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This article, Scions of Cassan, was written by Cornish Moose. Please do not edit or 'acquire' this fiction without the writer's permission. |
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This article, Scions of Cassan, is currently under active construction. The author, Cornish Moose, apologizes for the inconvenience. |
- "By the Omnissiah, another incorrect order? That's the twelfth this year."
- —Techmarine Montorino upon receiving an order of Centurion Warsuits instead of Predator tanks
The Scions of Cassan are a loyalist Successor Chapter of the vaunted Ultramarines, raised in the 35th Millennium. Initially lauded by those they defended, their achievements were seemingly never acknowledged or rewarded by the Imperium, and by the 40th Millennium they had been all but forgotten by the Imperium despite still stalwartly defending humanity. It was during this millennium that the reason behind this mystery was revealed, and the Chapter gained a new lease of life.
Chapter History
Founding
In the 35th Millennium, the planet of Cassan in the Aeaean Cluster was selected to be the home for an Astartes Chapter as part of the 18th Founding. Initially things went well, with the usual influx of wargear and seconded Astartes arriving to outfit and train the fledgling Chapter. Within the typical space of time, the chapter was ready to commence operations and set about dealing with local Ork infestations. They were largely successful in this effort, and were lauded by the citizens of their Sector.
Makriá Nýchta
A warp tainted rogue planet that had orbited the Aeaean Cluster finally collided with the Soupia Rift, which erupted into a substantial warp storm that engulfed multiple planets and consumed the [DATA LOST] system. This began the 'Makriá Nýchta', which left the Thalatta SubSector in nightmarish darkness for 28 years. Their people, ships and commerce had to endure with their other senses and only the strongest of artificial lights broke the suffocating dark. During these years cultists, heretics and drukhari raiders fought eachother over the prime territory. The unexpected raids of the Drukhari threw the carefully planned schemes of the traitor forces, until they moved onto the Rizus SubSector once the darkness ended. While the Scions of Cassan were not directly involved in this event, merely participating in the mopping up of Drukhari and heretic forces in the Rizus SubSector, the Makriá Nýchta marked the beginning of the Time of Loss, a 500 year period where a variety of calamaties befell the Aeaean Cluster, wrecking most of the local historical records and nigh on erasing the Scions from local knowledge.
Spectre Conflict
Since heavily classified by the Sector Adminstratum and largely passing into myth amongst the local population, the Spectre Conflict saw an unknown xenos or anomaly that assaulted the Aeaean Cluster for 66 years. During this time many computer based systems suffered severe degredation and physical records destroyed thanks to the ionic effects.
What little records remain speak of an initially thought to be natural phenomenon, named the Aether. The atmosphere on affected worlds became heavily charged with ions, increasing the pressure until it was high enough to counteract the effect of gravity. Those without heavy armour could float as if in water. This Aether made breathing difficult, and the ion charged nature induced headaches, seizures and asthma like attacks. Typically, those afflicted would fall into a coma, requiring rapid medical aid if they were to survive.
While the Imperials struggled to comprehend this, another issue emerged, mysterious energies that pulsed through this Aether and into the human bodies within. The still conscious were left burned and insane, the comatose were revived, enthralled and mutated to serve some unknown will. Initial attempts to combat this unseen enemy where completely unsuccessful, with millions being enslaved. Forces were deployed to destroy the corrupted beings, but they could not combat the cause. Entire planets were evacuated that were in the path of the Aether and the Scions were deployed to oversee these operations. They were unaffected by the Aether itself, though the energy within was able to cause malfunctions within their power armour and anger the machine spirits.
Plasma weapons were discovered to be somewhat effective against the Aether, disrupting the ion flow, but it wasn't until the Skitarri of Tvastar entered the fray that their Arc weapons were discovered to be highly effective, scattering the Aether and disrupting the energy fields. With these weapons the Mechanicus was able to contain the Aether, forcing it out of the core systems to the fringes. While it could not be defeated, the Aether had been largely neutralised, and one day simply dispersed, with no records indicating that it ever troubled another Sector.
