of artistry that reach for the mythical heights of the past but can never reach it in the minds of the brothers.

Black Rage

The Angels Irredenta have a view of the Black Rage that is in the vast minority within the Sanguinary Brotherhood. While many honor those who slip into the memory soaked psychosis that haunts the geneline, there are many who view this event with deep sorrow. The Angels Irredenta view those who slip into the Black Rage as the lucky few. The brothers believe that those who get to witness the memories of the IX^th Legion and Sanguinius himself are blessed and have transcended the sorry state that the Sanguinary Brotherhood finds itself in since the Death of the Great Angel. While the usage of red paint has been forbidden, somewhat unnecessarily, within the Angels Irredenta in clear opposition to the Blood Angels and their successors, the Death Company of itself is fully painted in the crimson of old. In a ritual which is the opposite of the Blood Angels, the black of the Angels Irredenta is painted over with the red of the IX^th Legion, save the right shoulder and left knee, which retain the black in order to bear the symbolic red saltire, and the right knee which continues to bear the silver color used since the 82^nd Company of the Legion.

The Death Company is commonly known within the chapter as the Redeemed, that is that their soul has been purified by taking on the aspect of Sanguinius, even if within their own minds. Great feasts and rituals surround the Redeemed brothers, who are often restrained or subdued by Chaplains. Confessors and Chaplains often go through the bizarre practice of attempting to access deeper memories behind the usual hallucinations of the Siege of Terra or the fight against Horus Lupercal. The Reclusiarchy believe that there is a chance, however slight, that lost information about the Legion, or even old conquests, might be gleaned when lost to the Black Rage, and interrogations will usually take place for days before the Death Company is unleashed upon the battlefield.

Though those who have fallen to the Black Rage are highly regarded, even envied in some ways, there is a strange quirk that has arisen within the Angels Irredenta over the millennia. For those themselves who begin to experience the descent into madness that is the second flaw of Sanguinius, there is a highly unusual reluctance for that individual to admit to it. It is thoroughly unknown what causes a brother of the chapter to become so secretive and obstinate when the time of their visions comes, and it has sorely afflicted the Angels Irredenta in the past for a brother to suddenly seemingly go from normal to a raging berserker at rather inconvenient times. Because of this, it had fallen on the sergeants of squads to keep an eye out for unusual behavior and to eventually extract the truth from a brother about their mental state. This odd situation arising from the descent into the Rage eventually gave rise to the rank of Confessor. A Confessor is a sergeant of a squad, like any other chapter, but one that has additionally been schooled by the Chaplaincy of the chapter. Using a variety of tools, both verbal and physical, will extract a confession from an afflicted brother of their mental state and even their visions. The Confessors will then pass on the confessed to the Chaplains for inducement into the Death Company.

Deathwatch Service

Like most chapters within the Imperium, the Angels Irredenta cede a portion of their veterans to the Deathwatch. While the chapter sees the selection into the Deathwatch as an honour, it also carries a significant time of unease and risk for the Space Marines joining the xenos hunters. The Angels Irredenta are a borderline religious chapter and is also known for their sullen and dour outlooks coupled with an inflated sense of entitlement. This creates tensions within the Deathwatch that are not easily solved, especially if an Astartes from the Angels Irredenta finds itself in a Kill Team where another of the Sanguinary Brotherhood is serving.

Induction in the Deathwatch also carries with it the threat of the revelation of the Black Rage. While this is always a risk for those of the gene line of Sanguinius within the Deathwatch, the particular culture of the Angels Irredenta has deeply affected the chapter's ability to detect the Black Rage before it is too late. While other Sanguinary chapter brothers might descend into the blatant hallucinations or otherwise be more forthcoming about their condition, the Angels Irredenta, either by psychological quirk or by a strange chapter specific behavior of the flaw, will become extremely furtive about their mental condition, and especially about their descent into the Black Rage. Because of this, the chapter utilizes Confessors to sus out and locate the subtle signs of the Rage before a battle brother falls into the final delusions and violence. In order to combat the unease and risk of the Flaws being revealed, the Angels Irredenta will commonly send a Veteran Confessor Sergeant to accompany any members of the chapter into the Deathwatch.

Chapter Combat Doctrine

Void Doctrine

Ship Combat

From their earliest days the Angels Irredenta had been masters of Void combat. The Angels Irredenta are a fleet based chapter operating in scattered groups, often across the galaxy from one another. It is often the case that companies operate in their own fleets, supported by a myriad of other vessels. This has led to the Angels Irredenta to become ruthlessly efficient voidsmen and commanders.

