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The Martyrs Vindicant were a semi-Codex compliant Blood Angels Successor Chapter established during the 15th Founding sometime in M35, upon the death world Helis in the Segmentum Ultima. Helis would remain the Chapters' homeworld until the late years of M38, when an apocalyptic Ork WAAAGH! drove the Martyrs from the planet, forcing them to roam the stars as a fleet-based chapter. The Martyrs would roam the stars of the galaxy until 999.M41, when during the fleet's speedy journey to Baal during the Third Tyrannic War, the opening of the Cicatrix Maledictim - a massive tear in reality that stretched across the width of the galaxy - flung the entire Chapter fleet into the depths of Warp space.
The Chapter would become famed for its fanatical hatred of Orks, often abandoning battlefield objectives and even dooming entire campaigns in an attempt to slaughter any Greenskin presence the chapter became aware of. These self-destructive actions would be blamed upon a unique flaw in the Martyr's gene-seed, known as the 'Martyr Vengeance'. The exact origin of the flaw is unknown but is theorized to be caused by damage sustained to gene-seed during the Fall of Helis.
Chapter History
Chapter Origins
The Martyrs can trace their origins to the Second Company of the Blood Angels Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes, with the company undertaking a military campaign to assist the Imperial forces on the Death World Helis repel an Ork WAAAGH! on the world, led by an Ork Warboss known as Skurazak Crownbreka.
The company, as many saw it, arrived too late, with the Orks having already destroyed the Planetary capital of Noctulla, leading to the death of the planetary governor along with the vast majority of the military high command. Along with the capital, most of the world's main military strongholds and hive cities had fallen to the Orks, and only a few desperate holdouts stood against the neverending Ork hordes.
Captain Amriel, realizing the desperate state of the Planetary Defense Forces, along with the need to quickly break the back of the Ork Waaagh, ordered his forces to launch an attack on the Orks laying siege to the largest remaining Imperial stronghold. This fortress would become known as the Angel's Tear. The captain's logic being, that the biggest and baddest fight on the planet would be where the Ork Warboss would be fighting, this logic proved correct.
The Orks had, in their enjoyment of the great battle across the Helis, failed to anticipate imperial reinforcements, meaning these Astartes could move on the main Ork force with minimal interference. The sudden arrival of these Astartes inspired the defenders inside the fortress to sally out in a desperate last attack, the pursuing battle would be an absolute slaughter, with Captain Amriel fighting Crownbreka in personal combat slaying the Ork and taking his war horn as a trophy. The defeat of the Orks did not come without a price, with the vast majority of the stronghold's defenders killed, one-third of the Company lost, and the last remaining members of Planetary High Command slain in the last charge of the Imperial Guard forces.
Following this great victory, the Second Company would begin a decade-long Campaign of Extermination across the planet. This campaign would lead to the last of the Ork forces on the planet being exterminated or driven off-world, leading to a mass purge of all Ork spores the Astartes could find, a hunt future members of the chapter wished went on for longer and was far more meticulous. The last remaining Imperial strongholds were refortified and rebuilt across Helis, with the weak and starved defenders restored to some semblance of imperial glory, and discipline.
Following this decade-long campaign, the Second Company would be recalled to Baal, seeing as its absence was growing too long for the comfort of the rest of the chapter, only Captain Amriel and several Astartes remained on the world, these men would be the founding members of a new chapter upon the world, one that would be named in honour of all those who had fallen for the Imperium, for they were their revenge, The Martyrs Vindicant were born
Chapter Homeworld
The newly formed Martyrs Vindicant would take the planet of Helis as its homeworld, seeing it as their responsibility to defend the people of the world from further threats, and due to the lack of any imperial administration would take up the mantle as the sole Imperial authority on the planet, ruling from their newly refortified and renamed Fortress-Monastery, The Angels Tear, the great fortress where Captain Amriel slew the Ork Warboss.
