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This article, Sea Serpents, was written by Sallymander18. Please do not edit or 'acquire' this fiction without the writer's permission. |
The Sea Serpents are a non-Codex compliant Chapter of Space Marines whose exact Founding and lineage are unknown, although some Imperial scholars hypothesize their origins harken back to the dark days of the Horus Heresy to a similarly named Loyalist Blackshield force. Known for their use of terror tactics, infiltration and asymmetrical combat strategies, they've made a name for themselves as a fearsome and elusive tool of the Imperium that swiftly destroys their enemies before they can even mount a defense.
Chapter History[]
The Sea Serpents are a mysterious and aloof Chapter of uncertain origins and unknown lineage. Despite their long list of victories on behalf of the Imperium, they are relatively unknown amongst the larger masses of the Imperium, and largely unheralded. This suits the Chapter just fine, for they prefer to operate from the shadows - unseen and unknown - a deadly force of formless shadows, as dangerous and deadly as monsters of ancient myth. Throughout the Imperium's history, there have been fragmented, anomalous reports of unknown Astartes arrayed in cyan and mint coloured battle-plate carrying out targeted strikes, abductions and assassinations, answering to no known masters and passing through war zones on high priority missions and under the write of unassailable clearance codes which broached no question. Many Imperial scholars have come to believe these Astartes to be none other than members of the elusive Sea Serpents Space Marine Chapter.
Chapter Secrets[]
The true history of the Sea Serpents' inception is not known to outsiders, and when inquiries are made, the Chapter are reluctant and become outright belligerent and hostile to those that pry too deeply into their affairs. In truth, this Chapter's origins are only known to themselves, and is all but impossible to trace for those who have attempted to penetrate the Chapter's veil of secrecy. In reality, the Sea Serpents can trace their lineage back over ten millennia earlier, to the dire era known as the Age of Darkness. Almost from the outset, the Horus Heresy was a vast cataclysm, one whose evens moved with such quicksilver pace that mystery, supposition, lies and simple ignorance cloaked much of the bloodshed even as it occurred, casting a veil over much that will never be lifted. Though the roll call of both Traitor and Loyalist forces is largely known and accepted, the full truth is far more complex and more mysterious than commonly believed. During this conflict, there were detachments of Legiones Astartes, or sometimes entire squadrons of warships that simply vanished without apparent trace. Many of these quietly slipped anchor and turned their coats to serve another master, and that this happened on both sides of the divide.
One such faction was a Blackshield force comprised of both Loyalist Night Lords and Alpha Legionnaires during the Horus Heresy. This force emerged in 009.M31, four years after the disastrous Dropsite Massacre of Isstvan V and official beginning of the Horus Heresy when they saved a large force of Loyalist Astartes and swiftly ending a several month long conflict. When asked to identify themselves, and their purpose, they merely responded with "atonement". They served the Imperium faithfully and with steadfast vigilance during the Horus Heresy, but mysteriously disappeared without a trace during the Great Scouring. Vanishing out of thin air as quickly as they arrived.
They would later re-emerge, several millennia later, not as the nameless and iconless Blackshields of the Horus Heresy, but as the Sea Serpents Chapter, in the 37th Millennium, in response to the beginning of the 7th Black Crusade, more commonly known as 'The Ghost War'. They believed that without their assistance, the Imperium may have collapsed due to their bureaucracy and civil infighting in the wake of the Traitor Astartes' employment of asymmetrical warfare strategies and stealth tactics. Since their re-emergence in the 37th Millennium, they have kept their Chapter's history a close-guarded secret.
Primaris Integration[]
In the wake of the 13th Black Crusade and the destruction of Cadia and the formation of the galaxy-wide tear in reality known as the Cicatrix Maledictum, a miracle occurred. The long-dead Primarch of the Ultramarines, Roboute Guilliman was resurrected from his millennia-long, near-death stasis. With his resurrection, he revealed his ultimate contingency plan, the next stage in the Space Marines evolution - the Primaris Space Marines. Launching his Indomitus Crusade to take the fight to the Forces of Chaos, Guilliman had been reinforcing Chapters with his new Primaris Marines. Upon encountering The Leviathan, the flagship of the Sea Serpents Chapter, initially the Chapter refused to allow the Primaris Marines into their ranks, claiming that they were undeserving of such powerful gifts and had not yet redeemed themselves for their dishonorable and treacherous past.
Guilliman offered to hear their story, feeling compelled to follow the orders of a Son of the Emperor, they did so. They told him everything from the Horus Heresy onward. Guilliman saw past the sins of their gene-fathers, saw past their Legions of origin, saw past the actions of their Primarchs and their former Battle-Brothers and saw in them stalwart, silent guardians of the Imperium and a protective shadow upon all whom they were cast upon. He told them only this in response: "I forgive you."
In forgiving the Sea Serpents, he reforged the Chapter into something entirely new. They were no longer silent guardians, they were no longer ghosts in the machine, they were pulled out of the shadows and into the light. This one act alone made the Sea Serpents one of the most eager and ready adopters of Primaris upgrades.