Homeworld Lost
The final chapter of the 500 years of the Time of Loss was when the Ork Warboss Orkius Orkilius decided to invade the Scion's homeworld as part of his rampage through the Cluster. The majority of the Chapter was present, having recent completed scouring operations to remove other Ork incursions in the Inoi SubSector. As the fleets clashed in orbit, thousands of greenskins descended to the surface in a myriad of craft and improvised pods. The Scions and the PDF put up a staunch defence, reaping a heavy toll upon the invaders. As the bodies stacked up and Orkilius became increasingly frustrated by the one sidedness of the combat and the imminent arrival of Imperial reinforcements, he hatched a plan to level the playing field.
The moon of Cassan, only lightly defended, was stormed and a great mass of fusion engines were attached to the dark side. Orkilius launched the moon on a collision course with the Fortress-Monastery of the Scions, intending to completely destroy it, and thus break the stalement. Unfortunately for the Scions and the citizens of Cassan, Orkilius greatly underestimated the destructive force that the moon (which possessed an extremely dense metallic core). The impact broke the crust of the planet and completely destablised it, killing the majority of the Chapter, nearly the entirety of the planetary population and most of the invading Orks in a matter of minutes. Orkilius and the remnants of his Waaagh beat a hasty withdrawal as the vengeful vessels of the Chapter furiously charged them down, but the damage had been done. Cassan was a burning ball of devastation and the Chapter had lost its home and close to 90% of their brothers.
After such a devastating loss, the remaining Scions became a fleet based Chapter, with the Forge World of Tvastar provding extra warships and modifications to one of the Chapter's Battle Barges (renamed the Tears of Cassan) to make it a new Fortress-Monastery. The Chapter vowed to hunt down Orkilius and every single member of his Waagh, departing the Cluster to seek their vengeance.
5th Black Crusade
Nearly half of the Scions of Cassan were crusading in Segmentum Obscurus when the call came to reinforce the Cadian system, which was being assailed by traitor forces. These Scions answered the call and immediately redeployed to the Elysia Sector. They suffered tremendous casualties battling the forces of the Despoiler, though they avoided his trap on the planet of Tarinth, and were thus spared the fate of the Warhawks and Venerators Chapters.
In the aftermath of the war the battered companies returned to their brothers to rebuild. It was at this point that problems began to become apparent. The requests for wargear and equipment went unanswered, it was only by going to a Forge World directly that the Chapter Master was able to secure supplies.
Betrayal and Turmoil
In early M39, a detachment of the Scions returned to the Aeaean Cluster and their former homeworld. They were shocked to discover that thanks to the loss of records during the Time of Loss, coupled with their abrupt departure and later invasions, the Cluster had all but forgotten their existance. What's more another Chapter, the Nemean Lions had been founded in M38 and was beloved and accoladed by the Sector's inhabitants. The centuries of neglect, censure and now supersession boiled over into anger, with the Scions present succumbing to lures of Chaos, the promises of the power to destroy these usurpers and those that loved them. On the planet of Lukhtrae they laid an ambush, greeting the Lions as friends and then turning on them as they landed on the surface. The entire first company of the Lions was slain to a man in the encouter, outnumbered and caught by surprise. the Scions had misjudged their act however, for the Lions were able to send a distress call to the rest of the Chapter, which was close by, thanks to an early conclusion to the campaign they had been fighting. The remainder of the Lions furiously pursued and slaughtered the heretic Astartes to avenge their brothers and retrieve the Chapter's precious Terminator armour. The bloodlust of the Lions was not slaked by this victory however and they refused to believe that these Astartes were working alone. They set course for the world of Cassan, where the remainder of the Scions had now arrived, as yet unaware of what had transpired. The Lions ignored all hails and protestations of innocence, demanding the surrender of the remaining Scions whom they declared traitors. Their hand was stayed by the fact that the Scion's fleet was still larger than their own, making victory an uncertain outcome. When Imperial reinforcements arrived, their cooler heads were able to somewhat defuse the situation, with the Lions begrudingly agreeing to permit the summoning of an Inquisitor to decide the matter. While the rest of the Scions of Cassan were cleared of heretical taint, the Lions protested this decision and vowed to never fight alongside them again. The Scions agreed that they would leave the Cluster and never return, abandoning cassan for good.
Revelation
The Scions' Fortress-Monastery, Tears of Cassan
During a series of brutal skirmishes with Craftworld Alora in M40, the Scions of Cassan finally discovered the truth of what had ailed them for millennia when another Chapter arrived to assist them. To their shock, they found that this Chapter was also named the Scions of Cassan, though they hailed from Segmentum Tempestus.