The Chapter would establish a rigid and well-defined hierarchy of military and legal authority, with the chapter master at the top, with the many chapter captains, PDF commanders, along legal civilian leaders all having their powers, authority and jurisdiction carefully defined. This however, does not mean the Chapters companies were relegated to being on the planet to operate in this hierarchy, with secondary positions delegated to the civilian administrators in the absence of military leaders in the hierarchy for one reason or another. Allowing the Companies to launch regular raids and minor crusaders against Ork space in an attempt to cull its population and prevent the buildup of an Ork Waaagh
The planet of Helis would also be home to several reptilian titans known to the locals as Shadows of the Dark One, the Dark One being an interpretation of the local Imperial Cult on the Arch Traitor Horus Lupercal, leading to the creatures to be the Victims of a great hunt every 20 years as vengeance would be brought upon the evil that tore down the Emperor so many years ago. These creatures would become prime hunting targets for the Martyrs' training and the honing of their combat skills against larger more savage threats, along with providing what the records describe as great bounties of trophies, meat, and great battle stories.
Chapter Flight
The Martyrs would enjoy nearly three millennia of relative peace and stability on Helis, the planet proving the perfect base to operate in Segmentum Ultima, a perfect safe haven and critical supply depot for the Imperium, and a proud symbol to all worlds plagued by the Orks, with their chapter performing regular culls of nearby Ork populations to prevent them from rallying into a potentially Unstoppable Ork Waaagh! Sadly, the late 38th Millennium would doom Helis and almost doom the chapter as a whole. With the greatest Ork Waaagh Helis has ever seen would swallow the world into the great sea of the Greenskins
In 936.M38, Helis would enter its thirteenth year of turbulent warp storms that would prove dangerous for any ship attempting to enter or leave the system, effectively isolating Helis from the rest of the Imperium. It was during this period that an Ork WAAAGH! would descend upon the world, less by an Ork Warboss known as Brughakh Fistclompa, an extremely cunning Ork who uses the warp storms as cover to rally an Ork WAAAGH! to bring vengeance upon the Martyrs. Upon arrival, the Ork Waaagh would take the forces of the Martyrs by complete surprise and would begin a great battle to take the world.
The surprise would be so great, that then Chapter Master Heinriel would be killed by the Ork Warboss in personal combat, decimating the chapter's First Company who were out on a hunt for a massive Shadow of the Dark One. After this, The Waaagh would quickly grind much of the planet into dust, with only the Martyr forces and the local civilian populace at the Fortress Monastery being saved with the timely intervention of the Blood Angels and several of its successor chapters, who braved the warp in a desperate attempt to save their fellow sons of Sanguinius. This intervention allowed the chapter and the people to escape aboard the small Chapter fleet, leaving Helis to become another Ork Stomping ground. Only after the new Chapter Master, Zikriel, collected a jar of Helis dirt and swore the first Chapter blood oath to reclaim Helis.
The Roaming Angels
The Martyrs were left to a few dozen warships and civilian vessels, with their capital ship being the Angels Wrath, while a good enough fleet for their original purpose, by chapter fleet standards it was quite small and easy to destroy by a formidable and persistent enemy. Following the fall of Helis chapter would never again hold a homeworld, with the High Lords of Terra decreeing that the Martyrs forfeited the right when they failed to defend Helis from the Orks, forever souring the Chapter's relations with Terra and the Chapter never venturing out of Segmentum Ultima for nearly three Millenia.
The Chapter would spend a four-decade-long crusade of penitence, wandering the Segmentum battling Ork raiding parties, raiding Ork Worlds and slaughtering any Orks they could find in an attempt to wreak what vengeance they could upon the foul Xenos, only ending this personnel crusade after a chance meeting with the Blood Angels Second Company, with this reminder of the Chapters origins and the lineage which they carry, lead to a great reinvigoration of the Martyrs, the chapter ending its crusade and beginning its long road to properly rebuilding the chapter.
The Martyrs would, upon their return to Imperial Space, begin the long process of reinforcing and expanding its Chapter fleet capabilities and size whenever and wherever possible. Major expansion came from the support and donations of other Blood Angel successor chapters, along with sympathetic Planetary governments and ‘borrowing’ from Forge World foundries containing finished but unmanned naval vessels for chapters and imperial naval units that no longer existed when construction was completed, leading to the Martyrs having one of the more formidable Chapter Fleets in Ultima Segmentum.
The Capital ship of the Martyr fleet would be the Battle Barge Angels Wrath, the original vessel used by the Second Company upon its original rescue of Helis all those millennia ago. It’s from here that the Chapter Master, The Chief Sanguinary Priest, Head Curator and the First Company resided aboard the battle barge. The other Chapter Companies reside on other vessels scattered throughout the fleet, preventing one disastrous attack from decapitating the Chapter.
