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This article, Lightkeepers' History, was written by Katostrigo. Please do not edit or 'acquire' this fiction without the writer's permission. |
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The Lightkeepers are a loyalist Space Marines Chapter founded in 546.M32, during the 4th Founding, just after the near-disastrous War of the Beast, which nearly brought the Imperium of Man to its knees. Suffering catastrophic losses after making great sacrifices to halt the massive invading Ork WAAAGH!, the Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes began the long, tedious process of rebuilding their ranks. The Lightkeepers were one of several newly created Chapters that came into being during this time. They were created as a successor Chapter of the Ultramarines. Upon their inception, they were charged to defend the vitally important Lighthouse System, an administrative hub for all the sectors surrounding theMaelstrom, as well as the Ereb-Assou sector which contains this system.
They have a long and rich history since their founding, which is detailed hereafter.
History[]
Founding and Trial by Fire[]
Lightkeepers Battle-Brother at the time of the Chapter's Founding.
The Lightkeepers are an old Chapter, created during the 4th Founding in 546.M32, just after the War of the Beast followed by the event known as the Beheading, in order to protect the Ereb-Assou sector, especially the planet of Lighthouse. As their gene-seed was newly designed through the alteration of pre-existing material, it was decided that upon their founding no Lightkeeper could be drawn from other Chapter's veterans, to avoid mixing gene-seeds. Instead, each and every new Astartes had to be recruited from aspirants and go through the Ascension process. The first Lightkeepers were then trained in the Segmentum Solar by veterans of the Ultramarines, Salamanders and Raptors. Meanwhile, on Lighthouse the Pharos, the highest hive spire on Lighthouse, was prepared to accommodate the Astartes and hereby become their Fortress-Monastery. The co-joined preparations were programmed over twenty-five years.
Unfortunately, during this period the whole Ereb-Assou sector got besieged by an Ork invasion. Aeldari pirates and Drukhari Kabals took this opportunity to launch raids upon the planets damaged by the Green-Skins. Meanwhile, insidious incursions on several mining worlds by Word Bearers and Chaos cultists sought to corrupt the population and set uprisings. The imperial forces in place slowly but continuously lost control of the sector, as two decades of grinding defence progressively took their toll on them. Despite all these foes, the Gawain Sub-Sector, containing Lighthouse and some other important worlds, held strong, repelling raid after raid.
In 570.M32, the Lightkeepers had to discontinue their initial training, as the situation in the Ereb-Assou sector grew too much alarming. The Chapter counted at that time four full Companies, for a total of about four hundred and fifty Marines. As they never had seen official engagements, they had no veterans yet, thus the Companies were numbered from 2 through 5, leaving a phantom 1st Company to be progressively completed by the best Marines. The Chapter also possessed some empty Dreadnought chassis, in the provision of the losses they would soon face. After a gathering of wargear and spaceships, a great ceremony occurred, then the Lightkeepers, led by their Chapter Master Karia Herodotus, set out for distant stars.
Upon their arrival on Lighthouse, the Astartes got well received by the population and the imperial forces in place. Their welcoming was not completely warm though, as they still had to prove their valour in a sector ravaged by war. Diane Octavia, the Planetary Governor of Lighthouse, a well-learned and old woman, was quite relieved to see such a great force come to save the sector. But at the same moment, she perceived that her time as a governor would have to end soon since Chapter homeworlds are ruled by a Chapter Master and not a mortal. Up to that day, she effectively had managed to defend her planet against many invasion tentatives, all while meeting and often exceeding the quotas required by the Administratum. Consequently, Diane knew what Lighthouse would lose with her gone, and she feared that the Lightkeepers would not be able to correctly manage the planet from the start, or even at all. Besides, representatives of the Imperial Knight House Liger on Lighthouse shared the governor's feelings, for their planet was situated in the same system.
Understanding the situation, Karia Herodotus asked for a private meeting with these important figures. He knew that offending the Governor or the representative of House Liger would only result in resentment and sub-optimal resource production and distribution for his Chapter. Together, they held council for hours. The details of their discussions are not publicly known, but in the end, an agreement was concluded. From now on, Diane Octavia would cede her position to the benefice of Karia Herodotus, but she would remain in charge of a large part of the planetary activity as a Vice-Governor. The relationship between House Liger and Lighthouse would not be affected by this change. For the moment, Diane would work in the same way as she always had, while giving the Lightkeepers every means and resource they asked for, provided that their demands were reasonable. The exact repartition of duties between the Governor -now the Chapter Master- and Vice-Governor would have to wait. Once the Gawain sub-sector would be fully secured, this question would be important for the future generations occupying these two roles. But war could not await and each hour counted.
So the Lightkeepers briefly settled in the Pharos, as intended during their founding, before propelling themselves in and around the Gawain sub-sector. They valiantly fought all the threats they encountered, mainly Orks. Their strikes were surgical, concentred on the xenos leaders or critical assets, to disorganise the enemies and allow other imperial forces to finish the work.
When the Chapter first met the Skitarii maniples from the forge world Crucible, Karia Herodotus and the Tech-Priests settled a light alliance. They worked out how each faction would interact with the other in battle, while also agreeing not to arrange a mutual defence pact for the moment. In this manner, both organisations would retain total freedom until they better knew each other. The same agreement was then landed with the Imperial Knights of House Sequena when the Lightkeepers reached the Gallica system.
As the sub-sector was already the best-defended in Ereb-Assou, it only took a solar year to definitively secure it. When this first phase in the defence of the sector was completed, the Lightkeepers returned to the Lighthouse system to briefly recover and rearm. Karia Herodotus and Diane Octavia took the opportunity to update the balance between their roles. Together, they optimised at length the repartition of their respective duties, what each one needed, and how to work together. The Chapter Master would supervise all military aspects on Lighthouse, while the vice-governor would be in charge of all civilian matters. The Chapter Master would also have absolute powers, so he would have the final say on every subject.
