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This article, The Castigators, was written by Petrus Tyrannus. Please do not edit or 'acquire' this fiction without the writer's permission. |
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This article, The Castigators, is currently under active construction. The author, Petrus Tyrannus, apologizes for the inconvenience. |
- "They speak with the authority of the God-Emperor, and the enemies of mankind tremble before their very sight."
- —Inquisitor Petrus Bactriani Roderici, concerning his custodian allies during a joint mission.
The Castigators are a relatively unknown shield host of the Adeptus Custodes that can trace their origins back to the final days of the terrible civil war known as Horus Heresy that occurred 11,000 standard years ago, back when the Emperor still walked among His followers. The birth of this particular division of the Custodes is shrouded in many mysteries, but legends say that the Lord of Mankind, with his foresight ability, predicted his own fall by the hands of the arch-traitor Horus Lupercal, his most favoured son and warmaster of Chaos. Unwilling to tell anyone of his vision, not even His closest advisers, the Emperor gathered five small shield companies and ordered the creation of a secret host that would be known as Castigators. These men were to avenge his fall and pursue the Traitors to the bitter end, making sure that they paid heavely for their rebellion, but should only show their true identity after their master's fall. Accepting their orders and the fate that awaited all of the Imperium with nothing but contempt, the demigods kept fighting, knowing very well the end to all that was happening around them.
At the end of the climatic battle inside the Vengeful Spirit's bridge, the prophecy was confirmed and the once pround leader of the Imperium was entombed in the Golden Throne to rest endlessly, chanelling the Astronomican to shine brightly in the lightless void that was the Immaterium. The Castigators, having prepared well for that moment, were the first Imperial force to launch themselves once more at the stars, chasing the renegade astartes with the brutal, unnending fury that they had tempered for years since the beginning of the Heresy, when their liege first told them of His fate. Aboard a flotilla of heavely armed vessels, the shield host waged skirmishes from Terra to the Eye of Terror, aiming to kill enemy commanders, bring back into compliance the worlds that swore allegiance to the warmaster and, most importantly, bring back to judgement those deemed the great schemers that bathed the galaxy in blood and flames: the rogue primarchs.
The mission of the Castigators, although considered a huge success by many loyalist commanders, was, to the custodes, a complete failure, for their prey escaped and now was safely guarded by the tumultous tides of the realspace rift. In shame and unnable to bear return to the presence of their master knowing they failed, all of the Castigators returned to Luna, where they requested to retire from their duties as warriors and join the Eyes of the Emperor, a birthing organization of custodians unnable to properly fulfill their combat duties and, instead, serve in the shadows as sources of early knowledge to the custodes' war council. Their petitions were accepted, their equipment stripped from them and they were sent to roam for their own, never able to return to Terra once again. The event was such a tragedy to the newly founded Adeptus Custodes as a whole that the names of those seventy golden warriors was erased from the official records of the Imperium, and are know only known to the brotherhood of demigods.
Yet, after 11,000 standard Terran years, in 999, M41, the Castigators would once again return to fulfill their duties to the Emperor. Through a telepathic communion with the shield-captain Kaljann Valigor, the God-Emperor decreed that once again the Imperium's enemies needed punishment and that it was Valigor's duty to reform the ancient, accursed shield host, leading them against the heretics and mutants that plagued the sacred domains of humanity. The host once again proved more prepared than any of the others for the dire times to come, backed up by the flawless predictions of their entombed liege, and when the ressurrected Lord Commander Roboute Guilliman arrived at Terra with his newly created primaris marines, it was Kaljann that first aknowledged his authority and oathed to aid the avenging son in returning safety and stability to the far flung areas of the Imperium.
It is yet to be seen if the Castigators will be able to succed in their holy crusade or fail like their predecessors. Suffice to say that no member of the Adeptus Custodes has ever made the same mistake twice.
History[]
Horus Heresy[]
The exact origin of the shield host known as Castigators is, like many of the events before the Age of Redemption, is shrouded in mystery, the records of their founding purged from the archives of the Adeptus Terra and the few information that remains concerning this subject is closely guarded by the Custodes innermost circle. Legends passed down from generation and half truths, however, point that the host was created right after the traitor legions, led by the then slain warmaster Horus Lupercal, started to flee from Terra following their terrible loss. The level of preparation and cold zeal that the Castigators showed, however, would make one assume that their origins layed in a farther distant past, and that they knew all along that their goal was never to protect the Emperor, but to punish His malefectors.
