The Night Reapers Chapter - Origin

I had a couple of e-mails asking about my chapter background due to me mentioning it as part of my Deathwatch articles.

To be honest I have a tonne of stories, character background, Index Astartes style pieces all on my chapter but none of it was done for publication but rather so I had a consistent set of information for my own personal reference. However there now seems to be enough interest for me to compile it into some semblance of order so it at least can be read in some kind of approximation of coherency. It is however going to take a bit of effort to do so don't expect stuff to appear with anything approaching regularity, lol.

At an appropriate juncture in the future I'll publish the rules that I use to portray them as my custom Deathwatch Chapter as well.


Okay, lets get on with it then before I change my mind.....

The Night Reapers Space Marine Chapter.

Origins.

During the Great Crusade the Ultramarines were the largest Legion of all, numbering in the hundreds of thousands. Amongst their many Commanders was a warrior named Repus who’s somewhat unorthodox tactics (though successful) resulted in any victories his warriors gained been given far less credit than those gained by other Ultramarine Chapters using more traditional methodology.

Been treated with little respect by other Ultramarines and almost completely ignored (except for the odd reprimand) by Primarch Gulliman, Repus’s 33^rd Company quickly gained the dubious honour of receiving any mission that was considered unsavoury, distasteful or involved contact with Legions that the Ultramarines disapproved of. In particular they fought alongside warriors of the Night Lords, World Eaters and Iron Warriors as well as the Alpha Legion. All of which were looked down upon by the Ultramarines in general and (in the case of the Alpha Legion) by Gulliman in particular.

This reputation was further compounded by the fact that Marines from other companies that were deemed to have similar attitudes inevitably found themselves transferred to Repus’s Company which later due to this influx of men resulted in him effectively having command of the equivalent of companies worth of troops. On occasion Marines of varying ranks with no history of insubordination would also find themselves in the same position, leading many Captains to quietly whisper that Gulliman was purging the other Companies of men with some unknown flaw in their Gene-seed, though such rumours were never spoken of openly for fear of experiencing the same fate. If Captain Repus ever held any resentment for this reputation he never let it show. Rather he and his troops fought all the harder in order to prove themselves, resulting in several spectacular victories in campaigns considered to be close to ‘suicide’ missions by other more favoured commanders.

During the events of the Imperial civil war that later became known as ‘The Horus Heresy’ the 33^rd’s close ties to several Legions that had turned traitor darkened their reputation even further to the point that other Ultramarine companies would actively avoid been required to serve with them. This effectively turned them into an independent force whose activities were rarely even cared about by the Ultramarines high command let alone monitored. As by this time the influx of ‘recruits’ from other units had swelled the company numbers to Chapter strength and beyond they rarely needed support and even on the few occasions it would have been useful they never asked for it from their own Legion knowing that the answer would invariably be no.

Despite this less than cordial relationship with their own Legion they fought alongside companies from other Legions without prejudice in a number of theatres of war. Fighting alongside representatives of the Space Wolves, Dark Angels, Salamanders and even the notoriously independent Raven Guard the 33^rd picked up an increasingly variable set of combat doctrines that even greater distanced them from other Ultramarines. However, by this point Captain Repus own troops had little in the way of any ties to their brother Marines regardless.

The 2^nd Founding.

When Gulliman’s decision to split the Legions into smaller Chapters was announced it barely made a difference to the 33^rd who had to all intents and purposes been operating that way for decades. Returning to Ultramar just long enough for the refuelling of their fleet and the re-arming of their units with equipment and ammunition they were renamed the ‘The Night Reapers’ as they had been referred to by this name for years anyway at this point. Though some commanders queried the fact that ‘The Night Reapers’ were created oversized (though only marginally) by the guidelines in the new Codex Astartes it quickly became clear (though never spoken in their presence) that nobody would have been happy to have Marines from the ‘33^rd’ inducted into their own forces anyway.

“I have no desire to have other Chapters corrupted by their methods. Give them what equipment they need and then send them as far from Ultramar as possible”

Attributed to Primarch Gulliman in reference to ‘The Night Reapers’ creation during the 2^nd Founding.

Organisation.

Due to their haphazard and unpredictable ‘recruitment’ history the ‘Reapers’ would have had trouble organising their companies into the required format laid down in the Codex Astartes (even if they had wanted to), so altered those doctrines to suit themselves.