Notable Campaigns[]
- The Horus Heresy (009.M31) - [CLASSIFIED ON ORDERS OF THE INQUISITION]
- The Ghost War (881.M37) - Their first publicly known open conflict as a Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes, where their stealth expertise and counter-intelligence tactics proved vital in securing the survival of the Imperium from this grave foe.
- The Nephrendis Raids (723.M41) - The Chaos Warband known as the Merciless ravages the Nephrendis System. The Warband intentions are to raid the system and pillage it for supplies, loot, and prisoners.
Unbeknownst to the Merciless, their Warband had been infiltrated by the Sea Serpents. Sabotage, paranoia, and disarray ensues throughout the Warband's fleet. Elements within the Warband fleet starts to turned on each other. That is the moment the Sea Serpent suddenly appears to attack with full force of their fleet.
As a mighty ship battle ensues, the Serpents board two of the main Battleships of the Merciless and destroy them. Losses begin to mount against the might of the Sea Serpents and the Merciless retreat back toward the Eye of Terror. It is a lose that the Merciless will not soon forget.
Chapter Organisation[]
The Sea Serpents are a non-Codex Compliant Chapter. As such they do not follow traditional Space Marine organizational practices. They do not have Companies, instead they have Shadow Divisions which are made up of fifty Marines each further split up into Kill Teams made up of 5-10 Battle Brothers. These Battle Brothers are deployed independently across battlefields to complete separate tasks and missions.
Officer Ranks[]
- Serpent Lord - Chapter Master equivalent.
- Ophidian Shadowhunter - Captain equivalent.
- Lieutenant - Lieutenant equivalent.
Specialist Ranks[]
- Venolord - Chief Apothecary/Reclusiarch equivalent.
- Venomancer - Apothecary and Chaplain rolled into one. Both a spiritual leader and a medical professional.
- Ophidian Forgemaster - Master of the Forge equivalent. Known for having entire armor sets made out of scale plates.
- Ophidian Forger - Techmarine equivalent. Known for having entire armor sets made out of scale plates.
Line Ranks[]
- Veteran Sergeant
- Sergeant
- Battle-Brother
- Scout Marine
- Aspirant
Specialist Units & Formations[]
- Ophidian Sharpshooters - Long range snipers and designated marksmen. Often seen wearing camouflage cloaks. After the Primaris Protocols were introduced, Ophidian Sharpshooters were mostly made up of the Phobos Armor-clad Vanguard.
- Ophidian Stalkers - Short range recon and guerrilla soldiers. Known for hiding in one spot for hours or days at a time. Whether that be fully submerged in a body of water, waiting to rise like monsters from the deep and strike at a passing enemy or waiting in the rubble of a ruined building until a high value target comes in sight. Ophidian Rangers were mostly made up of Vanguard Primaris after the Primaris Protocols were introduced.
Order of Battle[]
Headquarters[]
The Leviathan Battle Barge.
Companies[]
An unknown number of small, tactical Companies based around stealth operations.
Chapter Combat Doctrine[]
The Sea Serpents do not kill you. At least, it's never that simple. Sea Serpents are known for their ability to drag out a conflict but not as a war of attrition. They end conflicts quickly, but not before they instill as much fear and paranoia in the enemy as possible. They assassinate leaders, eliminate scouting parties, and slowly drive their enemies insane. Only when the enemy have reached the peak of paranoia and fear do they strike. When the Sea Serpents finally take the fight to their enemy, it's as quick as it is ruthless. A conflict that has lasted months or years can end overnight and then like phantoms they'll simply disappear into the oceans, only leaving a trail of corpses as evidence of their presence.
Chapter Culture & Beliefs[]
The Sea Serpents hold very little sense of mysticism or spiritualism. They are holdovers from the days of the old Imperium from before the Horus Heresy, and detest the Imperial Cult and all that sprang forth from it with a passion. Known for their distrust and distant attitude towards such groups as the Ecclesiarchy. Inquisition, Deathwatch, Adepta Sororitas and others, they're often regarded as a wildcard at best and a potential liability at worse. These tensions have yet to boil over and turned into full violent conflict but that line has nearly been crossed in the past.
Death and Martyrdom[]
The Sea Serpents put almost religious importance on their quest for redemption. Until they were forgiven by Guilliman, the Sea Serpents saw the only possible way for a singular Space Marine of the Chapter to truly redeem themselves was to die fighting for the Imperium. Death, to the Sea Serpents, is a means to an end. Something an Astartes must inevitably go through in order to fully redeem themselves. Dying, to a Sea Serpent, is a honour so long as that death was in service to the Imperium and her people.