The Angelic Stewards
When the Martyrs evacuated their fortress-monastery upon Helis, they were not the only residents of the world who managed to escape the slaughter of the Orks, with a small civilian fleet fleeing alongside the Martyrs. These were the people of the City of Angels Abode, a city that had been built around the fortress-monastery of The Angel's Tear. The Martyrs viewed the loss of Helis as more of a failure to its people than their own chapter, with the chapter forever holding itself as their protectors and stewards until they can restore the people of Helis to their home.
The Organized and rigid governance style utilized by the Martyrs during the days on Helis proved extremely effective on administering the civilian portion of the fleet. While the people were forced into a wholly new and unfamiliar lifestyle aboard the fleet, the way things were enforced and run remained mostly the same, giving some sense of comfort and familiarity for those first few generations of Space Helians. Tensions however would be inevitable, with civilian captains clashing with the chapter authority over the path the fleet would take, where ships would dock and for how long. Tensions would also clash between older and newer generations following the loss of Helis, with the young disrespecting the Martyrs after losing their home and the old respecting the Martyrs for saving them.
The few civilian vessels of the Martyr Fleet would become the main source for recruitment for new Astartes, with those who aren’t recruited coming to serve a myriad of roles across the fleet from mechanics, cooks, cleaners, and pilots, along with dozens of civilian roles across the non-military vessels.
Angels Lost
The Martyrs would roam the Imperium for nearly three millennia battling Orks across the galaxy in their endless crusade to bring revenge upon the foul Xenos, and to one day avenge Helis and return the planet to its rightful inhabitants. However, this crusade would be cut short when the World of Baal called for help, with the all-consuming Tyranids coming ever closer to the world.
However, doom would come for the chapter, while speeding across the warp in 999.M41, the Cicatrix Maledictim would tear open across the galaxy. The Chapter fleet would be thrown into the depths of the Warp, never to be seen again. Among the lost would be the entire chapter fleet, including the civilian vessels, along with a small force of Imperial Navy forces whom the Martyrs had dragged along to reinforce Baal.
Following the disappearance of the Martyrs Vindicant, the chapter would be declared lost, with the 3rd company, who had managed to reach Baal ahead of the rest of the Chapter, being whipped out to the last during the Devastation of Baal, with reports indicating a large swath fell into despair upon learning the fate of their Chapter fleet, and succumbing to the Black Rage shortly thereafter, being sent on a suicidal last attack against the Tyranids before they lost any sense of themselves and began attacking without warning or reason.
Notable Campaigns
- War of Bantu (910.M35) - During 910.M35, the Martyrs Vindicant First company, along with 2 squads from the 11th Company, would answer the distressed call of the Imperial agri-world of Bantu, which reported to be under attack by unknown entities. The chapter would find the world overrun by a daemonic incursion, said incursion belonging to the Chaos God Slaanesh and locked in battle against the Grey Knights Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes. The Chapter would accept Grey Knight leadership during the campaign, seeing as the Martyrs had no experience with such daemonic entities. Throughout the campaign, the Grey Knights had withheld vital information and provided info that led to excessive civilian casualties at the hands of the Martyrs' bombardment. By the end of the campaign, Chapter Master Heinriel had to be physically restrained by an unnamed 11th Captain while the chapter quickly left the world, less the Chapter Master start a war with the silver-clad Astartes.
- The Crusade of Loss (936-966.M38) - The Crusade of Lose, beginning in the year 936.M38 and only ending in 966.M38, was a period of time after the Fall of Helis that the forces of the Martyrs Vindicant, in despair over the loss of the homeworld at the hands of the Greenskins, would launch a savage campaign across the Ultima Segmentum, scouring dozens of worlds infected by the warbands of the Orks, utilizing weapons that rendered several worlds uninhabitable, and leading to the destruction of the Greenskins across every world they assaulted, at the cost of slowly dwindling the numbers of marines left in the chapter, which would have surely doomed the chapter to a slow death, if not for the chance meeting with the Second Company of the Blood Angles, which reinvigorated the Chapter and lifted from it the blind hatred which had consumed them.
Angel Organization
The Martyrs Vindicant were a semi-Codex-complaint chapter, with the chapter disregarding the [[w:c:warhammer40k:Codex Astartes|Codex Astartes on certain rules regarding both the makeup of a company and concerning the limit of battle brothers any one chapter may possess, with the chapter having ~1,300 Battle Brothers during the events of the Third Tyrannic War. The Chapter would maintain much of the same company organization outlined in the Codex Astartes, but with a few strange changes made over the millennia by the chapter. The Martyrs would also develop a set of unique titles and ranks among the chapter along with special titles for its different companies.