Each fleet of the chapter has at its center a Battle Barge or Strike Cruiser to act as the flagship for its assigned company. The Flagship will act as a deadly rock in the sea of combat, and as a mobile base for sorties and to fall back to. The Flagship will also act as an aegis for the more vulnerable craft assigned to the fleet, such as the many non-combat vessels that necessarily are attached to a fleet based chapter. Ideally the company will be split up between this ship, Gladius Frigates, and a few amongst the escort vessels. The chapter prefers the Gladius Frigate to do the majority of the fighting in the void, using them as lightning quick blades to cut across the enemy, and disgorge their payload, a single squad of Space Marines unto the target vessel.

Amongst the black and silver coloured fleets of the Angels Irredenta also exist a number of coveted Nova Frigates. These Lance ships push upon the limits of the Codex Astartes, given their dedicated Void intended role of ship killers, rather than as transports or short ranged warships. While the chapter's tactics depend upon engaging the enemy in a short ranged knife fight, or death by a thousand cuts, this is not always desired or feasible. With the chapter being entirely fleet based, it stands to reason to the Praetor that they should necessarily depend upon some vessels frowned upon by the Inquisition and Navy. The weapon of choice, is the Nova Frigate is far faster than its Navy counterpart, allowing it to quickly take up position and fire its incredibly powerful lance batteries at enemy frigates and capital ships. Despite protests, the Angels Irredenta retain command of four of these vessels. They are amongst the most treasured items in the chapter fleet, and each contain full time chaplains and tech marines to see to their spiritual and mechanical functionality.

Boarding Assault

While ship captains guide their vessels in dances of death, this is most often just a means to an end to the Angels Irredenta's preferred tactic, Boarding Assault. The chapter's proficiency in this way of war is of ancient descent, all the way back to the 82nd Company of the IXth legion, from whom the chapter was first founded. In the days of the Great Crusade, the company earned much fame and renown for their brutal efficiency in assaulting enemy vessels and destroying them from within. This tactic was put to the test over and over during the Heresy and earned the company an important posting within the Second Sphere during the Solar War. Such mastery has been passed down the generations creating a chapter that is amongst the greatest in this form of Zone Mortalis warfare.

In practice, swarms of attack craft overwhelm enemy vessels in order to initiate boarding actions. This is done either from the use of Assault Rams, Boarding Torpedoes, Thunderhawks, and others. Whatever the means of transport, the Angels Irredenta within stand ready to unleash the Angel's fury when the hatch opens. Keeping alive the legend of the Breacher Squads of the old Legions, the Angels Irredenta charge from their insertion with Storm and Breacher shields at the ready to repel a hail of defensive fire. Locking their shields together, the black and silver Astartes are nigh unstoppable. Depending on the nature of the attack, the Angels Irredenta may not fire back through their bolter cut outs in their shields but instead advance upon the enemy before using their tower shields to pulverize their foe, or switch to their bitter chainswords to do hew apart those before them.

The Angels Irredenta Breacher Squads or ruthless, methodical, and terrifying. While they clear the ship the Space Marines yell endless litanies to Sanguinius and the God-Emperor. Many times, foes are subjected to quick and brutal rituals to appease the spirituality of the Angels in accordance with their sordid texts. As always, these rites are administered by the squad's Confessor Sergeant. Despite the often shield wall approach to the boarding, the scions of the 82nd Company are highly adaptable. Their breacher squads are amongst the best outfitted of the company, and breacher tactical squads come equipped with the tools for any situation they may face in the bowels of a hostile ship.

In the case of the chapter's Veteran 1st Company, Boarding Assaults are often conducted either by Terminator Assault Squads, or Veteran Breacher Squads. Veteran Breacher Squads have the pick of the chapter's armoury in both weapons and armour. When the nine times blessed Veterans of the Angels Irredenta board a vessel, the enemies of the Imperium may be blessed with the sight of a black and silver painted Angel of Death in relic Mk.III armour, carrying an equally antique Breacher Shield, roaring Sanguinius' name while raising a Lightning Claw equipped Power Fist. Due to their elite nature, Terminator squads forgo the rude methods of boarding rams and their like and instead utilize teleportation directly onto enemy vessels. Within minutes, a fully clad assault squad can appear upon the bridge of a ship, destroy or disable the crew and command, and depart. Amongst even these elites stand the Mors Angeli, the Angel's Death. These Terminators are clad completely in archaic Cataphractii plate and weild the chapter's most storied and powerful weapons. Strapped to the left arm of each Mors Angeli is a towering shield upon which is carved the entire legend of Sanguinius, interspersed with religious texts, all surrounding an embossed statue of the Great Angel laying slain by his brother, Horus.

