papa smurf
06-05-2011, 03:03 AM
Hello everybody, Papa Smurf here! What I'm doing here is just a bit of fluff for my army I guess. I do it for my whole army, the Shadow Hunters space marine chapter, as well as a bit for every unit in my army. I just finished the fluff/backstory for one of my dreadnaughts, Venerable Brother Umbrus, and I was so inspired I wanted to share it. The story has a bit to do with the chapter history (which in a way they are sorta like the dark angels), so I'm posting the overview of the chapter's complete history as well before the story of Venerable Brother Umbrus.
It is a little long so let that be a warning to you, but I feel really inspired by this and by sharing it I hope others are inspired to invest in developing the fluff of their armies. The chapter history has some origins in the Horus Heresy, but I haven't read all of the stuff on all of the founding chapters so fluff bunnies please forgive me if I got some facts messed regarding some of the Night Lords stuff involved :) . It was really fun to write, and I hope those of you who take the time to read it enjoy it! :)
Shadow Hunters Chapter History
The Space Marine Chapter known by the name of The Shadow Hunters is a chapter shrouded in mystery and secrecy, much to the ire of forces such as The Inquisition. The chapter first appeared in imperial records around M33, almost 2000 years after the Horus Heresy. The origins of the chapter remain unclear to all save the very elite of the chapter, but since their founding they have served the Emperor with pride, loyalty, and unfaltering courage.
The chapter’s homeworld is a planet known as Cedarius, A planet located south of The Maelstrom consisting of vast temperate rainforests, foggy mountains, and dark ravines. Within the confines of the vast temperate rainforests there is almost no sunlight, and creatures of nightmares lurk in the dark undergrowth. It is here where Cedarian tribes live a constant life of survival, relying on strength, stealth, and belief in the Emperor of Mankind to keep them going. It is from this harsh landscape that the chapter recruits its neophytes, and it is the dark mountains of the central continent where the chapter makes their stronghold. The beasts of the Cedarian forests are creatures of shadow, and Cedarian tribesmen learn to meld with the shadows to hunt these nightmare beasts, or die. It is this reliance on these shadows that ultimately allows the Shadow Hunters to bring the fight to the enemies of mankind and molds the chapter tactics as a whole.
Although the chapter venerates the teachings of the Codex Astartes, they take liberties in their training and adopt tenures of their homeworld. Space Marines of the Shadow Hunters are the masters of stealth, the ambush, and surprise attacks. Because of this, the Shadow Hunters rely heavily on scouts, having one extra company to suit their battlefield tactics. Both scout squads and specialized battle brothers gather as much information about the enemy as they can, stalking their prey all the while. Ultimately they pounce, calling in the bulk of their forces to hit the enemy where they are weakest. In the broader spectrum of warfare, this results in massive drop pod assaults or armored spearheads from an unexpected quarter. Indeed, although stealth is their preferred method, Shadow Hunters become unflinching warriors once battle is joined and do not fear head on fights.
The Chapter’s homeworld is south of The Maelstrom, and as such they regularly battle both chaos renegades and foul entities of The Warp. However, the chapter is not set to fight in only one sector, and their campaigns have spanned from areas such as The Eye of Terror all the way to the far galactic east, where they have had skirmishes against the Tau Empire and more recently bloody campaigns against the Tyranid menace. The Shadow Hunters strive to hunt all the dark creatures of the galaxy that threaten the people of The Imperium. Indeed, the Shadow Hunters take great pride in the fact that they alone stand to protect the innocent against the darkness of the universe long after others have fled. Many heroes of the chapter have died gloriously saving entire populations of worlds while they fought off creatures of shadow and darkness intent upon devouring their souls.
There is one enemy, however, that always garners the attention of the Shadow Hunters more than any other foe. The cursed traitors of the Night Lords legion are the sworn nemeses of the Shadow Hunters. If even a rumor of the Night Lords is whispered, The Shadow Hunters pursue this information post haste. The elusive nature of the traitor legion makes it extremely difficult for the chapter to engage them, but when battle is met with their sworn enemies the Shadow Hunters unleash a fury that even greater daemons would shudder at. The Shadow Hunters fight in the darkness, so that they may smite those who dwell in it. They bring The Emperor’s light to the traitors who dwell in shadow.
The Inquisition has long wondered why the Shadow Hunters pursue the Night Lords so, but this information is only known by the most senior members of the chapter. Although Imperial records first reveal the Shadow Hunters around M33, The Shadow Hunters Chapter has its roots planted near the end of the Horus Heresy.