Chapter Ranks
The Martyrs would over its tenure on Helis develop unique titles for several Astartes Ranks, with these ranks entrenching themselves in the Martyrs culture on Helis and across the stars.
The rank of Chaplain would become the title of Curator shortly after the Fall of Helis, with the people of Helis and many battle-brothers speaking with Chaplains for moral support and justification in the trying times after such a disaster. The Chaplains would also prioritize the history of Helis, maintaining and keeping as much of this knowledge intact to keep the memories of the Chapter alive, helping them earn the title.
The Veterans of the Chapter would gain the title Chapter Guard, with the Veterans defending the Chapter's main historical Archives, Chapter Artifacts and important persons when not deployed to battle. The Veterans would also be the main battle-brother guarding the entrance to the Fortress Monastery during the days of Helis, earning the Astartes their title.
Chapter Traditions
The Martyrs would, throughout its existence, adopt several traditions from the planet of Helis and its exile period to the stars. While some traditions would stand the test of time until the eventual loss of the chapter to the Warp, other traditions would be abandoned by the chapter either due to impracticality or simply being unable to fulfill the tradition.
The Great Hunt was an event that took place every 20 years on the planet of Helis, where the Chapter Master would pick a single company every month for the year and take them into the dangerous deserts of the planet. It was here the company would hunt the Shadows of the Dark ones, seeking great trophies and meat for their company. The Hunt company would be chosen from the first 12 companies of the chapter, with the Death Company disqualified due to its condition, the order of the twelve would be decided by a lottery.
The Blood Oath of Helis was an oath taken by every Chapter Master of the Martyrs after the fall of Helis, the oath was sworn upon the ascension of the Chapter Master. The oath is taken with the blood of the new Chapter Master being dropped into the Jar of Helis Artifact, signifying the chapters connection to the world:
- "I swear upon my blood, and the blood of my father: I shall guide my brothers through the darkness, I shall lead them through all challenges, and I shall fall before any harm befalls my brothers. I shall protect those placed under my chapters protection, and one day return them home. I shall purge the Ork, until the day Helis is reclaimed, and we reunited with our home."
- — The Blood Oath of Helis
Order of Battle
Headquarters
Companies
- First Company ('The Martyrs Head') - The First Company was the standard Veteran/Terminator Squad company found in any Codex-compliment chapters, the major difference being the fact the Chapter Master is commanding the company, not a captain like a normal company. This difference is reflected with the company's name, The Martyrs Head.
- Second-Fifth Companies ('The Martyrs Sword') - The Second-Fifth Companies were similarly organized to the standard Battle Companies of any Astartes chapter, with the only difference being the Martyrs removing the 2 Assault Squads and replacing them with 1 Tactical Squad and 1 Devastator Squads, reserving this Assault gear for other companies.
- Sixth-Ninth Companies ('The Martyrs Strength') - The Martyrs Reserve Companies are almost completely identical to that of Codex Compliant chapter, with the Sixth and Seventh Companies being Tactical Companies and the Ninth being a Devastator Company. The only difference being the fact the Eighth Company, which would traditionally be an Assault Company, is instead a Tactical Company,
- Tenth Company ('The Martyrs Eyes') - The Tenth Company was like in any Codex Compliant Chapter the scout Company, where Astartes Neophytes are sent to prepare themselves for full duty as a Battle Brother of the Chapter, with the company performing Reconnaissance and Guerilla Warfare.
- Eleventh-Twelfth Companies ('The Martyrs Wings ') - The Eleventh and Twelfth Companies of the Martyrs Vindicant were extremely unique in terms of battle companies due to the presence of only Assault Squads in these companies, hence the absence of the Assault Squads and the reserve Assault Company in the rest of the chapter. These company were always the first in the frey, used to rapidly destroy enemy armor and battle cohesion before the main assault. These companies are rarely deployed in their entirely, and instead having 2-3 squads deployed along with other companies.