Siege Assault

Amongst the oldest forms of combat practiced by the Angels Irredenta is that of the Siege Assault doctrine. Like Boarding Assaults, the Siege Assault is descended from the same tactics employed by the Blood Angels 82nd Company. Though the chapter had to adapt from the days of the Legion Breacher Squads with their robust logistics and Mk.III armour, the DNA of the doctrine is the same. When the Angels Irredenta go to war, they do so as agents of total slaughter, unbreakable, and unstoppable. Due to the disparate nature of their crusades and fleets, the chapter cannot be dissuaded from attack against heavily fortified positions, even if they are but a single company of Astartes.

The chapter deploys all the tools of siege warfare to expert effect. Heavy cannons and Rhino tank variants tear apart the defenses of the chapter's enemy, while Predators, Baal Predators, and Vindicators push forward to clear the way for the advancing infantry. On foot, Angels Irredenta advance lockstep upon the enemy, their massive siege shields interlocked against incoming fire. As they advance, litanies and praise to Sanguinius erupt from their vox grills, splintering morale of their foes while the Astartes themselves prepare for death. Behind the advancing phalanx the tanks support the shield wall. Grueling escalades and attrition are well known to the Angels Irredenta and is point of pride for the sons of Sanguinius.

Siege Defense

Just as important to the Angels Irredenta of the reconquest of the old Sanguine Worlds, the worlds conquered by the IXth Legion, is the defense of those very same planets. Oft times the worlds first taken by the Blood Angels of old have grown to be important centers for the Imperium and become the target of massive assaults by the enemies of the Imperium. Other times Sanguine Worlds have become no more important than the average Agri World. Nonetheless, the Angels Irredenta will protect them with all the fury of the Great Angel.

Using a robust, if always lagging network, the Angels Irredenta track threats to their holy worlds and attempt to respond. As is the case for thousands of planets every year, the news of attack only reaches the ears of the Imperium too late.

Notable Space Marines

Praetors

• Ulitos Ostos- Founder and first Praetor of the Angels Irredenta in the 2nd Founding. Former captain of the Blood Angel's 82nd Company from which the Angels are descended. Ostos is the most famous figure of the Chapter's history and his role in the Great Crusade, Heresy, and Scouring are legendary, as well as required learning for all Scouts. Ostos to date was the longest serving Praetor of the chapter, from the chapter's founding in 021.M31 to 367.M32, a reign of 1,346 years.
• Darentius- Second Praetor of the Angels Irredenta. It is said that Darentius became a convert to the Sanguine Cult but never openly professed such. Under his tenure the worship of the God Emperor grew, though not through direct action of the Praetor.
• Yamnaya- Third Praetor to serve the Angels Irredenta. Yamnaya is best remembered for leading the chapter during the brutal years of the War of the Beast. Despite a herculean effort, the Chapter Master would see most of his chapter destroyed fighting the endless tides of Orks. Yamnaya would himself be slain at the end of the war while trying to board an Ork Attack Moon during the Battle of Praxmodar Alpha. Yamnaya was the first Praetor to openly attend religious services devoted to the God Emperor. Despite this, he never utilized his rank for religious means.
• Salek Khazarian- Fourth Praetor of the Angels Irredenta and one of the most influential in its history. The first of what became known as His Holy Triarchy, Khazarian was a highly devout worshiper of both the God Emperor and Sanguinius, his favoured son. After taking command of the Angels Irredenta after their savaging during the War of the Beast, Khazarian remade the chapter into one of religious devotion in addition to their obsession with reuniting and protecting the Sanguine Worlds. The Fourth Praetor radically increased the size of the Chaplaincy, renamed Captains into Iudex, as well as expanded their autonomy and gave them religious duties, renamed the High Chaplain into the Pontifex Rex, and instituted a regime of active religion. Under his 500 year reign, the Angels Irredenta went from a chapter with burgeoning religiosity and spirituality to one of intensive religious devotion to the God Emperor, and to a lesser extent Sanguinius.
• Zael- The Fifth Preator of the Angels Irredenta is one of the most legendary and celebrated heroes of the chapter and is the patron saint of the 5th Company. A prodigy known for his rousing sermons, piety, insight into Sanguinius and his martial acumen, he was promoted to the rank of Iudex of the 5th company at the age of fifty. After the death of Praetor Khazarian a conclave was held by the Chaplaincy to elect the next Praetor. So great was Zael's reputation that he was elected on the first vote. After gathering all of the crusade fleets to witness his Ascencion, the new Praetor declared a new crusade. Selecting a group of nine Sanguine Worlds on the edge of Imperial space, Zael declared the Great Sanguine Crusade in which he himself would lead the entirety of the chapter to war. In a campaign dripping with religious fervour, omens, rites, prophecy, and brutal combat, the Angels Irredenta conquered world after world. So intertwined was the Sanguine Cult in the most basic of chapter functions during the Crusade that everything from the selection of weapons, units, and even where to deploy was all controlled by rites of chaplains, with the Pontifex himself performing auguries for larger decisions. As the wars continued, Zael was transformed into a leader approaching saint status. Some even began to believe that he was Sanguinius come again. At the conclusion of the campaign, the Angels Irredenta traveled to Baal on pilgrimage, a place that the chapter had not visited since the 2nd Founding. After a procession of rituals, religious ceremonies, and devotional tours, Zael approached the Commander of the Blood Angels and demanded a crop of Baalites for compensation for the Sanguine Crusade, and as just due for being the "true" scions of Sanguinius. The Angels Irredenta were soon after virtually removed from the system under armed threat. Zael would continue leading the chapter for nine more years until he famously fell to the Black Rage at the very zenith of a battle for a Sanguine World. Zael's legacy was one of intense zeal. Under his reign, the religion of the chapter swung from worshipping primarily the God Emperor and to a lesser extent Sanguinius, to worshipping the Great Angel almost exclusively. After this time, the Sanguine Cult would virtually never lose its supremacy as the leading religion of the Angels Irredenta. Zael is regarded as the epitome of the Astartes of the Angels Irredenta, and he is oft quoted and made mention of. Due to his affiliation with the 5th Company prior to his promotion to Praetor, he has become something of a patron saint to that company ever since.
• Elekon- The last of His Holy Triarchy. Elekon is renowned for stepping into the shoes left by the legendary Zael and solidifying a host of new rituals and cultural changes that had occurred the last two Praetorships. Praetor Elekon is also a celebrated voidsman in his own right and came to great renown during the Great Sanguine Crusade.
• Solus- Seventh Praetor of the Angels Irredenta. Solus is most remembered for the creation of the Confessor rank, a combining of the sergeant rank with spiritual training imparted by the Chaplaincy.