In truth, the Shadow Hunters are actually descendants of the Night Lords. They were members of the legion not grown from the degenerates, murderers, and killers of Nostramo but of either the members of the legion prior to the discovery of Konrad Curze or those who were not bred from the darker souls, but those few souls from Nostramo that believed in justice and the good of The Emperor. This admittedly small group had little to play in the grand scheme of the Horus Heresy, for because of their demeanor they were not regularly grouped with the rest of their legion. They had been at the furthest reaches of the Imperium, battling in the name of The Emperor. However when they returned, they did not see the hypocrisy or betrayal that their Night Lord brothers saw in The Emperor, but rather the brutal acts of terrorism and slaughter that the Night Lords had done to the innocents of The Imperium, and for that they were ashamed of their brothers.
Being left in the dark, this splinter group of loyal Night Lords looked to find information regarding their Primarch. But before they could grasp their role in the Heresy, loyalist marine chapters attacked the marines who would become the Shadow Hunters. Although they had no ill will towards the Emperor, the Shadow Hunter Ancestors defended themselves with all the skill they had, but only barely escaped from the loyalists. Battered and beaten, these marines could do nothing but watch as the events of the Heresy unfolded. In the aftermath of the Heresy, the Shadow Hunters could not present themselves as loyal to The Emperor, for who would believe their word?
So, like the Night Lords before them, they seeped into the shadows. In time they would show The Emperor that they were not traitors, but loyal soldiers who stood for all that was right. There was only one way they could redeem themselves: to find and kill the traitors who had sullied their name and their honor. They would hunt from the darkness, fighting the Wicked where they dwelled. Wherever the Night Lords came to sow fear into The Imperium, these warriors of righteous shadow would bring the Emperor’s light to smite them. Thus, the Shadow Hunters were born. Following the Heresy, the Shadow Hunters fled to a feral planet, a world full of tall forests, ominous mountains, and deep ravines. On Cedarius, the Shadow Hunters made their stronghold, and secretly fought the shadows that threatened the Imperium. Slowly, they restocked their weapons, replenished their ammunition, requisitioned vehicles and armor, and more importantly, replenished their numbers through their geneseed using the local tribes as new recruits. In the aftermath of the heresy, the sheer amount of confusion and turmoil allowed the shadow hunters to secretly gather these supplies they would need to form a legitimate fighting force. After two thousand years of rebuilding and growth, the Shadow Hunters were ready to enter the galactic stage and walk in the Emperor’s light once more.
Venerable Brother Umbrus, Venerable Dreadnaught of 2nd Company
Venerable Brother Umbrus is the oldest member of the Shadow Hunters, and as such is a treasure trove of both knowledge and bygone legends of the Chapter’s heroic deeds. For many space marines in the Chapter, especially those who have only recently learned of their relationship to the Night Lords, Umbrus is a spiritual guide and beacon of hope for those who are shocked with shame, disgust, or disbelief regarding their origins.
When his battle brothers come to him in their time of need, Azrael Umbrus tells his brothers of the heroic battle of the Screaming Tower, on the planet Noxus II. This is both a tale of the Chapter’s glorious victory over the Daemon Lord Cruth-gol of the Night Lords, as well as of the sacrifice Umbrus makes that leads him to his internment inside a dreadnaught sarcophagus.
The world of Noxus II was an imperial hive world like many others, full of sprawling hive-cities totally devoted to the production of goods for the Imperium. The skies were choked with the smoke of industry and the population was what one might expect of such dense populations: class systems divided the few but powerful governing bodies from the wretched working class in the underhives. Being close to the Maelstrom, Chaos held greater influence here, and the predations by chaotic forces from both within and without eventually came to Noxus.
Around M35.41, the Night Lords Warband lead by the Daemon Prince Cruth-Gol sought to take advantage of the dissent growing silently among the populous. Invading in typical Night Lords fashion, the traitors spread fear throughout the people of Noxus. Rather than just butcher the population in the usual manner, Cruth-Gol sought to gain more power for himself by offering the planet to the Dark Gods. Corrupting the highest tower in the central hive, Cruth-Gol created the Screaming Tower. By offering continuous sacrifices to the infernal machinations that made up the new tower, Cruth-Gol intended to open a rift in The Warp that would allow the pure stuff of Chaos to come through, not just killing the planet, but completely damning it to the Dark Gods, so that he could earn their favor. For each sacrifice, the rift would grow wider, albeit slowly, allowing more daemons to pour through.