Through countless doubtful sources, sermons from half-crazed priests and the few interactions with the host's leader, Lord of Castigation Kaljann Valgor, sages from the vaults of Terra have come up with a decently reasonable story for the founding of this sparsely known order of the God-Emperor's golden bodyguards. It is believed that, when Horus and three of his brother primarchs betrayed the Imperium and their own sons at the atrocity that would be known as Isstvan III, the waves of the Imaterium reverberated and twisted, granting the Emperor a glimpse of the future, a future in which He would be put down by His favoured son and interred at the technological marvel known as Golden Throne. However, He also saw alternate futures and, in all of those, whenever He survived the duel against the warmaster, humanity falled. In a selfless act, the Imperial regent chose to hide the information acquired from his closest advisors, such as Malcador or Constantin Valdor and, instead, keep going to that dark future in which He would crumble, so that mankind could prosper.
The Emperor, however, would not easely forgive the ones that caused His undoing and, approaching the most secretive and tempered members of the ancient Legio Custodes, ordered the formation of a force to avenge His fall. Their master told the golden warriors of His visions, of the inevitable fate that awaited Him, and, as it was expected from those staunch soldiers, they said nothing, accepting their duty with resignation and zeal. Armours and weapons would be built, ships equiped and loaded, battle scenarios practiced time and again, all in waiting for the time when they would invariably have to fight against the ones they once considered allies, to punish the heretical rebels, to castigate.
Throughout those dark years of the Heresy, when war tore the galaxy in half, ravaging innumerable worlds, taking trillions of lives and forcing the very brink of human sanity, the secret shield host kept their existance unthinkable even to the most attentive of their brothers, fighting separately in their former hosts, partaking the missions all other custodians did and pretending daily they didn't know that the custodes' ultimate goal, that of protecting their liege's life regardless of the cost, was doomed. Members of the host participated in the War of the Webway, in the preparation of Terra's defenses, in the Battle of Pluto and Mars, and even when they defeated a powerful enemy commander or halted an assault single handedly, when they received praises from their peers and were cherished by all mortals around them, they kept their somber face, for fate was inevitable.
And then came the time they've been waiting for seven years. The members of the to be officially founded Castigators gathered at their hidden arsenals moments before the Emperor, Rogal Dorn and Sanguinius departed alongside a huge contingent of their respective forces to the Vengeful Spirit, aiming to end the war and kill warmaster Lupercal. Hours passed while battles raged across the globe and above it, while the host equiped their new armours and weapons, meditated and waited to the moment when they would be released against the rebels, when they would create a tide of blood in vengeance against their broken oaths and shattered hopes, for their Master, their reason to exhist, would be no more.
The report came from none other than the praetorian of Terra, Rogal Dorn. In his arms, he carried his brother Sanguinius and his father, the two corpses blood soaked much like the Imperial Fists primarch's own armour, and the news were deliverd. All were in shock, even the most veteran members of the Custodes found it dificult to process the information presented, and, at that moment, the Castigators understood the reason of their creation: they would never ehxitate. The custodes appeared from their vaults wearing gold and white armour, encrusted with cian jewels and white weapons, a colour scheme none among the 10,000 have ever seen, yet none dared ask, for they were the only ones actually doing something besides pondering what would happen next. In a battle-frenzy that would see any force in the galaxy crushed beneath, the host plunged against the traitors, soon being followed by others who slowly left the state of catatony and returned to their senses, members of their own order as well as astartes from the present legions and mortals of the Imperial Auxilia. Thus began the great scouring, not out of a tactical reason or a militaristic pride, but out of a far purer reason: castigation.
Indomitus Crusade[]
After the catastrophic failure of the Castigators millenia ago, when their attempt to capture the fleeing champions of chaos led only to some unfruitful battles at far flung worlds of the Imperium that had been lost to the traitors. The major leaders, the heretical primarchs, with their captains, lieutenants and equerries, managed to slip into the Eye of Terror, making any chance of but a handful of surviving custodes pursuing them into the warp anomaly nigh but impossible. Thus the first iteration of the Castigators, the prophecized mightiest warriors of their Lord, was disbanded, such was their shame, and the remaining demigods swore a vow of exhile upon their return to Terra, entering the dreaded ranks of the Eyes of the Emperor. The galaxy at large was changing, and the once proud Legio Custodes had to change to, forever forsaking their jurisdiction over Imperial territory outside of the Sol System.
The existance of the Castigators remained a closely guarded secret by the Adeptus Custodes for over 10 millenia, and any attempt on reforming the once proud shield-host were tossed aside as little more tham dellusions of grandeousness. The Emperor's bodyguards would keep their oath and stay by the side of their lord, not throwing themselves in reckless campaigns of fear that would only serve to leave the throneworld unprotected. So it was that the Castigators remained only a distant memory, a remainder of the custodes' own faliability against the dark tides that surrounded humanity by every side.