Brothers

• Iudex Necromus- Leader of the 4th Company of the Angels Irredenta, Necromus is one of the most capable and feared of all the Astartes known to the chapter. Necromus, despite his position of Iudex of the 4th, he is one of the oldest living members of the Angels Irredenta, standing at ~750 Terran standard years old. This aged son of Sanguinius has prosecuted hundreds of notable engagements, as well as leading the chapter to legendary victories such as the War for Valdarin, and the Battle of Hithlum. Necromus is also one of the few remaining officers of the Angels Irredenta who served before the Devastation of Baal. Given his age, it is strange he would not have become Praetor at some point in his career, yet Necromus has never sought the Praetorship, and actively advocates against himself. Despite his protests, Necromus is highly likely to become the next Praetor, should Oselium fall before death in battle, or the Black Rage claims the Iudex.
• Uliq Rozarian- Eventually known as the "Deathless", Uliq Rozarian was a veteran of the Devastation of Baal and the Battle of Hithlum, Rozarian was one of the most well regarded members of the 4th Company. A highly prized warrior, he was sent after Hithlum along with Squad Makaros to aid Solblade Barrus against the tendrils of Leviathan invading Segmentum Pacificus during the 4th Tyrannic War. In the months of constant fighting alongside the many diverse Imperial forces of the Solblade, Rozarian's zealous worldview began to soften, a rarity amongst his brothers. During the battle of Ozch-Tackuul, Rozarian was separated from his squad. Forced to make allies with several squads of different Space Marines, Rozarian flourished, becoming highly collaborative and inquisitive. The Irredenta became fast comrades with Kalroosk, a brother of the Gilded Spear. Solblade Barrus was eventually directed towards the world of Brayya, which had become the battleground for a three way conflict between Chaos, Tyranids, and the Imperium. A hive world, the fighting on the world was intense and involved billions of soldiers, drawing in assets from other nearby sector forces and Solblades. Following an engagement, Kalroosk of the Gilded Spears gifted Rozarian a crimson brocade to wear across his chestplate, a great honour amongst the Gilded Spears. Rozarian, even knowing Kalroosk was unaware of the Prohibition Against Crimson in the Angels Irredenta, accepted the honour for what it was. Despite knowing that wearing of the brocade would spell his death by his chapter's own hand, Rozarian happily accepted the honour from his close comrades as it also honoured the Gilded Spears. After rejoining his few remaining brothers of the Angels Irredenta of Solblade Barrus, they unsurprisingly denounced their brother as a Blasphemer and ardently worked to send an astropathic signal to the closest Angels Irredenta crusade fleet. Soon after, the remaining brothers of Rozarian were killed in combat, leaving the brother to wearing his red brocade in peace. An emissary from 4th Iudex Necromus eventually arrived on Brayya, informing Rozarian of his death sentence. Uliq Rozarian instead proclaimed his intention to fight and die on Brayya, and not submit himself. Relenting, the emissary allowed this solution. Already marked for death, Rozarian resigned himself to fighting in the most intense of battles and undertaking the most dangerous of missions. Despite the intense risks, Rozarian triumphed against his enemies time after time, month after month. The Angel prayed ardently to Sanguinius for a good death in combat, but it continued to allude him. The black and silver Astartes become ubiquitous on the many battlefronts of Brayya. The legend around the Space Marine continued to grow with each close survival or glorious triumphal mission, and he was eventually given the sobriquet of "Deathless". Having outlived most of his comrades of Solblade Barrus, Rozarian instead found himself aiding a rotating cast of Astartes cobbled together from other chapters and Solblades. In this time the Deathless placed himself on the Ferran Line, a network of bastions and forts that were the frontline against the Chaos and Tyranid forces. He waged war on the many bastions of the Ferran for seven weeks, fighting through and atop the fortresses against seemingly endless hordes, back to back with Imperial Guard and Space Marines from two dozen different chapters. Eventually, in the ongoing battle for Bastion 19, Rozarian joined a squad of three Ultramarines, an Ultramarines Dreadnought, and a Black Templar in defending the fortress from Tyranid assault. An unstoppable force, and one composed of a rare mixture of Astartes of high character and skill, Rozarian proudly fought beside this new squad, designated Squad Zeal. Though command requested Rozarian leave Zeal and assist another bastion, the Deathless refused and continued fighting alongside his new comrades. After repelling intense Tyranid assaults on the wall top, word was received of a Chaos breakthrough into Bastion 19 interior. Determined to finally die by the Angel's will in the prescence of worthy comrades, Rozarian joined Zeal in trying to stop the Chaos incursion. Though the Dreadnought ancient Galafor destroyed wave after wave of Chaos forces, he was eventually felled, leaving just Rozarian, an Ultramarine, and the Black Templar alone to stop the unending Chaos tide. Though they fought valiantly, Squad Zeal was overwhelmed by waves of Thousand Sons assisted by two Helbrutes. Finally aware of his impending death, Rozarian thanked the Angel and fought like one possessed by. After a desperate stand, Uliq Rozarian was killed by a Helbrute plasma cannon as he kneeled to assist his fallen Ultramarines comrade.