Throughout this dark time, The Shadow Hunters were not idle. Librarians of the chapter foresaw such an event, and so much of the chapter was already hunting through the greater subsector for any Night Lords activity. Receiving the astropathic distress signal from the planet, fully three companies, the 2nd, 4th, and 5th company, as well as supporting elements from both the 7th, 1st, and scout companies, converged towards Noxus II. Stealth elements from each company infiltrated the city from large sewage lines that spread out from the great hive like veins, allowing them quiet entry into the city. The Night Lords knew of the arrival of their loyalist kin, and set about to strike their hated foe from the dark shadows of the underhive. The Shadow Hunters who had infiltrated the city were also masters of stealth, and the battles fought in the underhive depended on wit and cunning just as much as it did on bolter and blade. Life and death depended on mere milliseconds of reaction time, and the many skirmishes that took place within the lower reaches of the city truly tested the mettle of the Shadow Hunters.
The infiltrating elements soon learned that their objective was the Screaming Tower, and much of the Night Lords’ defense was focused around it. The daemons that were pouring out of the structure made it quite clear that this single structure was the gate that would doom Noxus II, should the Shadow Hunters fail their mission.
The Shadow Hunters commanders knew that because of the nature of the tower, only a quick, decisive victory could save the planet from total damnation. A plan was set in motion: elements on the ground disrupt the mechanisms that prevented teleportation, and terminator squads would then teleport from orbit to take out key Anti-Air guns and interceptor cannons. This would finally culminate in a mass drop pod assault by the entire 5th Company on the Screaming Tower, lead by none other than 5th Company Captain Azrael Umbrus.
Knowing their foe was equally endowed with great amounts of experience, the elements of the 4th, 2nd, and 7th companies launched diversionary attacks on critical anti-air positions while scouts secretly infiltrated and destroyed the delicate stations in charge of the prevention of teleportation. The ploy worked. Being extremely focused on the rituals in the Screaming Tower, Cruth-Gol did not see through the diversions and focused his outer defenses on the anti-air towers. At the last minute, the Shadow Hunters attacking the towers made a tactical retreat. Night Lords and traitor PDF split up their forces, some staying back to guard the beleaguered stations while others pursued the Shadow Hunters. This gave the scouts time to complete their objective, and no sooner had the traitors left their tower had they come under assault from the inside from the devastating power of Shadow Hunters terminators. The Terminators were brutal and efficient, one interceptor battery after another falling to the Shadow Hunters.
It was at that point that the 5th Company struck. Drop pods struck all around the infernal tower, and the true assault on the chaotic forces began in earnest. Devestator squads and thunderfire cannons landed on the high buildings surrounding the tower, quickly deploying and pounding the tower defenses. Some tactical squads and dreadnaughts landed amidst the foe, utterly destroying traitorous PDF and catching the Night Lords off guard. So vast was the tower that some of the drop pods actually crashed into different parts of the tower, allowing the Shadow Hunters to attack from the inside. Locator beacons in the drop pods allowed the assault squads to strike where they were needed most, and the gaps opened up by the crashing pods allowed the Shadow Hunter elements that had attacked the anti-air towers to reinforce directly into the tower via thunderhawk gunships.
Whether it was divine guidance, precise landing, or sheer luck, The Drop pods containing Captain Umbrus and his command squad as well as tactical squads Solaris and Primarus penetrated the grand chamber that contained the main machinations that powered the Screaming tower, two unholy spires channeling the warp rift between them as if they were conducting some ugly, impossible electricity. Inside the main chamber, Cruth-Gol was waiting, surrounded by an entourage of his finest terminators and a score of Night Lords veterans. The Shadow Hunters charged head on into the traitors, the battle of the Screaming Tower coming to its climax. Umbrus blasted with his plasma pistol, punching a molten hole in one Night Lord before sweeping his power sword in an upward arc to split another traitor in two from his groin to his sternum. There was no stopping the fury of the Shadow Hunters, for they were infused with a sense of justice that would see them victorious over their most hated foe. Umbrus and his command squad quickly made it through the center of the traitors, but the Daemon prince proved to be a great adversary. Calderic the Company Champion was ripped in two as easily as a child might rip the limbs off an insect. Brother Zurn of squad Solaris had his chest blown out by dark, unholy energies that spilled from Cruth-Gol’s impossibly wide maw, his burning corpse sent flying halfway across the chamber. Around Umbrus, the Night Lords terminators were now tearing into his battle-brothers. Not wanting the momentum to shift, the 5th Company captain expertly sidestepped a terminator bodyguard to deliver a decisive blow to the Daemon Prince. His power sword struck true, and Cruth-Gol’s neck was nearly shorn in two. But alas, even such a blow did not kill the traitor lord.
Enraged, Cruth-Gol picked up his assailant with one claw, while proceeding to rip off the legs of the captain with the other. Cruth-Gol then crushed the captain in his vicegrip, nearly destroying Umbrus’s chest cavity and destroying his primary heart and one of his lungs, along with severe damage to almost every other organ. Cruth-Gol tossed his prey aside like a rag-doll, and the Shadow Hunters were enraged at the loss of their captain.