Before the many victories already attributed to the Lightkeepers, House Liger also negotiated an alliance with the Chapter. The Imperial Knights were used to only protect their stellar system and a small area around it, but they were eager to prove themselves on a much larger scale. They perceived that fighting alongside these Astartes would be an excellent opportunity to be even more successful in battle, and at the same time elevate their own glory to the level of greater Houses. Karia Herodotus also negotiated a full alliance with representatives of Crucible and Gallica, this time with mutual defence terms.
Then, the Lightkeepers had to face a challenge greater by orders of magnitude. They helped in the liberation of many worlds over the following years, each time freeing new assets for the imperial forces to push back the Orks and other xenos further and further. The Lightkeepers also encountered the Word Bearers for the first time, operating only in the underhives and mining networks of mining planets, as if the Chaos Space Marines were afraid to reveal themselves in open light. The Chapter grew a special hatred for this Legion, while they were chasing the unexpecting worshippers of Chaos in the darkness. Two adversaries could not be as distant as these Astartes. The Lightkeepers were fighting for the salvation of Mankind while promoting science and reason, in opposition to the Word Bearers who propagate the most abhorrent of religions and zealously subjugate humans to please their dark masters. Lastly, the Chapter happened to inadvertently catch some Aeldari and Drukhari raiding parties and made them pay dearly for their attacks. However, all these combats were costly for the Lightkeepers. Every success was paid in sweat and blood. That period saw the first activation of their Dreadnoughts, after the fall of particularly skilled battle-brothers.
To compensate for its losses, the Chapter detached some of its first veterans permanently to the Pharos and missioned them to train recruits. Diane Octavia helped in the process, sending her Enforcers to scan the hive cities in search of good -willing or not- candidates. Neophytes soon showed some strange particularities. They suddenly got access to vast quantities of lore, tactics and other knowledge that were not yet taught to them. Later, some were somehow able to remember memories of deceased Lightkeepers, recognising people or places they never had met. This confused the Neophytes and puzzled their mentors. The latter, unsure of the right conduct to adopt, informed the Golden Council of the phenomenon. The Masters debated together, then recognised in this surprising outcome a great opportunity. Thanks to that strange ability, recruits would train faster and be ready to battle early. It was decided, however, that the Master of Sanctity, Chief Apothecary and Chief Librarian would investigate the matter, to assure this memory feature was not the sign of a detrimental mutation nor a taint of Chaos.
In the dawn of 600.M32, after decades of struggle, the Ereb-Assou sector was still at war. But the situation was now controlled and the imperial forces finally had the upper hand. In only thirty years after their founding, the Lightkeepers had already lost more than a quarter of their numbers. Recruitment only slowed the decrease in manpower, unable to stop the regression. As things began to cool down in Ereb-Assou, the Lightkeepers took the time to reinforce their foundations.
With the help of the authorities of Lighthouse, and then other planets in the sector, the Lightkeepers started a vast enrolment campaign to replenish their strength. The Master of Sanctity, Chief Apothecary and Chief Librarian firsthand supervised this process, searching for signs of mutations, or anything else that would explain the recruits' ability to recall things experienced by previous Lightkeepers. They found out that the gene-seed of the Chapter originated from a modified stand of Ultramarines. In some inexplicable way, the Progenoid Gland of each battle-brother collected his memory. This meant that, when those glands were implanted in a neophyte's body, he acquired those memories. Some information was readily accessible after the surgery, notably tactics and general lore, whilst others were only triggered by meeting a person, hearing specific words, seeing some places, etc. This second category mostly encompassed direct memories of the neophyte's predecessor's life. As this ability proved not to be linked to Chaos and did not cause other mutations, the Golden Council saw it as a blessing that would help the Chapter in its mission. A Captain suggested that every fresh Lightkeeper shall receive the surname of their direct predecessor, whom they inherited their progenoid glands and memories. This would help the Chapter keep track of lineages among its members. And so started a new tradition, which the Chapter still maintains today.
The now fifty veterans of the 1st Company trained the new units. The Lightkeepers also sent some Astartes to the homeworlds of other Chapters, one squad each, with three objectives in mind. They wanted the bring help where it was most needed, forge strong bonds with their distant brothers, and learn new strategies and tactics to be even more efficient. Some Chapters turned down the offer, politely or not. Some persistent tensions originate from this period. Fortunately, the three Chapters that trained the first Lightkeepers, the Ultramarines, Salamanders and Raptors, welcomed the sent-away Lightkeepers with open arms. The White Scars, Imperial Fists, Raven Guard and Tome Keepers also accepted the squads. Some Lightkeepers, feeling a special hatred for the xenos they fought for decades, elected to join the Deathwatch. This willingness to learn directly from other Chapters by seconding some squads became a tradition for the Lightkeepers since that time.
The Forging (ca. M32 - ca. M35)[]
In 626.M32, after eighty years of tyrannical ruling, Drakan Vangorich, the Grand Master of Assassins of the Officio Assassinorum, became so paranoiac that he was deemed a menace to the Imperium. Vangorich was forcibly removed from power and executed by a large Space Marine retribution force led by the Imperial Fists as well as the Halo Brethren and Sable Swords Chapters. In the aftermath of Vangorich's fall, the Imperium proceeded to descend into a period of political anarchy for some time. The Ereb-Assou sector and its surroundings were no exceptions. The Lightkeepers had to recall their brothers seconded to other Chapters, in order to reinforce and quell the rebellions. They did so until 640.M32 when peace was forcibly imposed in Ereb-Assou. During this period Korinthos Xenophon, a veteran of the 1st Company and hero of the Chapter, fell in combat and was entombed in a Contemptor Dreadnought. He is still currently active, which makes him the oldest Lightkeeper by far, with more than seven thousand years of active duty. When the calm returned after forteen years of instability, the Lightkeepers started to send away a few squads again to assist other Chapters.