Chapter Fleet

Known Currently Active Ships as of ~017.M42

• Angelus in Absentia (Chapter Barque)- The mobile fortress monastery of the Angels Irredenta. This modified Trantor Class Battle Barge has seen warfare since the days of the Great Crusade and is the oldest ship in the chapter fleet. First utilized as the Gilded Mask, the Battle Barge was home to the 82^nd Company of the Blood Angels Legion during the Great Scouring and later their scions, the Angels Irredenta.
• Epitaph (Battle Barge)- A Battle Barge owned by the Angels Irredenta. Serving the Angels Irredenta since at least M33, it was rumored to once belong to the 3rd Founding Canvas Hands chapter. Once members of the Sanguinary Brotherhood, the Canvas Hands were said to have been so assaulted by a warp storm that engulfed their homeworld in the midst of a Chaos siege, that the chapter fell to the Black Rage en masse. The Painted Death was taken in the subsequent purge conducted by fellow chapters of the Blood in order to contain the secret of the Flaws. Following the capture of the vessel, it was renamed as Epitaph in reference to the lost Canvas Hands. The Epitaph has served as the flagship of the 1st Iudex for thousands of years.
• Dread Sword's Oath (Battle Barge)- Once the flagship of the Traitor Astartes Lord of the Serrated Tusks warband, the Dawn Seraphs chapter had taken and cleansed it in M36. After utilizing the ship for nearly a millennium under the name of Dread Sword's Due, the Battle Barge was gifted to the Angels Irredenta for their assistance in the Defense of Aurë where the Delphic Dream was destroyed. Remembering the oath of friendship that the Founder of the Dawn Seraphs had made to the Founder of the Angels Irredenta, the sons of Aurë renamed the ship to Dread Sword's Oath and gifted it to their ally. Since this time, it has served as the flagship of the chapter's 2nd Company.
• Sepulcher Grey (Strike Cruiser)- Strike cruiser serving the 3rd Company since at least M36. Current flagship of the 3rd company following the Devastation of Baal.
• Betrayed Dream (Strike Cruiser)- Having served the Angels Irredenta for at least several thousand years, the Betrayed Dream served as the flagship of 4th Iudex Necromus since at least ~700.M41. It was damaged but not destroyed in the Devastation of Baal and the Battle of Hithlum during the Fourth Tyrannic War in early M42.
• Avenging Blade (Strike Cruiser)- This vessel once served the Swords of Virtue chapter for hundreds of years but was boarded and claimed by the Angels Irredenta after the former chapter was targeted for annihilation in the Compliance of Atarminiar. Following the battle, the ship was given to the 5th Company to act as their new flagship.
• Acta Sanguinium Sanctorum (Strike Cruiser)- Like the Avenging Blade, this ship was captured from one of the trio of rogue chapters that were defeated in the Compliance of Atarminiar. Having lost their flagship in the Battle of Hithlum, this ship was renamed and given over to the 6th Company to act as their flagship.
• Unshorn Wings (Strike Cruiser)- Utilized by the Angels Irredenta since their founding. This ship has seen countless wars and endured many injuries but rises again after each battle. Flagship of the 7th Company.
• Wight (Strike Cruiser)- First recorded having served as the vessel of the Angels Irredenta's 8^th Company in the Battle for Hegmoth in M34. This ship later served in the infamous Naeth and Ventrum Crusades in the fourth and sixth centuries of M41. Damaged but not destroyed in the Devastation of Baal. Current flagship of the 8th Company.
• Ascended Crusader (Strike Cruiser)- This Strike Cruiser was utilized heavily in the crusade fleet of 4th Iudex Aphanth during the latter part of M37. It would also fight in the battles of the Ventrum Crusade and the Devastation of Baal. Flagship of the 9th Company.
• Eyes of Heaven (Strike Cruiser)- This ship saw action in the first thousand years of the chapter's existence. Though it saw many of the first glories of the Angels Irredenta, it was destroyed by the Ashen Eyes warband during the Purging of the Canvas Hands.
• Execution of Will (Strike Cruiser)- Flagship of Iudex Draugen during the War for Valdarin and beyond. First recorded used during the Sanguine Crusade for the world of Gyalt Nova in M37. Flagship of the 10th Company
• Spear of the Angel (Nova Frigate)- One of the controversial lance equipped frigates of the Angels Irredenta. This ship serves the 1st Company. Destroyed in M37, it was rebuilt at great expense to the chapter in M38.
• Shining Eye (Nova Frigate)- Lance equipped frigate of the chapter. This ship has been assigned to the 2nd company for thousands of years. Used to particular effect as a capital ship killer during the War for Valdarin and the Devastation of Baal.
• Ostos' Dream (Nova Frigate)- Controversial lance equipped ship serving the 6th Company. Badly damaged in the Devastation of Baal but rescued at great cost by space marines of the chapter.
• Unseen Death (Nova Frigate)- One of the chapter's coveted Nova Frigates. This ship has famously been the target of eleven Traitor Astartes raids/ambushes in an attempt to capture the vessel. Each assault was repelled at great loss for the Angels Irredenta but it was always paid gladly. Badly damaged in the Devastation of Baal and only repaired thanks to the coming of the Indomitus Crusade at the end of the battle. Currently serving the 9th Company.