- Thirteenth Company ('The Martyrs Rage') - The Martyrs Thirteenth Company is what is known as a Death Company, a Company unique to the Blood Angels and all their successor Chapters. Those of the Death company are the Astartes who have completely succumbed to the Black Rage, one of the two main genetic flaws of the sons of Sanginius. This company was deployed in only the most desperate and dangerous situations, with civilians and allies in battle to be nowhere nearby less they fall victim to these crazed Astartes.
Chapter Beliefs
The Emperor
Ancient portrait of the Emperor of Mankind.
The Martyrs would, like its fellow Space Marine Chapters, venerate the Emperor as their creator, the father of Humanity and its great uniter. The chapter would, like the vast majority of Space Marine Chapters in the modern Imperium, not venerate the Emperor as a god, simply holding him as the greatest Man and something all should, and could, strive to be. This belief has, like many of its fellow chapters, led to conflict with many Imperial organzations including the Ecclesiarchy and the Inquisition, however the animosity with the ladder would come after the Martyrs took part in the War of Bantu, which saw the chapter align with the Grey Knights chapter and destroy a daemonic incursion upon the world of Bantu. Following the battle, then-Chapter Master Heinriel would confront the Supreme Grand Master of the Grey Knights, demanding why his men were not briefed exactly on what they would be facing beforehand, or the fact their orbital bombardment would kill hundreds of Imperial citizens captured by the Daemons, leading to the knight stating his men didn’t need to know less they compromise the mission. The Martyrs Vindicant would then quickly evacuate the planet before the Chapter Master could do something drastic against the Grey Knights.
Sanginius
Blood Angels Primarch Sanguinius during the Siege of Terra.
The Martyrs held their Primarch Sanginius in high regard, viewing him as one of the first martyrs of the Imperium, and swearing to uphold his and his father's mission, dreaming of a galaxy united under humanity and at peace. The love the Martyrs had for their gene-father led to a fanatical obsession with martyrs, with the Chapter having during the days of Helis built a grand hall filled with statues of all those prominent men and women who died beside the chapter, for they have in their eyes been martyred like their father was.
Codex Astartes
Chapter Gene-Seed
The GeneSeed of the Martyrs is derived from the Generic Stock of the Blood Angels Primarch Sanguinius, who was killed aboard the Vengeful Spirit by the Arch Traitor Horus Lupercal during the final hours of the Horus Heresy. Like all chapters using the Genetic Stock of Sanguinius, The Red Thirst and the Black Rage would be the two of the three generic flaws suffered by the Martyrs, with the Martyrs suffering a third flaw that manifested after the fall of Helis
Flaws
Red Thirst
The Red Thirst is a pre–Horus Heresy genetic flaw, originating from an unknown complication in Sanguinius’ gene-seed, leading to him keeping it a complete secret from the Emperor, less his legion be purged and removed from all official Imperial Records. The Red Thirst is the sons of Sanginius‘ destructive yearning, a battle-lust and a never truly satiable thirst for blood, a thirst that a battle brother must keep caged and battle against constantly, less they become a hollow monster of a true Astartes
Black Rage
Pict-file of a Martyrs Vindicant Astartes assigned to the Chapter's Death Company after having fallen to the throes of the Black Rage.
The Black Rage, also known as the Flaw of Sanginius, originates from the Death of the Blood Angel Primarch Sanguinius, who upon his death at the hands of his brother the Arch-Traitor Horus Lupercal, sent a psychic shockwave across his entire legion upon Holy Terra, driving them all momentarily mad as they unleashed all that hate and rage upon the traitor forces on Terra, driving them from the planet. Now, the Black Rage remains an unending curse upon all sons of Sanginius, any brother can be consumed, and not all can break free of the rage, all relive the final moments of their Primarch, feeling everything as he did during the final hours of the heresy. The Black Rage has taken a near-religious position in the chapter, with it being a lesson to the sons of Sanginius, about what it means to suffer the final price of Martyrdom.
The Martyrs' Vengeance
The unique genetic flaw of the Martyrs Vindicant, the exact origins of the flaw was unknown, with several theories submitted by Imperial scholars over the millennia, from the Fall of Helis being the cause to it all being a simple fabrication. The Flaw itself manifests itself in an uncontrollable hatred of the Ork species, with a Martyrs Battle-Brother seeking to destroy any Ork presence they become aware of as far as entire sub-sectors in range. This has caused the Martyrs to abandon battlefield objectives and even self-sabotage entire military campaigns to destroy the Ork, no matter the cost. The main theory of the flaw's origins originated to the tragic Fall of Helis, where the genetic vaults that contained the chapter's precious gene-seed which would be breached by Ork forces, leading to a tense battle that many believe that the Orks somehow permanently contaminated the genetic legacy of the chapter. However, some modern Imperial scholars theorize that the 'Martyrs' Vengeance' genetic flaw was a fabrication by the chapter, to excuse their obsession with slaughtering any and all Orks the chapter can get its hands on.