In 646.M32, Agnathio, the Chapter Master of the Ultramarines, united over 50 leaders from other Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes and arrived upon Terra. Such a show of power and faith put an end to the squabbling for the contentious seats of the High Lords of Terra that had consumed the differing Imperial factions since the Beheading. As the Lightkeepers had showed their worth by pacifying their entire sector, Karia Herodotus was one of the Astartes leaders invited by Agnathio and came with a retinue of five Lightkeepers veterans. To their surprise, they found another Lightkeeper before the gates of the Imperial Palace. He was a member of the squad currently seconded to the Salamanders and had the immense privilege to be invited by the Salamander leader. In a locked council with the mightiest of Humanity's warriors, the High Lords' matters were quickly sorted out. To this day, none know exactly what was done or said, but when the Space Marines departed back to their far-scattered missions, there once again sat twelve High Lords of Terra in the Senatorum Imperialis. If there was further dissension, none dared speak it aloud. While Karia Herodotus met the High Lords with the other Astartes leaders, the six remaining Lightkeepers roamed around, where their presence was allowed, in the Imperial Palace to collect any information of use. They talked with the staff, spied on conversations, gained access to important books, etc. Little is known about what knowledge they gained that day.
During the second half of the 32nd Millennium, the Chapter faced numerous revolts in the Ereb-Assou sector. It is suspected that Chaos agents from the Maelstrom, maybe Word Bearers, instigated these uprises. However, no clear evidence was ever found. The Imperial forces of the sector had to spread their strength thin to answer all these conflicts. Some Drukhari began to prey on the weaker settlements while the main body of defense was away. The Lightkeepers proved unable to help the planets invaded by the Dark Eldars, who were striking too swiftly to be intercepted.
In parallel, the Lightkeepers' Chapter Serfs were officially renamed the "Grey Flames", after the color of their clothes and the fire-like symbols they wore. This started a series of incremental reforms, through which the Lightkeepers gave them more and more autonomy. The overall aim was to free the Astartes of some tasks where their super-human traits were not needed. This period of changes culminated with the creation of the White Flames, senior Serfs with roles normally attributed to Space Marine Captains, and their integration into the Golden Council.
Before the end of the 32nd Millennium, the Lightkeepers reached full capacity despite their many military engagements, thanks to the numerous population of their homeworld.
In 615.M33 the Blade of Infinity, a pre-Heresy cruiser, emerged from the Warp, its re-entry signature suggesting that it had left realspace over 20,000 standard years before. This period predated even the Warp-Drive's invention in the Age of Technology and suggested a radical time stream disorder. Vox transmissions picked up from the vessel suggested that the Blade of Infinity was trying to communicate some type of warning, but before much could be deciphered, the ancient starship disappeared once again into the Warp. In its wake arrived an invasion fleet of Chaos Space Marine Traitor Legions, the Archenemy of the Imperium, who wreaked much havoc. The Blade of Infinity reemerged from the Warp several more times in subsequent years, always as a harbinger of further incursions into Imperial space by the forces of Chaos from the Immaterium. One such invasion spilt into the Ereb-Assou sector. The Lightkeepers and their allies held against that threat, to a great cost.
In 401.M34 the terrible crisis known as The Howling unfolded. Black Templars Space Marines ended the Catelexis Heresy by executing the Cacodominus, an alien cybernetic psyker whose formidable powers allowed it to psychically control the populace of thirteen hundred star systems. Unfortunately, the Cacodominus' death scream was amplified by the Warp and burned out the minds of a billion Human astropaths while it also distorted the beacon of the Astronomican. Millions of starships, including hundreds in the Ereb-Assou sector, were lost in the resulting upheaval, and entire sub-sectors of the Imperium slid once more into barbarism without the dictates of the Adeptus Terra to guide them. It was a terrible price to pay for victory. Three groups of Lightkeepers were engulfed by the Warp at that time, never to be seen again. In the ensuing chaos that followed the Howling, the Chapter helped as many allies as possible to recover the planets cut from the Imperium because of the lack of Astropaths.
In 760.M34, a massive WAAAGH! managed to pierce through the defences of the Lighthouse system. Lighthouse II, home of the Imperial Knight House Liger and only agriworld of the system, took the bulk of the invasion. The Lightkeepers and some Astra Militarum regiments from Lighthouse helped the Imperial Knights to hold the planet. When reinforcements from the rest of the Gawain sub-sector finally arrived, the Imperial forces still needed years to completly purge the xenos stain from Lighthouse II. They had to painstakingly burn each centimeter of the planet in order to prevent any reappearance of the Orks. And so the rich biomass of Lighthouse II disapeared. This tragedy was later called the Scouring of Lighthouse II.
After that, the Lighthouse system had difficulty importing enough food. But in the following decades, a Lightkeeper expedition came back with a set of microorganisms and flora that proved able to grow on the calcined surface of Lighthouse II. The process of regrowth took a long time to be completed, and a new fauna had to be introduced. But in the end, the planet regained its position as an agriworld, feeding the stellar system again. Because House Liger's green painting now shared an unfortunate associated with the invading Orks, the Knights changed their heraldic colour to black, the colour of their burnt soil. By doing so, the Knights also aimed to honour the Lightkeepers, who bled at their side then brought the seeds of a new biosphere for Lighthouse II. House Liger elected to become a protegee of the Chapter. Since that time, many Knights choose to serve the Chapter directly, joining the Astartes in battle as Freelances.
At the end of the 34th Millennium, the Terra's Cathedral, an Oberon-class battleship got regurgitated by the Warp. It is supposed that the vessel got lost during the events following the Howling. Some Terminator squads of the Lightkeepers investigated the relic spacecraft, finding it devoid of life. The Chapter thus secured the vessel. After a long process of retrofitting, the massive vessel became the Chapter Command's flagship. It is still used to this day.