Umbrus awoke from a momentary blackout, the battle still raging just across the room from him. Even for his God-like form, the pain and damage was immense. The battle might have well been on the other side of the planet, as far as the captain was concerned. Sheer willpower kept the destroyed captain from blacking out and falling into a sleep he would never return from. He couldn’t die, thought Umbrus. Not like this. In what might have been his last moments, Umbrus had a revelation: it did not matter that the foe was the Night Lords. The reason he did not want to die wasn’t out of some need for vengeance or justice, but so he could fulfill his duty. Noxus II was not yet saved, and so his duty was not yet done. Umbrus would not let this World of the Emperor fall to Chaos. In a moment what seemed to Umbrus as divine clarity, Umbrus Lifted his broken floor from the ground, crawling with one arm closer to the fallen form of brother Zurn, his fallen battle brother. Zurn had been carrying squad solaris’s heavy weapon, and on his back was a plasma cannon. Thanking the great God-Emperor and his fallen brother that the cannon was still functioning, Umbrus lifted the weapon from his comrade. It took all his superhuman might to aim the weapon, but his target was clear.
Across the room, Cruth-Gol was in a blood frenzy. He delighted in the carnage he was creating, and the blood and gore of the worshipers of the false emperor was an offering to his Gods. Soon, he would be victorious. Many of his Night Lords had fallen, but now there were hordes of daemons spilling out of the rift to attack and destroy all that is good in this world. Soon, the rift would reach critical mass, and the world would be an offering to the Dark Gods that would surely grant him dominion over the new hellscape. But, out of the corner of his eye, the Daemon Prince saw a burning white light coursing towards him. The captain, the one known as Umbrus, had the gall to live, and even fire upon him! The Plasma blast missed horribly, the shot passing safely to the left of the Daemon Prince’s head. The Daemon Prince laughed, a sound that ripped at one’s very soul. He would kill the worthless captain once and for all, and victory would be his. In the split second that Cruth-Gol looked towards the defeated captain he expected to see despair in the space marine’s face, but instead he saw a triumphant smile.
Cruth-Gol was not the captain’s target. Umbrus made a direct hit on one of the spires that were keeping the rift open, and the plasma bolt utterly destroyed the chaotic monument. By the time Cruth-Gol realized this it was too late. The spires were what were keeping the rift open, a sore weeping eye that allowed the daemons to bleed into this reality. The warp rift fluctuated violently, eldritch lightning bursting forth in random directions.
Outside in the skies of Noxus II, the eldritch lightning was not so random. Lightning bolt after lightning bolt struck the daemons, each bolt banishing back the daemon to whence it came. Defeated, Cruth-Gol could literally feel the Dark Gods abandoning him. He had turned out not to be a fitting servant after all, and the Dark Gods no longer held interest in this failure. The Eldritch lightning begin to jab at the daemon prince, first shocking him, then completely blowing chunks out of his blackened skin, dark ichor spraying from his wounds. The remaining Shadow Hunters followed suit, and bolter shells exploded into the failed daemon prince. Slowly Cruth-Gol was blown away, until there was nothing left but his dark, perverse soul. The last chains of lightning bound the soul as if they were shackles, and he was the last to be pulled into the disappearing warp. With one last flash of sickly, impossible unlight, the warp spawned creatures, and Cruth-Gol, were gone. This was the last sight Umbrus beheld, before falling into what he thought would be his final sleep.
But it was not to be. The daemons gone and the Night Lords and traitor PDF broken, marine reinforcements quickly arrived to the main chamber. Via thunderhawk, Captain Umbrus of the 5th Company, soon to be hailed as the hero of Noxus, was evacuated with the utmost care.
Much Umbrus’s memory was blurry for that time. When he awoke, he was not dead, but immersed in bio-fluids, his senses now linked to the sarcophagus of a dreadnaught. Techmarines and Apothecaries had done their best to save the captain and inter him in the sarcophagus. A towering figure, the grand form that was now Venerable Dreadnaught Umbrus had the power and iron will to match his spirit. Attached to his right, the very plasma cannon that had destroyed the spire had been converted into his right arm attachment. Umbrus beheld his new form, and felt at ease, because now he knew he could continue his duty, and serve the Emperor and mankind for the rest of eternity.
In the time that Umbrus had been half-dead, the Shadow Hunters had enacted an intense campaign to purge the world of chaos, but the battle of the Screaming Tower was the true victory on Noxus. Forever after, the people of Noxus would hail the Shadow Hunters, and Captain Umbrus of the 5th company, as their saviors.