Combat Doctrine
Deathwatch Service
Notable Martyrs Vindicant
- Chapter Master Amriel - The First Chapter Master of the Martyrs Vindicant, he was a former Second Captain of the Blood Angels Chapter who would go on to serve the Chapter from its establishment until his death upon an unknown date. Amriel would first enter Imperial Records in the library of the Blood Angels, describing his Ascension to the Rank of Second Captain at some point in late M35, the exact date of which was lost during the Devastation of Baal. The Captain would undertake during late M35 a campaign where the second company was deployed in response to an Ork Incursion upon the Imperial Death World of Helis, a world which Amriel would describe as Lifeless and beautiful.
Amdiel would during the campaign lead a relief effort of the crippled and rapidly collapsing Imperial garrison, with the Captain personally slaying the Ork warboss Skurazak Crownbreka, along with leading a Decade long scouring of the planet, Destroying and driving back the last of the Ork forces, reinforcing Imperial military positions across the planet and hunting down any and all Ork spores, a task Amriel didn’t realize was incomplete.
At the end of the scouring, the Second Company would return to Baal, with Amriel and a small group of trusted marines remaining on Helis, these men would become the first battle brothers of the Martyrs Vindicant, the first Veterans of the First Company.
- Chapter Master Heinriel - Chapter Master Heinriel served as Chapter Master of the Martyrs Vindicant during the War of Bantu, a campaign in which the Chapter, along with the Grey Knights, would repel a demonic incursion from the Imperial Agri World of Bantu. During the course of the Campaign, the Martyrs Vindicant and Grey Knights would clash over differing tactics and doctrine, with the campaign ending with Heinriel having to be physically restrained by an unnamed captain of the 11th Company, as the Martyrs quickly left the system before the Chapter Master started a war with the Inquisition.
Chapter Master Heinriel would later be slain in single combat by the Ork Warboss Brughakh Fistclompa, during the fall of Helis, with the Chapter's First Company devastated by the Orks in the opening wave of the invasion, Heinriel's body was never recovered by the forces of the Martyr's Vindicant.
- Chapter Master Zikriel - Chapter Master Zikriel, Captain of the Chapter's 4th Company during the Fall of Helis, would be named the new Chapter Master shortly before the conclusion of the fall of the Martyrs' homeworld. Zikriel is most notable for during the evacuation of the planet, having collected a Jar of dirt from Helis, vowing to see it returned to the planet once the Martyrs reclaimed and purged it from every trace of the Orks upon the world.
Zikriel would command the Chapter during the Crusade of Loss, personally slaying countless Ork Warbosses and overseeing the extermination of several planets of all life in a desperate attempt to gain some form of revenge upon the Greenskins. Chapter Master Zikriel would eventually, long after the end of the Crusade, be slain in battle against a force of Chaos Space Marines.
- Chapter Master Zachriel -
Chapter Fleet
The fleet of the Martyrs Vindicant upon its disappearance would be a combination of warships and civilian escort ships that were inhabited by the Decedents of those survivors from Helis. while how exactly the fleet would be Organized, several ships would be recorded throughout the chapter's history:
- Angel's Wrath (Battle Barge) - The battle barge Angel's Wrath served as the original transport of the Second Company, which Second Captain Amriel used to great effect during the decade-long-campaign on Helis. The battle barge would then return to the service of the Blood Angels chapter, with the Martyrs making use of scavenged warships from Helis. The battle barge would be gited to the Martyrs by the Blood Angels after the Fall of Helis, with the ship coming to serve as their flagship, mobile fortress-monastery, and command center of the entire chapter. The vessel would take part in several campaigns during its service, including; The War on Bantu, [CN2], and [CN3]. The Battle Barge would be lost along with the chapter during the opening of the Cicatrax Maledictum.