Nova Terra Interregnum (ca. Mid M34 - Late M35)
Upon the declaration of independence of the Ur-Council, the Lightkeepers immediately sent several expeditions to fight what they considered a major rebellion in the distant Segmentum Pacificus. Despite their efforts, and those of many more imperial factions, the Ur-Council of Nova Terra effectively established itself as the ruling power of the segmentum. This period of division is called the Nova Terra Interregnum.
Seeing their foes were too numerous and well-organised, the Chapter members changed their strategy. The groups dispatched in the Segmentum Pacificus reorganised into small Kill-Teams, each regularly tasked to eliminate an important target. These Space Marines' approach thus evolved to become more akin to that of assassins and infiltrators, rather than that of battlefield forces. They did their best to kill insurrectionist leaders on unnumerable worlds, sabotage industrial assets and forcibly scuttle space vessels. The Chapter Scouts proved highly efficient in such operations.
Meanwhile, the Moirae Schism tore the Adeptus Mechanicus apart, dividing it between the orthodox followers of the Cult Mecanicus and a new kind of faith. Some Tech-Priests began to believe that the Adeptus was to be destroyed and that the Cult Mecanicus and the Imperial Cult would fuse into one religion. Members of the Adeptus fought a bitter civil war for decades. Several imperial factions outside of the Adeptus Mecanicus, even some Astartes Chapters, got contaminated by the teachings of the hereteks, especially those closely related to Tech-Priests.
Even if the Lightkeepers, as ever, distanced themselves from any kind of religion, several of their Techmarines got seduced by some of these new teachings. These saw the situation as an opportunity to reforge both Cults at the same time to remove a great lot of superstition. But this proved to be a foul's hope, as the Schism only furthered the place of faith in imperial lives. While the events quickly devolved into a civil war, most Lightkeepers Techmarines only could watch their faint hope of enlightenment turn into a devastating blaze threatening the Imperium. The few of them who still took the side of the Moirae followers got declared as hereteks by the Adeptus Mecanicus, but the Chapter refused to hand them to the Tech-Priests. These foul Techmarines clung to a ghost hope, trying to convince their brothers that there was a way to turn the Schism into a favourable outcome. When the orthodox Techmarines understood that they could not talk their brothers out of their madness, they decided to take definitive action. One fateful night, with much resentment and sadness, they suddenly pointed their guns at the hereteks' heads and shot, shedding a tear for each lost brother they brought down. A handful of heretek survivors managed to escape the first onslaught, but the rest of the Chapter chased the fugitives and administrated the Emperor's Peace to every one of them. The Lightkeepers heavily suffered during this dark event, as they were supposed to incarnate Mankind's hope, but were forced to extinguish their brothers'. This tragic event was later called the Iron Tears Night. It is since commemorated by the Chapter as an example against unchecked optimistic beliefs.
After the initial Schism, it took over two Terran millennia of desperate warfare before the Moirate doctrines were considered fully purged from the servants of the Machine God. The Chapter took upon itself to hunt down Moirae partisans.
The Nova Terra Interregnum elongated well beyond the main events of the Moirae Schism, the Lightkeepers and other imperial forces being overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the secession. This period lasted for nine hundred terran years.
When the Golden Council's members sensed the first foretelling hints of the Cataclysm of Souls, they suspected that a massive war of faith would soon submerge the Segmentum Pacificus. The Masters of the Chapter feared that the raging believers would take the opportunity to kill some Lightkeepers because those were fervent defenders of reason over faith. Not wanting to needlessly lose men to the hands of the very people they were supposed to protect, the Chapter withdrew all its forces from the Segmentum Pacificus. Not long after, the Ur-Council officially rejected the Ecclesiarchy's teachings, which led to a tidal wave of popular rises in all the Segmentum. The Ecclesiarchy ultimately proved successful and the Ur-Council was overthrown after much bloodshed, then the Segmentum Pacificus was reintegrated back into the broader Imperium.
Age of Apostasy (M36)[]
The Lighthouse system upheld its name during the Age of Apostasy by providing a beacon of hope for billions of people fleeing some Ecchlesiarchy members' madness, particularly that of Goge Vandire during the Reign of Blood. Like lost sailors on a stormy night, attracted by the faint and distant glow, masses of refugees flooded the stellar system. They had followed tales and legends about the Lightkeepers and their realm outside the grasp of the Church. Seeing waves of millions arrive at their doors, the Lightkeepers and the population of Lighthouse took as many people as they could under their wings and dispatched the rest to other planets in the system or to nearby stars under their protection. The refugees were put to work as soon as they landed. Their first task was to produce the means and resources necessary to house and feed themselves. Such life was so hard that many died in the process, but most survived.
Meanwhile, the Lightkeepers patrolled the whole Ereb-Assou sector to screen for any suspicious activity. Each time they encountered a vessel belonging to the Ecclesiarchy, the space marines politely but firmly asked the crew to leave the area immediately. Some of them refused, so skirmishes happened between both factions. This systematic denial alienated the Chapter and the whole Ereb-Assou sector in the eyes of the Church. Such defiance got met with increasing hostility from the Ecclesiarchy, as well as diminishing support from other factions of the Imperium at large. So, the Lightkeepers prepared to face directly Goge Vandire, in order to put an end to his folly. They knew that their strength would not be sufficient however to besiege the Ecclesiarchal Palace alone, so they tried to subtly rally other Chapters to their cause.
Suddenly, in 353.M36, a series of massive Warp storms surrounded the Gawain sub-sector, the heart of Ereb-Assou, cutting most of its safe routes. Travel was still possible through the rest of the sector, but only during short lulls between the storms. Communication was intermittent at best, with sometime several months separating contact with the exterior. To top this, millions of daemons spilt from the Warp Breaks and attacked the planets housing the most refugees, Lighthouse being one of their prime targets. This event indefinitely postponed the operation the Lightkeepers were preparing, as they could not reach for allies nor safely travel to Terra, and had to protect their own territory. The Chapter turtled up in the Gawain sub-sector to wither the storms and fight the daemons back. Such was the intensity of the daemonic incursions that the remainder of the sector had to be completely abandoned for many years.