As the two Chapters met to discuss this revelation, the picture became clearer. The Administratum had in error raised another Chapter with the same name during the same Founding. This Chapter had been initially baffled when it began receiving extra supply convoys full of equipment they hadn't requested but quickly decided to keep quiet as their vaults filled with spares and relics. The second Chapter was festooned with unearned accolades and honours, happily accepting them with a shrug as their own failings seemingly were left forgotten. The shock of the Scions upon discovering that this other Chapter shared their name was immense yet at last the mystery had been solved.
The Scions wasted no time is sending a message to the Administratum to have this error corrected. It would take another 500 years for the paperwork to be processed and the records ammended.
The other Scions were none too pleased to have their secret revealed, but with significant other forces present, they could only watch in impotence as the word began to spread. This chapter, once the bureaucracy had caught up, they were stripped of their false accolades and forcibly renamed to the Abjurers. These Abjurers were assigned to a penitent crusade to atone for their dishonour.
Notable Campaigns
- Fall of Cassan
- 5th Black Crusade
Chapter Homeworld
Departmento Cartographicae pict-file of Cassan, shortly after the devastation of the planet by the Orks.
The Chapter originally hailed from the planet of Cassan, in the Rizus Subsector of the Aeaean Cluster. Formerly a verdant world of expansive forests and a dynamic feudal society, the planet was devastated by the Ork Warboss Orkilius during his abortive invasion. While surveys have revealed pockets of surviving animal life and remnants of an atmosphere, the planet is no longer suitable for human habitation and has been abandoned.
Fortress-Monastery
The Chapter's current Fortress-Monastery is the heavily converted Battle Barge Tears of Cassan. Prior to the fall of Cassan their Fortress-Monastery was the mountain stronghold of Caerleon, a formidable bastion with overlapping layers of defences. During the ork invasion many thousands of Orks were slain attempting to storm the ramparts, cut down by the myriad defensive turrets and stalwart defenders.
Chapter Organisation
Order of Battle
Headquarters
Companies
| Veteran Company | Battle Companies | |||
| 1st Company | 2nd Company | 3rd Company | 4th Company | 5th Company |
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| Reserve Companies | Scout Company | |||
| 6th Company | 7th Company | 8th Company | 9th Company | 10th Company |
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Chapter Equipment
Rank Hierarchy
The Scion's order of battle adheres closely to the standard Codex Astartes ranks in function and title.
Officer Ranks
- Chapter Master
- Captain
- Lieutenant
Specialist Ranks
- Chaplain
- Librarian
- Apothecary
Line Ranks
- Squad Sergeant
- Battle-Brother
- Scout
- Neophyte
- Aspirant
Specialist Formations
Specialist Vehicles
Chapter Beliefs
Chapter Gene-Seed
Chapter Recruitment
Combat Doctrine
Deathwatch Service
Notable Members
Chapter Fleet
As befitting a fleet-based Chapter, the Scions boast a sizeable fleet of vessels, along with supporting elements to ensure they can operate in deep place and conduct campaigns independantly.
Current Fleet Composition
- 4 Battle Barges
- 12 Strike Cruisers
- 60 Escorts
Notable Vessels
- Tears of Cassan - The Fortress-Monastery of the Scions, this heavily converted Battle Barge features enlarged cargo areas and improved living facilities to accomodate the requirements of the Chapter.
Chapter Relics
Notable Chapter Members
- Chapter Master Publian Ventidus
Chapter Appearance
Chapter Colours
Chapter Badge
Chapter Relations
Allies
Enemies
Notable Quotes
By the Scions of Cassan
- "'"
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- "'"
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About the Scions of Cassan
- "'"
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| Eighteenth Founding Space Marine Chapters | |
|---|---|
| Dark Angels Successors | Invokers • Kharonean Martyrs • |
| White Scars Successors | • |
| Space Wolves Successors | N/A |
| Imperial Fists Successors | Faithful Shields • |
| Blood Angels Successors | • |
| Iron Hands Successors | • |
| Ultramarines Successors | Scions of Cassan • |
| Salamanders Successors | • |
| Raven Guard Successors | • |
| Unknown Lineage | Astral Wardens • |
Gallery