- Shadow of Helis (Strike Cruiser)- The strike cruiser Shadow of Helis would be one of the few ships in the Martyrs' fleet before the Fall of Helis, serving as the unofficial capital ship of the fleet. The vessel would also be away from Helis at the time, having left the system shortly before the warp storms set in and was only able to return alongside other Blood Angels chapters to rescue the forces of the Martyrs, leading a dark stain on Martyrs' 5th Company who felt they had failed the chapter by not being there when the Orks invaded. The ship now serves as the main vessel of the 5th Company, as well as a secondary capital ship for the Martyr Fleet. It was lost alongside the rest of the chapter.
Chapter Relics
- The Spear of Amriel - The Spear of Amriel was the personal weapon of the former Second Captain and first Chapter Master Amriel, who would wield the weapon shortly after rising the rank to Captain and keep wielding it until his death. The most famous instance of Amriel using this weapon would be when he personally slew the Ork Warboss Skurazak Crownbreka upon Helis, where he claimed the Ork's head and War Horn, the ladder becoming another important artefact of the Martyrs.
- The WAAAGH! Horn - Upon the defeat of the Ork Warboss Skurazak Crownbreka, Chapter Master Amriel Claimed the Warhorn of the Ork as a trophy, and would later become an important artifact of the chapter. The horn was to be taken along any campaigns against the Orks and was to be blown upon the defeat of an Ork Warboss or on the anniversary of the defeat of Skurazak Crownbreka. The horn itself seemed to be that of an actual Ork horn, hollowed out and decorated by Crownbreka, but did not seem to belong to Crownbreka himself. Most likely, the horn comes from an old rival of Crownbreka, or perhaps a Warboss deemed too weak to continue his command, so Crownbreka killed him and took his horn as a trophy.
- The Jar of Helis - When the Martyrs Vindicant were forced from Helis by the Orks, Chapter Master Zikriel collected a Jar filled with dirt. He swore that when the martyrs reclaimed the world, the dirt of Helis would be reunited, the dirt symbolizing the exile of the martyrs and the separation of them from their homeworld. The Jar was kept in the inner sanctum aboard the Angels Wrath, where the chapter master would give a blood sacrifice into the jar upon their ascension, swearing an unknown oath, and signing a pact with the Emperor and their Father Sanginius.
Chapter Appearance
Chapter Colors
Chapter Badge
The Martyrs Vindicant Chapter badge takes the form of a stylized broken sword impaling a world, a large blood drop superimposed upon it.
Relations
Allies
Enemies
- Orks of the Ultima Segmentum
- Inquisition
Notable Quotes
By the Martyrs Vindicant
- "You wonder why we attacked you, you wonder why we destroyed your pathetic 'army' and cleansed this cursed planet, I shall grant you this enlightenment foul xenos. When your raid descended upon this world when it slaughtered its people and destroyed its defenders to the last, you created untold millions of martyrs for the Imperium and for the Emperor, and we have come for one simple reason. We are Justice! We are Vengeance! We are the Will of Martyrs! And they will be your death!"
- — Third Captain Hinchiel during an unknown counter-attack on Drukhari raiders.
About the Martyrs Vindicant
- "During my time, I've met many of the Emperor's 'Angels of Death', and each has left me in awe; the Castigators for their tactical proficiency and discipline, the Storm Zealots for their stoicism and stubbornness in the face of overwhelming odds, the Shadow Talons for their proclivity for striking from the shadows before you even know they're there. But, if I had to pick just one that best exemplified the Emperor's wrath, it would have to be the Martyrs Vindicant."
- — A Platoon Sergeant of the Morana Black Guard Regiment of the Astra Militarum.
| Fifteenth Founding Space Marine Chapters | |
|---|---|
| Dark Angels Successors | Marines Baleful • |
| White Scars Successors | Celestial Heralds • |
| Space Wolves Successors | N/A |
| Imperial Fists Successors | Redemptors • Storm Fists • |
| Blood Angels Successors | Blades of Korenaga • Martyrs Vindicant • Winged Legion • |
| Iron Hands Successors | • |
| Ultramarines Successors | Xenoclasts • |
| Salamanders Successors | • |
| Raven Guard Successors | • |
| Unknown Lineage | Ruby Sabres • |
Gallery
Acknowledgements
Brief Thanks
Before we begin I wish to give a brief thanks to one Algrim Whitefang, who provided several important edits to the article along with the Shoulder artwork and the matching Space Marine Art, without him this article would be no where near the quality it is now, thank you Algrim, and thank you for this Wiki.