The storms only decreased in intensity in 378.M36. At that time, the Lightkeepers received delayed communications from the Black Templars, who just had forged a crusade with other Chapters to eliminate Goge Vandire. The Lightkeepers immediately dispatched all the squads they could spare -which was not that many after two decades of intense struggle against daemons- and sent them to Terra as well. Upon their arrival, the Space Marines found out that the Ecclesiarch had been killed a few days before. This meant that they would not be remembered as liberators, unlike their brothers who arrived first. But the Lightkeepers kept their heads high, as there still were pockets of insurgents, previously loyal to Vandire, to purge.
Once the calm returned on Terra, while other factions paraded to celebrate the end of the Reign of Blood, the Lightkeepers rummaged in the Ecclesiarchal Palace for weeks. They found and secured many precious documents about the dirty works of the Church, which they then took back to Lighthouse. The Chapter later used the information thus collected to blackmail the Ecclesiarchy in the following millennia, each time the institution threatened to sink its claws in Ereb-Assou.
While this party was out, the remainder of the Chapter discovered that the Ecclesiarchy, as well as various xenos and Chaos factions, had taken over parts of the Ereb-Assou sector while the Lightkeepers were confined in the Gawain sub-sector.
The space marines used the information gathered in the Ecclesiarchal Palace to threaten the Cardinals settled in the sector. Most of them, sensing that their position could escape their grasp if those secrets were made public, got easily convinced to leave the area.
One Cardinal however resisted the blackmailing. The Lightkeepers then revealed to the Imperium at large communications made between this very cardinal and Vandire's administration, which contained evidence of child trafficking and numerous other dark practices. The Cardinal managed to persuade part of his dioceses that these allegations were lies and that the proofs provided by the Astartes were faux. This part of the sector remained in a hot and tense state for years, until higher ranks in the Ecchlesiarchy deemed it necessary to act. The Cardinal was moved to a distant location, but because of the vacuum left in the local power structure, a civil war exploded between those in the population who supported the Cardinal and those who opposed him. The Lightkeepers interfered in this conflict in favor of the latter, mercilessly crushing the other side into submission. In the following years, this Cardinal was found dead in his private apartments, choked by a plastic bag wrapped around his head. It is unknown to this day who killed him, as no trace had been found in the room, but a great number suspect the Lightkeepers.
The rest of the sector had to be taken back from xenos foes and Chaos cults. The process took decades of intense fighting. Because their numbers were depleted, in 385.M36 the Lightkeepers began to secretly use volunteers to multiply their gene-seed stocks and produce more marines. the Astartes implanted these men with their gene-seed, but instead of beginning the long process of training after that, once the volunteers reached maturity the Space Marines immediately administrated to them the Emperor's Peace and extracted the gene-seed. By repeating this disturbing cycle for a short while, they generated enough organs to rebuild a greater number of Lightkeepers at once.
Following the end of Reign of Blood and the reconquest of the Ereb-Assou sector, many false prophets grew from the seeds sowed by the religious occupants recently banned from the sector. The most successful made whole planets or even systems rise against Imperial rule. This pattern was seen in the whole galaxy, most notably around Gathalamor during the Plague of Unbelief. Once again, the Lightkeepers purged the dissidents in their sector.
Age of Redemption (ca. M37)[]
The Lightkeepers took part in many Imperial Crusades during the Age of Redemption, to recapture the lost wealth of the Imperium and push back the hordes of Chaos, Orks and other alien threats to Humanity. To this end, they had to spread their strength in and out of the Ereb-Assou sector as they were drawn into longer and more terrible crusades. This heavily strained the Chapter.
In the middle of the 37th Millennium, the Chapter Master of the time decided that the Chapter would stop sharing its knowledge and treasures. They were the Lightkeepers, so they would keep for themselves the light provided by the Emperor. To him, most other imperial factions were too backwards-minded, corrupted, or doctrinal. So, the Chapter would make better use of the technologies it had discovered or maintained.
This situation lasted only for a few years until the other members of the Golden Council stepped in. They unanimously voted the Chapter Master out of his position. As there was no free position among the Captains, the outing Chapter Master had no choice but to simply join the 1st company as a sergeant. This action humbled him deeply but did not make him change his view.
The former Chapter Master remained a source of embarrassment for a time. He found his end during a boarding operation, where he was leading a Terminator squad in the metallic maze of an enemy battleship.
The Waning (ca. M38 - ca. 750.M41)[]
Anarchy throughout many sectors of the Imperium was rife during a dark period in Imperial history that is now called the Waning. Ever more star systems were turned over by the Administratum to direct rule by Space Marines Chapters to preserve stability, as only the Astartes possessed the inviolable military strength required to restore imperial control in the more lawless regions of the galaxy. Thus, more and more systems got placed under direct control of the Lightkeepers, until they ruled over almost the entire Gawain sub-sector. This stretched thin the strength of the Chapter, as their numbers were too low to permanently occupy each of these systems.
Between 131.M39 and 181.M39 took place the Redemption Crusades, a series of Imperial Crusades led by five heroes, which pushed back the borders of the Imperium further than they had been for nearly 500 standard years. All Companies of the Chapter assisted these conquests, at least at one point.
The Waning saw four of the thirteen Black Crusades led by Abaddon the Despoiler. The Lightkeepers directly took part in the defence againt two of them, the 9th and 12th, the latter also being known as the Gothic War.