Known Former Ships

• Delphic Dream (Battle Barge)- The second Battle Barge that the Angels Irredenta received in their founding. This venerable ship was named in honor of the Delphic Battlement upon Terra, where countless sons of the Great Angel were slain in defense of the Eternity Gate. The ship found itself an unfortunate target of Daemonships during the Purging of the Canvas Hands, and was crippled early on in the battle. Eventually restored, the ship was destroyed defending the Dawn Seraphs' chapter system during the Defense of Aurë in 954.M34
• Semper ad Mortem (Battle Barge)- Once a powerful vessel that served the Serrated Tusks Traitor Warband, the ship was won by the Angels Irredenta following the crusade to hunt down the renegades. The ship would continue to serve primarily as the flagship of the 3rd Company for several centuries before it became embroiled in the War of the Beast. During the war, at the battle of Proxmodar Alpha, the warp drives of the Semper ad Mortem were detonated while the vessel was within an Ork Attack Moon. The resulting explosion vaporized the ad Mortem, but the legend of the ship lives on in the tales of the Angels Irredenta.
• Mors Argentea (Battle Barge)- One of the longest serving of the Angels Irredenta's ships, the Mors Argentea ("Silver Death") was the third Battle Barge owned by the scions of the 82nd Company. First received in the third century of M31, the Mors Argentea was the vaunted flagship of the 5th company of the chapter. It earned particular renown as the flagship of Iudex Zael who led a series of exceptionally successful Sanguine Crusades and eventually earned him the title of Praetor. The ship fought in campaign after campaign and proved instrumental in the War for Valdarin. This ancient vessel would meet its fate in the Devastation of Baal.
• Barter of Better Dreams (Strike Cruiser)- Amongst the first Strike Cruisers owned by the Angels Irredenta. Fought in the battles of Yromo, Calisvan IV, and Akja before being destroyed during the Crusade of Embrace in 587.M33.
• Fist of Eternity (Strike Cruiser)- Flagship of Iudex Saris during the Ventrum Crusade. It was utterly surrounded by Ork vessels during the battle for Dhor-Renvar and destroyed. The ship was first mentioned as serving the 4th Company in M34.
• Redactor (Strike Cruiser)- Destroyed in the War for Valdarin around 715.M41.
• Sword of Zael (Strike Cruiser)- This ship served in the 5th Company of the chapter. Destroyed in the Devastation of Baal.
• Angel's Wrath (Strike Cruiser)- A ship of the 3rd Company. Destroyed in the Devastation of Baal.
• True Scion (Strike Cruiser)- Flagship of the 6^th Company and Iudex Quen-Varo in late M41. Destroyed in the Devastation of Baal.
• Black Tear (Strike Cruiser)- One of the most storied ships of the Angels Irredenta, the Black Tear served the Angel Irredenta's 2^nd Company for thousands of years and fought at the forefront of dozens of Sanguine Crusades. It was one of the few ships of the chapter to remain unscathed during the Ventrum Crusade and the War for Valdarin. This mighty ship was finally brought low after destroying tens of thousands of voidborne Bio Forms during the Devastation of Baal. The loss of this ship is said to have compelled Praetor Omnius to deploy the Angels Irredenta to the surface of Baal.
• Empty Chalice (Strike Cruiser)- This vessel served in a dozen campaigns at the end of M41 and served as a ship of the 6th Company. It was destroyed in the Battle of Hithlum.

Chapter Relics

• Armor of Soralius- Also known as the Armor of the Angel, Champion's Aegis, but more commonly as The Armor of Soralius, is an artificer set of MK.IV Maximus armor that has served as the garb of the Chapter Champion for millennia. First utilized by brother Soralius of the 82^nd Company of the IX^th Legion, the armor has mysteriously withstood the test of time and has never suffered from degradation. Though damaged in battle numerous times, it is oddly easily repaired. It is said that the armor was gifted by Sanguinius himself during the Great Crusade and thus has been bestowed his favor. The current owner of this armor is Vexilian, Angels Champion of the Angels Irredenta.