This state of relative inertia of the custodians would continue until 999,M41, when shield-captain Kaljann Valgor, at the time serving alongside the Companions, the three-hundred vigillant watchers of the throneroom, received a vision from his slumbering master. He was to reforge the Castigators from the fires of defeat and oblivion and turn them into the avenging force they were always supposed to be, for the forces of Chaos needed to be reminded of their sins, and of what vile punishments awaited them. Without a moment of laxity, Valgor left the companions and started preparations for what he said would be "the turning point in the war against darkness", gathering his brothers and the auxilliary assets needed to stride into war.
Notable Campaigns[]
- Iron Cage (ca. M31): After the catastrophic Siege of Terra, members of the Castigators, alongside the Preatorian Rogal Dorn, primarch of the Imperial Fists, went on in an attempt to capture the Lord of Iron, leader of the IV legion. He was believed to be in an impregnable fortification entitled Eternal Fortress by Perturabo, located in the planet of Sebastus IV. When the joint force of astartes and custodes arrived, they soon realized that was no mere bunker, filled with deadly traps and enemies flooding its halls. Eventually, they discovered that the traitor primarch was never there to begin with, adding another item to the long list of failures of the shield-host.
- Purge of Meroth (016, M42): After the host was rebuilt by Lord of Castigation Kaljann Valgor, they departed Terra as the vanguards of Guilliman's Indomitus Crusade, purging all enemies along their way towards what once was the Cadia System. One of their greatest battles was the one that took place on Meroth, a rebellious hive-world that was besset by heretical forces. Aiding the rebel population was a Questor Traitoris household, deploying their gigantic war-machines against the few guardsmen left on the planet that were still loyal to the Emperor. Upon arrival, the host brought its full might upon the rebels, slaughtering hundreds every passing minute, holding the line until proper artillery could be prepared and brought to bear against the enemy machines. Eventually, the regiment were able to mount proper batteries and started dispatching the enemies with thunderous salvos of fire. A particularly known hero of this battle is Venerable Khalos, a Telemon Heavy-Dreadnought that single-handedly managed to defeat two War Dogs traitor knights.
Organization[]
Commanders[]
The Castigators are composed of five shield-companies, each one roughly 15 members in strength, excluding the Imperatus and Maximus auxilia. Each one of these companies are led by a shield-captain, which is, in turn, advised by a vexilius praetor. The captains of each shield-company and their respective praetors form the command council of the shield host, and it is their duty to decide the course of action that their brothers will take in order to achieve their goal and punish those that once dared betray the Emperor's holy trust. Atop this impressive council sits the Lord of Castigation, who must serve as the host's leader and champion. Although his orders are rarely needed, for each custodian is a capable warleader on his own, the mantle of Lord serves to solve any disagreements between the commanding members.
Currently, the title of Lord of Castigation belongs to Kaljann Valgor, a former shield-captain of the Solar Watch that received a direct telepathic message from the Emperor while he served in the Companions, the 300 members of the Adeptus Custodes that permanently guard the Golden Throne. Since he was directly appointed by the master of mankind, these was no need for a formal voting, although, in the case that he was to fall, the protocol states that the war council of the shield host must vote on a new leader among themselves.
Rank-and-file[]
Unlike other forces of the Imperium that require direct fostering by their superiors, members of the Adeptus Custodes dispense such foolishness. Every one of them is the perfect killing machine, tempered in body, mind and soul to excell in every action they partake and to do that regardless of being alone or in group. For that reason, all the shield-companies' sodalities, the custodian equivalent of squads, are allowed and even encouraged to have a great amount of freedom, choosing their weapons and overall equipment from the host's sacred armoury, as well as choosing the configuration of the auxilliary assets that will accompany them unto war.
Notable Members[]
- Kaljann Valgor: Lord Castigator of the shield host, Kaljann was previously a member of the Companions and, before that, a shield-captain of the Solar Watch. During his service in the Golden Throne, the Emperor saw his might, or perhaps some ancient genetic bond, and communicated with him, telling his champion of the Castigators' mighty history and unavoidable mission. Soon, Valgor left all his duties and started amassing his own host to live up to his master's expectations, and so he has done. Once a common sight in Holy Terra and the wider Sol System, now Kaljann is only seen in the battlefield, purging those that once bore the Emperor's blessing.
- Venerable Khalos: Khalos Talor was an ancient shield-brother of the Legio Custodes, so old he still remembered fighting against the techno-barbarians of Terra during the Unification Wars. He was one of the original Castigators, having been struck down by a squad of World Eater red butchers, and being interred in a Telemon Heavy-Dreadnought. Due to the machine's complexity, he was rarely awaken, but now, with the return of his Shield-host, he strides once more unto the fray of combat.