Marines with similar specialities were grouped together creating Companies that excelled in certain types of warfare and complimented each other’s abilities in those same areas. Those units with a preference for overwhelming firepower were grouped into the 2^nd Company while those who had a greater inclination for brutal assaults were grouped together into the 3^rd and those showing latent psychic abilities were grouped together as the 8^th and so on until twelve distinct companies were created with the thirteenth to fifteenth being designated as Scout Companies in order to supply the others with appropriate recruits. Though traditionally the 1^st company would receive the majority of the Terminator armed veterans many with particular skills were allocated to more appropriate companies. This particular method of organisation owed much to lessons learned fighting alongside the ‘Great Companies’ of the Space Wolves as Repus himself had a great admiration for their efficiency in warfare.

A Fortunate Alliance.

Moving further and further from the newly compliant systems the Reapers fought for the most part as a single immense force destroying any enemy that was weaker than them and simply ignoring any that may have had the ability to cause them significant harm, eventually reaching the far extreme of the eastern fringe.

It was in this sector of space that a distress call was received from an Adeptus Mechanicum Forge World thought destroyed many years previously. Though the distress calls time signature was several years old it was deemed worthy of investigation on the chance that there may be any survivors or (more critically) some useable supplies as resources in this sector were few and far between and certain essentials were reaching dangerously low quantities.

Long Range scanners detected what would turn out to be only the first of a number of significant threats. Several traitor warships were detected on the outskirts of the system apparently hidden from the Forge World by the energy output of a nearby star, who seemed to be waiting there for some nefarious reason of there own. Though a formidable enemy for a mid sized force they were little threat to an entire chapter of Space Marines who had the advantage of surprise. All four of the Chapters Battle Barges combined with the support of their Strike Cruisers opened fire and crippled 6 of the Chaos Vessels and destroyed several more before they had a chance to react with their own weapons. The targets of the Reapers weapons had been carefully chosen to cause the maximum disruption with the minimum structural damage as the need for valuable resources outweighed all other considerations. Boarding torpedoes were launched in order to capture the vessels as intact as possible. Unprepared for the swiftness and efficiency of the attack the Traitors stood no chance at all and were quickly captured or killed.

With the immediate threat neutralised the Reapers had a chance to evaluate the situation and decide on the next course of action. With data taken from the ships systems combined with information gained from interrogation of captured heretics a picture of the traitors intentions became clear. The main Forge World facility and space station had apparently been the victim of a number of attacks ranging from raids by Elder pirates up to their current siege by a large force of Xenos in the shape of an Ork Waaaargh. The traitors had intended to let the Orks weaken themselves destroying the last few defenders of the base and then fall upon them when they were most vulnerable and take what they wished from the now neutralised facility. In an ironic twist of fate they had fallen to exactly the same strategy that they themselves were about to utilise.

Immediately seeing the benefits that an alliance with the followers of the Mechanicum would bring (particularly when combined with the gratitude of being rescued) Chapter Master Repus began to plan the destruction of the Greenskin threat. Having grown weakened by the lack of capable opponents the Orks were ripe for destruction. The large but ramshackle Ork fleet was docked at what was left of the Star Fort and this was the primary target for 1^st and 3^rd Companies with support from elements of several others. While the Ork starships were destroyed by the fleet’s firepower, the aforementioned Marine companies would board the station and purge it of all opponents. Meanwhile the rest of the chapter would fall upon the Orks besieging the remnants of the Mechanicum forces planetside. Using tactics learned fighting alongside many Legions (some of which were now best not mentioned) The Night Reapers fell upon the Ork horde and broke it utterly. Having no way of escape and finally facing opponents they deemed worthy the Ork forces died to the last Greenskin Warrior…

What remained of the Mechanicum forces and their Astartes saviours immediately swore oaths of loyalty to one another and an alliance of mutual benefit was born in that instant. The Forge World and Star Fort (once repaired) would provide resources; equipment and docking facilities while the might of an entire chapter kept the facility defended from all Xenos and Traitor threats.

Even more useful was the fact that the human population of the systems largest world after intensive destruction testing were found to be compatible with the Gene-seed of the Astartes giving a supply of new recruits to ensure the future of the Chapter. As the Mechanicum used the population only as a source of biological material for their Servitors the arrangement was deemed perfect. Within only a decade the System and its facilities were bought back to full operational capability. The Night Reapers now had not only a purpose but a home as well…

.....

Thoughts and Comments are (as usual) most welcome.