This is the story Umbrus tells to his younger brethren. It was not pride, or justice, or vengeance against the Night Lords that defined the Shadow Hunters that day. It was duty, unwavering duty to the Emperor that drove him that day, and that that duty is what sets them apart completely and utterly from their Night Lord nemeses, those who hold a place in the chapter’s past, but do not represent the essence of what the Shadow Hunters are. Truly, Umbrus shows his brothers who have learned the truth that they are among heroes.
It is a little long so let that be a warning to you, but I feel really inspired by this and by sharing it I hope others are inspired to invest in developing the fluff of their armies. The chapter history has some origins in the Horus Heresy, but I haven't read all of the stuff on all of the founding chapters so fluff bunnies please forgive me if I got some facts messed regarding some of the Night Lords stuff involved :) . It was really fun to write, and I hope those of you who take the time to read it enjoy it! :)
Shadow Hunters Chapter History
The Space Marine Chapter known by the name of The Shadow Hunters is a chapter shrouded in mystery and secrecy, much to the ire of forces such as The Inquisition. The chapter first appeared in imperial records around M33, almost 2000 years after the Horus Heresy. The origins of the chapter remain unclear to all save the very elite of the chapter, but since their founding they have served the Emperor with pride, loyalty, and unfaltering courage.
The chapter’s homeworld is a planet known as Cedarius, A planet located south of The Maelstrom consisting of vast temperate rainforests, foggy mountains, and dark ravines. Within the confines of the vast temperate rainforests there is almost no sunlight, and creatures of nightmares lurk in the dark undergrowth. It is here where Cedarian tribes live a constant life of survival, relying on strength, stealth, and belief in the Emperor of Mankind to keep them going. It is from this harsh landscape that the chapter recruits its neophytes, and it is the dark mountains of the central continent where the chapter makes their stronghold. The beasts of the Cedarian forests are creatures of shadow, and Cedarian tribesmen learn to meld with the shadows to hunt these nightmare beasts, or die. It is this reliance on these shadows that ultimately allows the Shadow Hunters to bring the fight to the enemies of mankind and molds the chapter tactics as a whole.
Although the chapter venerates the teachings of the Codex Astartes, they take liberties in their training and adopt tenures of their homeworld. Space Marines of the Shadow Hunters are the masters of stealth, the ambush, and surprise attacks. Because of this, the Shadow Hunters rely heavily on scouts, having one extra company to suit their battlefield tactics. Both scout squads and specialized battle brothers gather as much information about the enemy as they can, stalking their prey all the while. Ultimately they pounce, calling in the bulk of their forces to hit the enemy where they are weakest. In the broader spectrum of warfare, this results in massive drop pod assaults or armored spearheads from an unexpected quarter. Indeed, although stealth is their preferred method, Shadow Hunters become unflinching warriors once battle is joined and do not fear head on fights.
The Chapter’s homeworld is south of The Maelstrom, and as such they regularly battle both chaos renegades and foul entities of The Warp. However, the chapter is not set to fight in only one sector, and their campaigns have spanned from areas such as The Eye of Terror all the way to the far galactic east, where they have had skirmishes against the Tau Empire and more recently bloody campaigns against the Tyranid menace. The Shadow Hunters strive to hunt all the dark creatures of the galaxy that threaten the people of The Imperium. Indeed, the Shadow Hunters take great pride in the fact that they alone stand to protect the innocent against the darkness of the universe long after others have fled. Many heroes of the chapter have died gloriously saving entire populations of worlds while they fought off creatures of shadow and darkness intent upon devouring their souls.
There is one enemy, however, that always garners the attention of the Shadow Hunters more than any other foe. The cursed traitors of the Night Lords legion are the sworn nemeses of the Shadow Hunters. If even a rumor of the Night Lords is whispered, The Shadow Hunters pursue this information post haste. The elusive nature of the traitor legion makes it extremely difficult for the chapter to engage them, but when battle is met with their sworn enemies the Shadow Hunters unleash a fury that even greater daemons would shudder at. The Shadow Hunters fight in the darkness, so that they may smite those who dwell in it. They bring The Emperor’s light to the traitors who dwell in shadow.
The Inquisition has long wondered why the Shadow Hunters pursue the Night Lords so, but this information is only known by the most senior members of the chapter. Although Imperial records first reveal the Shadow Hunters around M33, The Shadow Hunters Chapter has its roots planted near the end of the Horus Heresy.
In truth, the Shadow Hunters are actually descendants of the Night Lords. They were members of the legion not grown from the degenerates, murderers, and killers of Nostramo but of either the members of the legion prior to the discovery of Konrad Curze or those who were not bred from the darker souls, but those few souls from Nostramo that believed in justice and the good of The Emperor. This admittedly small group had little to play in the grand scheme of the Horus Heresy, for because of their demeanor they were not regularly grouped with the rest of their legion. They had been at the furthest reaches of the Imperium, battling in the name of The Emperor. However when they returned, they did not see the hypocrisy or betrayal that their Night Lord brothers saw in The Emperor, but rather the brutal acts of terrorism and slaughter that the Night Lords had done to the innocents of The Imperium, and for that they were ashamed of their brothers.