Recruiting Practices[]
The Sea Serpents largely do not follow the dictates of the Codex Astartes, however, one practice it shares with the recommendations and guidelines within the Codex is the lengthy recruitment and training duration. The Sea Serpents seldom recruit new Space Marines into their Chapter, and at any one given time the Scout Company might consist of only ten Neophytes or even less. Scouting for new Aspirants is done on hostile worlds or battlefields. Death Worlds where nature itself is almost hand-crafted to killing humanity or Underhives where ganger warfare is a way of life. These environments create men who are jaded, cynical, nihilistic and most importantly tough at young ages, making them ideal recruitment worlds. An Aspirant spends most of their time in the great flagship of the Sea Serpents, The Leviathan, being tutored on the history of the Chapter and the wider Imperium in a classroom and then taught the basics of stealth and recon on a practical training ground. When the Aspirant begins their service to the Sea Serpents in their Neophyte stage, they're almost exclusively used in sniper roles.
Then, upon fulfilling his time in the Scout Company, they undergo their final trial: the Inheritance Ritual. The Inheritance Ritual symbolically represents the new Space Marine putting the burden and weight of the Chapter's dishonorable and shameful history on their armored shoulders. To perform the Inheritance Ritual, a Neophyte must strip himself bare except for a loincloth and kneel before a Venomancer assigned to complete the ritual. The Venomancer gives the Neophyte a combat knife known as the Snakefang, one of the many relics in the Sea Serpents Reliquary, where the Neophyte is then expected to cut their hand and spill his own blood onto the chapter's symbol engraved onto the floor. This is meant to represent the new Battle-Brother's willingness to spill blood, both his own and others, in the name of the Chapter and its goals of redemption. Afterwards, the Neophyte swears an oath to give his life to the Chapter, the Imperium, and their endless crusade for vindication.
Chapter Gene-Seed[]
They were a Shattered Legion Blackshield during the Heresy and thus have a mix of both Night Lord and Alpha Legion Gene-Seed. They have no known mutations.
Notable Members[]
- Sergeant Vakala - Founding member of the original Blackshield force during the Horus Heresy. Died fighting in the Nephrendis Raids.
- Serpent Lord Nirah - Serpent Lord, commander of the entire Chapter, received the rank after his valorous actions during the Ghost War.
- Lieutenant Teraka - Primaris Lieutenant, former Sergeant. The Marine with the single most impressive record of the newly created Primaris Marines within the Chapter.
- Champion Bluescale - A founding member of the original Blackshield force. A son of Alpharius, he got his name by electro-tattooing most of his lower body into blue scales and other snake-themed patterns.
Chapter Fleet[]
Believing in keeping their forces hard to detect and decentralized, most of the Marines of the Chapter live in the single Leviathan Battle Barge and the Chapter has no major fleet capabilities outside of it. Many of the Sea Serpents live spread out across the galaxy in hidden bunkers and other secret hideouts waiting for their talents and abilities to become necessary to the Imperium.
Chapter Relics[]
- Snakefang - A combat knife used in the Nephrendis Raids by Sergeant Vakala, who died during the conflict in a battle against the Night Lord Warband's Chaos Lord.
- Bluescaled Armor of the Champion - A piece of Artificer Armor worn by a long dead mighty hero of the Chapter, who died fighting a Genestealer Cult on a Hive City.
Chapter Appearance[]
The Sea Serpents never reveal their faces to outsiders, never disclose names to outsiders, and almost never interact with outsiders. For them, their anonymity is their greatest tool. Fear is their weapon, and the oldest and strongest type of fear is fear of the unknown. Their leaders bare no special markings, no extra marks of valor or badges of skill. When you look at a member of the Sea Serpents Chapter, they could be a newly inducted Battle Brother wearing their armor for the first time or the Serpent Lord himself.
Chapter Colours[]
The Sea Serpents primarily wear cyan coloured power armour with mint-green trim. It is not unusual for the Chapter's warriors to incorporate designs based on the scales of serpents into their battle-plate, or even to have similar icons electro-tattooed on their skin, visible only when the wearer wishes them to be. This Chapter is not given to ostentation, preferring to present a sense of unity amongst the Astartes of their Chapter. It has been variously recorded that the Chapter displays the usual Codex-approved, standardised rank and unit signifiers, however, at times they have been observed to go into battle without emblems or markings of any kind; a faceless, anonymous army of killers without distinction or division in its ranks. The better to go unseen so that their greater work might pass unseen.
Chapter Badge[]
The Sea Serpents' Chapter badge consists of a stylised mint-green coloured serpent symbol centered upon a field of cyan.
Relations[]
Allies:[]
Conflicting Chapters:[]
Enemies:[]
- Inquisition
- Alpha Legion
- Night Lords
- Traitors
Notable Quotes[]
By the Sea Serpents[]
- "When you enter our organization, when you become a Sea Serpent, you do much more than become a Battle-Brother; you inherit a legacy. A legacy dark enough to block out any sun, a legacy heavy enough to crumble entire Hive Cities. When you become a Sea Serpent, you are cursed with our past and throughout my years of service I've known only one thing: that there is no other burden I would rather carry."
- — Attr. Serpent Lord Nirah speaking upon the burden carried by all members of the Chapter upon full ascension into battle-brother status.
About the Sea Serpents[]
Gallery[]
Videos[]