The 4th Company of the Lightkeepers participated in the Macharian Crusade, one of if not the greatest campaign of conquest operated by imperial forces since the Great Crusade, between 392.M41 and 399.M41. But after the death of the leader of the crusade, Lord Commander Solar Macharius, his seven generals fought over the control of the 1000 systems conquered during the crusade. Even Space Marine Chapters came to blows in dispute and anger. The whole area quickly fell into disarray and anarchy. So, the High Lords of Terra were forced to act decisively. They called several waves of fresh Space Marine Chapters to bring the civil conflict to an end by exterminating heretical forces and bringing order to the region under the command of the Imperial Warmaster Solon. The 2nd and 3rd Companies of the Lightkeepers soon joined their brothers. Ultimately, the forces of over 100 separate Chapters were deployed at some point during what is now called the Suppression of the Macharian Heresy. The conflict lasted for seventy terrans years between 400.M41 and 470.M41.
In 500.M41, during the event known as the Tears of the Emperor, the Imperium was swept by visions of the Emperor's tears. Various Lightkeepers and Grey Flames had visions of the Emperor stirring upon His throne, tears running from His empty sockets. Others saw statues of the divine Emperor and shed tears. Even some servitors strangely shed tears themselves, while they should not have otherwise been able to express emotions. Although the dreams took myriad forms, all know that the Emperor weeps not for Himself, but for the plight of Humanity.
In 737.M41, Sidon Herodotus was elected as the new Chapter Master of the Lightkeepers. He is still in charge today.
Time of Ending (ca. 744.M41 - ca. 999.M41)[]
The second half of the 41st Millennium proved disastrous for the Lightkeepers, as for most other imperial factions. Being spread thin on too many fronts, fighting too many enemies at the same time, the Chapter progressively lost more than three-quarters of its numbers, irreplaceable dreadnoughts, and invaluable relics. The 4th, 5th and 7th Companies got almost completely erased from existence by the end of that period.
In 750.M41, six Aeldari craftworlds were sighted in the Argos System. When imperial force arrived to investigate, the craftworlds had disappeared, but most importantly all prime suns within sixty light years were extinguished. The imperial fleet and innumerable transports attempted to ferry the countless billions of imperial citizens to neighbouring star systems, in what was the largest exodus ever attempted by the Imperium. Sidon Herodotus immediately ordered all available vessels in the Gawain sub-sector to be dispatched and help the imperial fleet in the evacuation. It is estimated that nearly 12% of the population and 32% of the heavy industry of the region were safely removed. This event is recalled as the Great Exodus. The ring of dead planets and suns is now known as the Deadhenge, a salvager's paradise and refuge of pirates.
Throughout the Segmentum Ultima, in 797.M41, countless Ork invasions threaten to mass into a single colossal WAAAGH!. Some of them being near the Ereb-Assou sector, the 4th Company of the Lightkeepers was sent to fight back the xenos. Against infinitely more numerous foes, the Astartes used guerilla tactics. The Bike Marines and Attack Bikes proved instrumental in these manoeuvres and during reconnaissance operations.
In 901.M41 the terrible civil conflict known as the Badab War began when Lufgt Huron, the Chapter Master of the Astral Claws Space Marines, refused to hand over his Chapter's tithe of gene-seed to the Administratum and instead announced his secession from the Imperium, declaring himself the "Tyrant of Badab". Two squads of Lightkeepers, accompanying respectively the Raptors and Salamanders Chapters, took part in this massive conflict. Twelve standard years of intersystem war followed, wreaking havoc on shipping lanes in the Maelstrom Zone and embroiling more than a dozen Space Marines Chapters. With much loss, Badab Primaris finally fell to the loyalist forces in 913.M41, but Lufgt Huron and some 200 of the Astral Claws escaped to take refuge in the Maelstrom of the Ultima Segmentum. There, they became Heretic Astartes and changed their name to the Red Corsairs.
In 907.M41, Ork activity rose throughout all five Segmenta of the Imperium. The Ereb-Assou sector got targeted by a notable WAAAGH!. The 5th Company of the Lightkeepers held the front against the advance of the green tide.
In 941.M41 the Second War for Armageddon began when the largest and most powerful Ork in millennia, the Warlord Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka, led a vast WAAAGH! that, after much rampaging, met its match upon Armageddon, a Hive World of vital strategic importance to the Imperium in the Segmentum Solar. Three squads of Lightkeepers, accompanying respectively the Blood Angels, Salamanders and Ultramarines, helped in the defence of the planet. The conflict ended in 943.M41 on an imperial victory.
In 973.M41 a violent Warp Storm troubled the dreams of people across the galaxy. For those more psychically aware, the storms proved catastrophic. Nightmares cracked the barrier between realspace and the Warp, slaying many Psykers and creating rifts between the Immaterium and reality. Although brief, thousands of daemonic incursions caused untold damage and many dark seeds of corruption were planted. Dozens of worlds in the Ereb-Assou sector fell in a matter of hours to such Chaos invasions. The Lightkeepers detachments sent in place only found wrecked planets with traumatised populations. The daemons had already returned to the Warp. The Astartes, with the help of the Inquisition, executed massive purge campaigns to remove any taint of Chaos. Some worlds however proved too far gone on the way to heresy. Those were tragically submitted to Exterminatus.
In 757.998.M41 Ghazghkull Thraka finally returned to Armageddon for his long-awaited rematch in the Third War for Armageddon at the head of a new, even greater Ork WAAAGH!. Four squads of Lightkeepers, accompanying respectively the Blood Angels, Raptors, Salamanders and White Scars Chapters, took part in the defence of the planet. The squad following the Salamanders happened to be in part composed of veterans of the Second War of Armageddon, so they already knew the place. Several solar months into what rapidly became a battle of attrition, Ghazghkull grew bored with the grinding stalemate that had developed and left his minions behind to finish the fight while he set off to conquer the surrounding planets. He was pursued by Commissar Yarrick and the Black Templars, who swore an oath to finally bring the greenskin commander to heel. The Lightkeepers involved in this war, for their part, remained on Armageddon to purge the xenos threat in place.