Being left in the dark, this splinter group of loyal Night Lords looked to find information regarding their Primarch. But before they could grasp their role in the Heresy, loyalist marine chapters attacked the marines who would become the Shadow Hunters. Although they had no ill will towards the Emperor, the Shadow Hunter Ancestors defended themselves with all the skill they had, but only barely escaped from the loyalists. Battered and beaten, these marines could do nothing but watch as the events of the Heresy unfolded. In the aftermath of the Heresy, the Shadow Hunters could not present themselves as loyal to The Emperor, for who would believe their word?
So, like the Night Lords before them, they seeped into the shadows. In time they would show The Emperor that they were not traitors, but loyal soldiers who stood for all that was right. There was only one way they could redeem themselves: to find and kill the traitors who had sullied their name and their honor. They would hunt from the darkness, fighting the Wicked where they dwelled. Wherever the Night Lords came to sow fear into The Imperium, these warriors of righteous shadow would bring the Emperor’s light to smite them. Thus, the Shadow Hunters were born. Following the Heresy, the Shadow Hunters fled to a feral planet, a world full of tall forests, ominous mountains, and deep ravines. On Cedarius, the Shadow Hunters made their stronghold, and secretly fought the shadows that threatened the Imperium. Slowly, they restocked their weapons, replenished their ammunition, requisitioned vehicles and armor, and more importantly, replenished their numbers through their geneseed using the local tribes as new recruits. In the aftermath of the heresy, the sheer amount of confusion and turmoil allowed the shadow hunters to secretly gather these supplies they would need to form a legitimate fighting force. After two thousand years of rebuilding and growth, the Shadow Hunters were ready to enter the galactic stage and walk in the Emperor’s light once more.
Venerable Brother Umbrus, Venerable Dreadnaught of 2nd Company
Venerable Brother Umbrus is the oldest member of the Shadow Hunters, and as such is a treasure trove of both knowledge and bygone legends of the Chapter’s heroic deeds. For many space marines in the Chapter, especially those who have only recently learned of their relationship to the Night Lords, Umbrus is a spiritual guide and beacon of hope for those who are shocked with shame, disgust, or disbelief regarding their origins.
When his battle brothers come to him in their time of need, Azrael Umbrus tells his brothers of the heroic battle of the Screaming Tower, on the planet Noxus II. This is both a tale of the Chapter’s glorious victory over the Daemon Lord Cruth-gol of the Night Lords, as well as of the sacrifice Umbrus makes that leads him to his internment inside a dreadnaught sarcophagus.
The world of Noxus II was an imperial hive world like many others, full of sprawling hive-cities totally devoted to the production of goods for the Imperium. The skies were choked with the smoke of industry and the population was what one might expect of such dense populations: class systems divided the few but powerful governing bodies from the wretched working class in the underhives. Being close to the Maelstrom, Chaos held greater influence here, and the predations by chaotic forces from both within and without eventually came to Noxus.
Around M35.41, the Night Lords Warband lead by the Daemon Prince Cruth-Gol sought to take advantage of the dissent growing silently among the populous. Invading in typical Night Lords fashion, the traitors spread fear throughout the people of Noxus. Rather than just butcher the population in the usual manner, Cruth-Gol sought to gain more power for himself by offering the planet to the Dark Gods. Corrupting the highest tower in the central hive, Cruth-Gol created the Screaming Tower. By offering continuous sacrifices to the infernal machinations that made up the new tower, Cruth-Gol intended to open a rift in The Warp that would allow the pure stuff of Chaos to come through, not just killing the planet, but completely damning it to the Dark Gods, so that he could earn their favor. For each sacrifice, the rift would grow wider, albeit slowly, allowing more daemons to pour through.
Throughout this dark time, The Shadow Hunters were not idle. Librarians of the chapter foresaw such an event, and so much of the chapter was already hunting through the greater subsector for any Night Lords activity. Receiving the astropathic distress signal from the planet, fully three companies, the 2nd, 4th, and 5th company, as well as supporting elements from both the 7th, 1st, and scout companies, converged towards Noxus II. Stealth elements from each company infiltrated the city from large sewage lines that spread out from the great hive like veins, allowing them quiet entry into the city. The Night Lords knew of the arrival of their loyalist kin, and set about to strike their hated foe from the dark shadows of the underhive. The Shadow Hunters who had infiltrated the city were also masters of stealth, and the battles fought in the underhive depended on wit and cunning just as much as it did on bolter and blade. Life and death depended on mere milliseconds of reaction time, and the many skirmishes that took place within the lower reaches of the city truly tested the mettle of the Shadow Hunters.