• Helm of the Pontifex- This artifact is a highly ornate skull helm once utilized by Warden Balaeus of the 82^nd Company of the Blood Angels Legion. The helm was lost during the Aurë Catastrophe when nearly three whole Blood Angels companies were destroyed and buried beneath the earth after a massive explosion. The Dawn Seraphs chapter, now based on Aurë, recovered the helmet and gifted it to the scions of the 82^nd Company, the Angels Irredenta. The helm has since become the mark of office of the Pontifex, the High Chaplain of the chapter. The mask is gold but has silver thorns worked delicately across the helmet in patterns that wrap around the head. The teeth of the helmet also resemble the so-called Angels Teeth, which all Blood Angels successors possess. The helm is often worn accompanied by a large headdress.
• Mask of the Praetor- One of the oldest artifacts of the Angels Irredenta is that of the Mask of the Praetor. Though it now is virtually ruined and residing the in personal chamber of the Chapter Master, the mask was once created and first worn by Ulitos Ostos, founder of the Angels Irredenta in the years following the Heresy. The mask is a silver plated ceramite mask that resembles a stern face and has a single sapphire tear below the right eye, resembling the chapter badge of the Angels Irredenta. Legend is mixed on just who the mask resembles. Some say it was the face of Ostos himself, while others have put forth a variety options including Azkeallon, leader of Sanguinius' Sanguinary Guard. Legend also cites an apocryphal conversation between Ostos and another Blood Angels captain upon Baal following the death of the Great Angel. The Praetor wished to strike out back into the galaxy to fighting the traitors while the captain in many versions of the tale tries to berate Ostos for not showing more sorrow or mourning the loss of Sanguinius properly. In response, Ostos supposedly crafted this crying silver mask, so all who looked upon him would know the depth of his sadness. Ostos would work the mask into his Mk.IV helmet so he might wear it even into battle. The mask would be passed to each new Praetor of the Angels Irredenta for thousands of years. The mask would eventually pass to the celebrated Zael, who was famously injured in the face while wearing the mask during the Great Sanguine Crusade. The mask was badly damaged and it would not be fixed for many more thousands of years. Eventually, the mask was repaired and worn by Praetor Grifereon, who wore it until the mask was once again destroyed. Since then, the mask is only worn for ceremonial reasons upon the Chapter Barque or when on pilgrimage to Holy Baal. Despite this, Praetor Oselium would wear the shattered lower face and right cheek affixed to his faceplate during several battles in early M42.
• Unredeemed Crozius- This crozius is forged from the shattered armor of the Blood Angels who fell in the final defense of the Sanctum Imperialis. Ulitos Ostos, Captain of the 82^nd Company, had directed his men to collect shards of armor of their fallen brothers. This ceramite was later reforged into a crozius and was given over to the High Chaplain of the Angels Irredenta. The crozius has since become a ritual piece that is central to the rites of the chapter. The Pontifex will typically carry this item on them at all times.
• Vindex- This powerful Paragon Blade was forged in the deep past of the Dark Age of Technology and is a relic of incredible and irreplaceable value. Rare even at its discovery, Vindex was first named Gold-Calling and utilized by the Company Champion of the Blood Angel's 120th Company throughout the Great Crusade and Heresy. When the 120th Company was wiped out in the race to the Delphic Wall during the Siege of Terra, Ulitos Ostos, Dominion of the 82^nd Company, took up the fallen weapon and utilized it through the remainder of his life. Vindex was then passed down the millennia from Praetor to Praetor of the Angels Irredenta and has been used primarily as a ceremonial weapon following the death of Ostos in 367.M32. The weapon has however, seen much combat after that date as many Chapter Masters have opted to utilize the weapon or loan it to a Chapter Champion. The weapon has the secondary purpose of an execution blade when it comes time for the Praetor to render judgement in the form of punitive punishments to his own Astartes, or to captives taken in battle. The current wielder of the blade is Praetor Oselium who still utilizes it in combat as of 025.M42.