The Rebellion of Masym took place in 999.M41. After Khorne cultists poisoned the minds of its population, the forces stationed on the planet Masym rebelled against the Imperium. The cultists intended to bring their master, the bloodthirster Ghalan'Kzar, in realspace through unspeakable dark rituals. Imperial Guard regiments came first, but their numbers proved insufficient to face the millions of foes before them. Part of the Lightkeepers 6th and 7th companies joined the fight, just before Ghalan'Kzar's summoning. Thanks to the Spear of Rusting Blood, a mystical relic, Captains Byzanthion Komnene and Berytus Procopius managed to banish the greater daemon back into the Warp. This campaign saw the near annihilation of the 7th Company's forces in place, as well as Procopius' death.
In 982.999.M41, the Great Awakening occurred, when a ripple of psychic activity passed through the Imperium, awakening the dormant powers of countless latent psykers. On Lighthouse, many thousands of them suddenly manifested their powers, causing panic and chaos around them. The resulting backlash created innumerable Warp rifts and daemonic incursions, including in and around the Ereb-Assou sector. The 2nd, 5th and 9th Companies of the Lightkeepers defended Lighthouse and as many worlds possible in the Gawain sub-sector. Because of its already diminished numbers, the Chapter had to leave the rest of the sector to its fate. The 5th Company bore the brunt of the defence, which reduced it to a handful of survivors. When the Warp storms finally ceased, the other two companies reached for the fallen worlds in the remainder of the sector, to bring them back under imperial control.
In 993.999.M41, wave after wave of astropathic pleas for help flooded at once from all across the galaxy, though there is only an eerie silence from the Segmentum Pacificus. So powerful was the influx, so overbearing was the psychic current, that the Adeptus Astra Telepathica suffered serious personnel losses amongst their Astropaths. Whole choirs collapsed at once, driven mad or slain outright, their minds bursting. Vast breakdowns in imperial communications ensued, increasing both anarchy and panic as the endless psychic screams for help echo across time and space. This event virtually cut most of the Lightkeepers from the Imperium, for days or weeks depending on their specific locations.
In 995.999.M41, a Lightkeepers detachment contributed to the overall defence of the Cadian Gate during the 13th Black Crusade. These Astartes brought a frigate with them, which they used as a platform to launch boarding parties against enemy vessels in orbit of Cadia. They, unfortunately, did not see the end of that war. Those few who had survived the initial battle for Cadia and the subsequent destruction of the planet were killed shortly after, during the last hours of the battle in space which concluded the 13th Black Crusade. Their frigate also got lost.
Era Indomitus (ca. 999.M41 - Present)[]
After their awakening on Mars, the first Primaris Marines Lightkeepers quickly understood that they were not like the others. They already possessed some memories from their forebearers, as all Lightkeepers do. Together, they shared what they collectively knew about their soon-to-be Chapter: places, names, faces, and events. This enabled them to "remember" the Lightkeepers' general culture, although they lacked details. This did set them apart from the other Primaris Marines, who were instructed in Bellisarius Cawl's way. These Lightkeepers also had gathered pieces of old information about First-Born members of the Chapter, but could not know who were still alive. Thus they were eager to join their Chapter as soon as possible to connect the dots.
When the Lightkeepers finally met their Primaris brothers, they almost immediately recognised themselves in those new Marines. The culture that they already shared, even before they met, made a big difference to ease the integration of the Primaris. For both sides, it was like seeing for the first time some distant family members that they often had heard about.
Because of the depletion of their ranks and the near complete loss of three Companies, when the Primaris Marines finally joined their brothers, the Lightkeepers proved once again quick to adapt. The Golden Council designed a massive re-organisation of the Chapter (which can be seen in the new order of battle hereunder). This allowed for a smooth integration of the Primaris, as well as new strategies to face upcoming threats. The Companies integrated both First-Born and Primaris, going so far as to mix them in certain squads, to ensure a complete fusion of wargear and battle doctrine, but also to unite the minds. All Lightkeepers agreed that doing otherwise would have been ridicule because this could have seeded fractures in their ranks.
NB: Due to the problems of the Chronostrife, all the following events cannot be dated precisely. Thus, they are merely listed in a plausible order, with no grounded certitude.
Shrine worlds of the Imperial Cult came under assault by heretic Astartes and daemons across the Segmentum Solar and Segmentum Pacificus. The Word Bearers traitor Legion was especially active in this endeavour. To combat the servants of the Ruinous Powers, members of the Lightkeepers joined the Black Templars and many other imperial factions in the defence of these Shrine worlds. The Chapter took part in these wars not to defend the faith, but rather to save lives, resources and infrastructures. In order to avoid infight with other imperial factions, they keep this fact to themselves.
As the forces of the Orks and the Imperium were still battling amongst the ruins of the Hive World of Armageddon, the planet was overrun by the daemonic legions of Khorne and Tzeentch, which soon began to assault each other as well as anything else in their way. The Greenskins and the Humans were often forced to forge alliances of convenience to defend themselves against their common foe. The arrival of reinforcing imperial forces, accompanied by elements of nine Space Marine Chapters led by the Salamanders -still accompanied by a squad of Lightkeepers, ultimately succeeded in halting a ritual that would have brought Angron, the daemon Primarch of the World Eaters, back to the planet that had defied him centuries before during the First War for Armageddon.
The Tyranic Siege
A splinter of the Hive Fleet Leviathan reached the border of the Ereb-Assou sector. Its course indicated that it was heading for the Gawain sub-sector, the most populated area of the sector. At the same time, Sialidase, a central Hive-World of the sector, rose against the Imperium. This shortly proved to be a Gene-Cult uprising, the first ever in Ereb-Assou. The heretical mutants took over the whole planet in only one bloody day.
The Lightkeepers arrived at the head of an imperial army. They fought for days to regain control over the planet, until they understood that almost a third of the population was directly involved with the Cult, which explained such a swift fall. The planet was already lost.