The infiltrating elements soon learned that their objective was the Screaming Tower, and much of the Night Lords’ defense was focused around it. The daemons that were pouring out of the structure made it quite clear that this single structure was the gate that would doom Noxus II, should the Shadow Hunters fail their mission.
The Shadow Hunters commanders knew that because of the nature of the tower, only a quick, decisive victory could save the planet from total damnation. A plan was set in motion: elements on the ground disrupt the mechanisms that prevented teleportation, and terminator squads would then teleport from orbit to take out key Anti-Air guns and interceptor cannons. This would finally culminate in a mass drop pod assault by the entire 5th Company on the Screaming Tower, lead by none other than 5th Company Captain Azrael Umbrus.
Knowing their foe was equally endowed with great amounts of experience, the elements of the 4th, 2nd, and 7th companies launched diversionary attacks on critical anti-air positions while scouts secretly infiltrated and destroyed the delicate stations in charge of the prevention of teleportation. The ploy worked. Being extremely focused on the rituals in the Screaming Tower, Cruth-Gol did not see through the diversions and focused his outer defenses on the anti-air towers. At the last minute, the Shadow Hunters attacking the towers made a tactical retreat. Night Lords and traitor PDF split up their forces, some staying back to guard the beleaguered stations while others pursued the Shadow Hunters. This gave the scouts time to complete their objective, and no sooner had the traitors left their tower had they come under assault from the inside from the devastating power of Shadow Hunters terminators. The Terminators were brutal and efficient, one interceptor battery after another falling to the Shadow Hunters.
It was at that point that the 5th Company struck. Drop pods struck all around the infernal tower, and the true assault on the chaotic forces began in earnest. Devestator squads and thunderfire cannons landed on the high buildings surrounding the tower, quickly deploying and pounding the tower defenses. Some tactical squads and dreadnaughts landed amidst the foe, utterly destroying traitorous PDF and catching the Night Lords off guard. So vast was the tower that some of the drop pods actually crashed into different parts of the tower, allowing the Shadow Hunters to attack from the inside. Locator beacons in the drop pods allowed the assault squads to strike where they were needed most, and the gaps opened up by the crashing pods allowed the Shadow Hunter elements that had attacked the anti-air towers to reinforce directly into the tower via thunderhawk gunships.
Whether it was divine guidance, precise landing, or sheer luck, The Drop pods containing Captain Umbrus and his command squad as well as tactical squads Solaris and Primarus penetrated the grand chamber that contained the main machinations that powered the Screaming tower, two unholy spires channeling the warp rift between them as if they were conducting some ugly, impossible electricity. Inside the main chamber, Cruth-Gol was waiting, surrounded by an entourage of his finest terminators and a score of Night Lords veterans. The Shadow Hunters charged head on into the traitors, the battle of the Screaming Tower coming to its climax. Umbrus blasted with his plasma pistol, punching a molten hole in one Night Lord before sweeping his power sword in an upward arc to split another traitor in two from his groin to his sternum. There was no stopping the fury of the Shadow Hunters, for they were infused with a sense of justice that would see them victorious over their most hated foe. Umbrus and his command squad quickly made it through the center of the traitors, but the Daemon prince proved to be a great adversary. Calderic the Company Champion was ripped in two as easily as a child might rip the limbs off an insect. Brother Zurn of squad Solaris had his chest blown out by dark, unholy energies that spilled from Cruth-Gol’s impossibly wide maw, his burning corpse sent flying halfway across the chamber. Around Umbrus, the Night Lords terminators were now tearing into his battle-brothers. Not wanting the momentum to shift, the 5th Company captain expertly sidestepped a terminator bodyguard to deliver a decisive blow to the Daemon Prince. His power sword struck true, and Cruth-Gol’s neck was nearly shorn in two. But alas, even such a blow did not kill the traitor lord.
Enraged, Cruth-Gol picked up his assailant with one claw, while proceeding to rip off the legs of the captain with the other. Cruth-Gol then crushed the captain in his vicegrip, nearly destroying Umbrus’s chest cavity and destroying his primary heart and one of his lungs, along with severe damage to almost every other organ. Cruth-Gol tossed his prey aside like a rag-doll, and the Shadow Hunters were enraged at the loss of their captain.