Chapter Appearance

Chapter Colours

The primary armor coloring of the Angels Irredenta is a steely black. The origin for this coloration lies with the death of Sanguinius. Believing that the death of their Primarch was due to their own failure, Ulitos Ostos, Founder of the Angels Irredenta, declared that the Blood Angels and their successors no longer deserved to wear the colors that Sanguinius had bestowed upon them. For the remainder of his tenure with the Blood Angels Chapter, Ostos would cover his red armor in the black saltires of a death oath and pay little attention to the red coloring of his plate, often letting it chip and fall off. After the creation of the Angels Irredenta in the 2nd Founding, the chapter would utilize black in accordance with the philosophy of Ostos.

The Angels Irredenta color scheme as seen on a Firstborn Space Marine

The most notable secondary color of the Angels Irredenta is that of silver or gun metal. This color is used on the pauldron trim, belt, stabilizers of the power pack, right knee, wrists, and the back of the hands. The silver is also commonly used on the crest of the helmet and often in a line extending down the forehead.

Additional colors utilized by the Angels Irredenta include gold and white. Gold is used oft times as an embellishment, though many times only for officers. Those of the Veteran 1^st Company are likewise allowed more embellishment and freedom of personalization of color schemes. This is not to say that it is unheard of for a brother to add mild gold details to their armor despite being less than a confessor. Subtle additions are allowed as long as they do not interfere with official chapter color schemes. White is utilized as the helm color of Confessor sergeants and the color of the skull helms of Chaplains. Chaplains will utilize a white colored skull helmet while Veteran Confessors will use a silver skull helm. Confessors and Chaplains will sometimes add additional white markings to their plate, though is purely based on personal modification.

Chapter Badge

Angels Irredenta chapter badge

The chapter badge of the Angels Irredenta features a white angelic face with a single black tear coming form it's right eye. The face utilized is that used by the Sanguinary Guard in their heraldry, minus the additional wings, different coloration, and added teardrop. The angelic face sits on a black background and is often featured bordered in silver, much like it would when placed on the left pauldron with silver trim. The Death Company, unlike other chapters of the Sanguinary Brotherhood, does not alter the colors of the chapter badge as the left pauldron is unaffected by the Death Company scheme of the Angels Irredenta.

Relations

Enemies

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Gallery

Angels Irredenta Terminator of the 1^st Company, Unknown Terminator Squad.

Angels Irredenta Firstborn Battle-Brother of the 4^th Company, 4^th Fire Support Squad.