Inquisitor Arsene Zarni then ordered an Exterminatus but, before this could be performed, a good part of the loyalist fleet turned against their own and joined the rebel vessels in orbit. Those were also led by Gene-Cultists. No imperial spaceship equipped with Exterminatus ordinance could approach Sialidase. In the ensuing battle, the heretics held strong against all assaults. Meanwhile, they specifically harassed the vessels capable of conducting the Exterminatus, as if they knew exactly what ship was a priority. Arsene Zarni's retinue followed some clues until they discovered that the Planetary Governor of Sialidase was a traitor, and had spies in the imperial fleet.
Notable Campaigns[]
- Scouring of Lighthouse II (760.M34) - A massive WAAAGH! managed to pierce through the defences of the Lighthouse system. Lighthouse II, home of the Imperial Knight House Liger and the only agri-world of the system, took the bulk of the invasion. The Lightkeepers and some Astra Militarum regiments from Lighthouse helped the Imperial Knights to hold the planet. When reinforcements from the rest of the Gawain sub-sector finally arrived, the Imperial forces still needed years to completely purge the xenos stain from Lighthouse II. They had to painstakingly burn each centimeter of the planet in order to prevent any reappearance of the Orks. And so the rich biomass of Lighthouse II disappeared.
- Hrud Rising (980.M35) - That year the galaxy suffered from the onslaught of the massive Hrud Rising. The xenos emerged in the cave systems of numerous mining worlds of the Ereb-Assou sector. The Lightkeepers helped imperial forces to purge this menace.
- Gulf of Black Shadows (M35) - Of all the battles of the Moirae Schism, none were so expansive or long-lasting as the prolonged naval engagement over the nebula space fields of the Gulf of Black Shadows. There, mining wars between rival forge worlds escalated to massive fleet battles. The whole 3rd Company of the Lightkeepers joined the fight to support the orthodox side of the Adeptus Mechanicus. They interveined as assault forces against enemy spaceships, launching boarding teams in their most crucial systems to cripple them, or to fully take control of the vessels. The Astartes rigged engines and void shields to blow up in catastrophic explosions, took over command bridges, and purged weapon sections of any life. In the end, no side managed to take the upper hand, and the bloodshed ended with each faction depleted and exhausted, but no clear victor. It is estimated that the wrecks of over ten thousand starships -- from mining craft to vessels of war -- floated between the gas clouds. The space marines themselves lost two-thirds of their forces in place and their strike cruiser got damaged beyond repair. The surviving Astartes thus had to use spaceship carcasses as bases of operation. Yet the battle was far from over, for within the floating graveyards, salvage crews continued the war for centuries, fighting each other in desperate boarding actions, each side seeking to reclaim valued technology. Entire robot maniples were recovered by opposing sides and reprogrammed to attack their former controllers. The Assault Marines of the 3rd Company used their jump packs to fly in the vacuum of space and through vessel fragments, hunting down their prey like preying birds.
- War of Recovery (104.M36) - Patchy reports of technological wonders on the planets of the Mortuam Chain reached Mars. Hoping that it might be possible to recover new STC database fragments, the Adeptus Mechanicus launched an expedition which began an escalating war that lasted for over a standard century. Aided by the advanced weaponry they recovered, the forces of the Mechanicus freed the Human colonies of the region from xenos occupation and several first-generation copies of STC databases concerning certain technologies were returned in triumph to Mars. Some Lightkeepers took part in the campaign, alongside some Imperial Knights of House Liger who had pledged allegiance to the Chapter.
- Terran Crusade (378.M36) - After Goge Vandire's death, a detachment of Lightkeepers helped the imperial forces to purge insurgents previously loyal to the tyrant.
- Wrath of the Chaos Sun (010.M37) - When the red giant star at the heart of the Maxil Beta System exploded in an expanding cloud of Warpflame, the inhabitants of every world for hundreds of light years either mutated beyond recognition or were possessed by the denizens of the Warp. In response, the Lightkeepers, the Grey Knights, a dozen other Chapters, countless Astra Militarum regiments and the nascent Orders Militant of the Adepta Sororitas were mobilised to purge the area.
- 9th Black Crusade (537.M38) - Near the end of the 9th Black Crusade, two squads of the Lightkeepers respectively accompanying the Ultramarines and White Scars followed them in the liberation of Corilla, among a battle group led by these Chapters. This was the first time members of the Lightkeepers met in person the Lamenters, who had held against Chaos Forces till the coming of imperial reinforcements.
- 12th Black Crusade (151-160.M41) - The imperial reinforcements relieving the Gothic sector in the late months of 151.M41 counted the full 2nd Company of the Lightkeepers, along dozens of space marine Chapters, nearly one hundred Astra Militarum regiments and the better part of three Titan Legions. The Lightkeepers Company came with its strike cruiser and three frigates. While the strike cruiser and one frigate participated in the battle of Schindelgheist with the main imperial force, the two other frigates hunted Chaos vessels in other systems. After Abaddon's defeat above Schindelgheist, the imperials managed to reconquer the planets lost to the Black Crusade, although the process necessitated eight years of intense ground combat.
- Macharian Crusade & Heresy (392-470.M41) - The 4th Company of the Lightkeepers took part in the Macharian Crusade between 392.M41 and 399.M41, under the command of Lord Commander Solar Macharius, which conquered 1000 systems in the Segmentum Pacificus. When Macharius' general began to fight over the conquered area after their leader's death, the 2nd and 3rd Lightkeepers Companies joined their brothers to help crush the now-called Macharian Heresy. They brought with them their respective strike cruisers and frigates, as well as the Sky Castle battle barge.
- Rebellion of Masym (999.M41) - This rebellion, led by Khorne worshipers, crushed the most experienced members of the 7th company and some of the 6th. Captains Byzanthion Komnene and his twin brother Berytus Procopius managed to banish a greater daemon back into the Warp, but this costed Procopius' life.