Umbrus awoke from a momentary blackout, the battle still raging just across the room from him. Even for his God-like form, the pain and damage was immense. The battle might have well been on the other side of the planet, as far as the captain was concerned. Sheer willpower kept the destroyed captain from blacking out and falling into a sleep he would never return from. He couldn’t die, thought Umbrus. Not like this. In what might have been his last moments, Umbrus had a revelation: it did not matter that the foe was the Night Lords. The reason he did not want to die wasn’t out of some need for vengeance or justice, but so he could fulfill his duty. Noxus II was not yet saved, and so his duty was not yet done. Umbrus would not let this World of the Emperor fall to Chaos. In a moment what seemed to Umbrus as divine clarity, Umbrus Lifted his broken floor from the ground, crawling with one arm closer to the fallen form of brother Zurn, his fallen battle brother. Zurn had been carrying squad solaris’s heavy weapon, and on his back was a plasma cannon. Thanking the great God-Emperor and his fallen brother that the cannon was still functioning, Umbrus lifted the weapon from his comrade. It took all his superhuman might to aim the weapon, but his target was clear.
Across the room, Cruth-Gol was in a blood frenzy. He delighted in the carnage he was creating, and the blood and gore of the worshipers of the false emperor was an offering to his Gods. Soon, he would be victorious. Many of his Night Lords had fallen, but now there were hordes of daemons spilling out of the rift to attack and destroy all that is good in this world. Soon, the rift would reach critical mass, and the world would be an offering to the Dark Gods that would surely grant him dominion over the new hellscape. But, out of the corner of his eye, the Daemon Prince saw a burning white light coursing towards him. The captain, the one known as Umbrus, had the gall to live, and even fire upon him! The Plasma blast missed horribly, the shot passing safely to the left of the Daemon Prince’s head. The Daemon Prince laughed, a sound that ripped at one’s very soul. He would kill the worthless captain once and for all, and victory would be his. In the split second that Cruth-Gol looked towards the defeated captain he expected to see despair in the space marine’s face, but instead he saw a triumphant smile.
Cruth-Gol was not the captain’s target. Umbrus made a direct hit on one of the spires that were keeping the rift open, and the plasma bolt utterly destroyed the chaotic monument. By the time Cruth-Gol realized this it was too late. The spires were what were keeping the rift open, a sore weeping eye that allowed the daemons to bleed into this reality. The warp rift fluctuated violently, eldritch lightning bursting forth in random directions.
Outside in the skies of Noxus II, the eldritch lightning was not so random. Lightning bolt after lightning bolt struck the daemons, each bolt banishing back the daemon to whence it came. Defeated, Cruth-Gol could literally feel the Dark Gods abandoning him. He had turned out not to be a fitting servant after all, and the Dark Gods no longer held interest in this failure. The Eldritch lightning begin to jab at the daemon prince, first shocking him, then completely blowing chunks out of his blackened skin, dark ichor spraying from his wounds. The remaining Shadow Hunters followed suit, and bolter shells exploded into the failed daemon prince. Slowly Cruth-Gol was blown away, until there was nothing left but his dark, perverse soul. The last chains of lightning bound the soul as if they were shackles, and he was the last to be pulled into the disappearing warp. With one last flash of sickly, impossible unlight, the warp spawned creatures, and Cruth-Gol, were gone. This was the last sight Umbrus beheld, before falling into what he thought would be his final sleep.
But it was not to be. The daemons gone and the Night Lords and traitor PDF broken, marine reinforcements quickly arrived to the main chamber. Via thunderhawk, Captain Umbrus of the 5th Company, soon to be hailed as the hero of Noxus, was evacuated with the utmost care.
Much Umbrus’s memory was blurry for that time. When he awoke, he was not dead, but immersed in bio-fluids, his senses now linked to the sarcophagus of a dreadnaught. Techmarines and Apothecaries had done their best to save the captain and inter him in the sarcophagus. A towering figure, the grand form that was now Venerable Dreadnaught Umbrus had the power and iron will to match his spirit. Attached to his right, the very plasma cannon that had destroyed the spire had been converted into his right arm attachment. Umbrus beheld his new form, and felt at ease, because now he knew he could continue his duty, and serve the Emperor and mankind for the rest of eternity.
In the time that Umbrus had been half-dead, the Shadow Hunters had enacted an intense campaign to purge the world of chaos, but the battle of the Screaming Tower was the true victory on Noxus. Forever after, the people of Noxus would hail the Shadow Hunters, and Captain Umbrus of the 5th company, as their saviors.
This is the story Umbrus tells to his younger brethren. It was not pride, or justice, or vengeance against the Night Lords that defined the Shadow Hunters that day. It was duty, unwavering duty to the Emperor that drove him that day, and that that duty is what sets them apart completely and utterly from their Night Lord nemeses, those who hold a place in the chapter’s past, but do not represent the essence of what the Shadow Hunters are. Truly, Umbrus shows his brothers who have learned the truth that they are among heroes.