second phase of their transformation into Space Marines.Over the following three years, they are taught basic mechanics and science and more advanced combat skills. At the same time, their bodies are altered as more and more organs are implanted. During this phase, they are assigned to a Battle Barge-based Reserve Company. At the end of the intermediate training, they are assigned to a freshly-Tempered Battle Company and go through the final two years of tutelage; this time in cohesion with the rest of their group. Each Battle Company numbers one hundred Marines plus support. Numerous Astartes from the Wraithtalons? Armory and Fleet act as pilots and gunners for the company, bringing the number to around one hundred and twenty. Each Battle Company has about twenty empered veterans, a Librarian, a Captain, a Land Speeder squadron, a Bike squadron, an Attack Bike squadron, five APCs, a squad of Assault Marines, six squads of Tactical Marines, and the bearer of the Company Standard. There are no official Devastator Squads within the Chapter; heavy weapons are rare and usually attached to even rarer tanks. Instead, the heavy-weapon marines in individual squads might be grouped together at the beginning of a battle and reseeded throughout the company at the end. Every six-eight years, each Battle Company leaves on a four to six year journey. Each one of these endeavours is well-stocked and ready to face the brutality of war. The Battle companies confront whatever threats they can find: Tyranids, Orks, or even Chaos itself. Sooner or later, they always return victorious, but with horrendous losses. Typically, there are less than thirty survivors after each of these miniature campaigns. Those who return are known as the Tempered; they form the command structure of the new company and act as Sergeants and Terminators within it. Upon their return, they are assigned fresh fodder to replace their losses. They train and consolidate with these new members for two years before heading off once again into battle. Color Scheme: "And on their shoulders were crudely drawn images of shimmering birds crying in the night, their wings unfurled and their talons gripping two grinning skulls." - Unknown account of a battle involving the Wraithtalons. To minimize the tactical data gleaned by their enemies, each Wraithtalons Space Marine follows the same color scheme. All of their armor is an intensely dark blue, almost black. All of their icons are silver, and their eye lenses are scarlet. The Tempered wear hooded robes over their power armor, usually a dark bone color on the outside and an icy blue on the inside. Tactical Dreadnought armor is painted in a similar fashion, dark ice-blue with grey-white trim. The Wraithtalons base their chapter symbol on an ethereal bird that flies at night; an albino raven that collects the souls of the impure to feed to her children. In the hallucinogenic dreams experienced by every Space Marine during the haze and confusion of their augmentation, the aspirants are approached by the wispy bird. Before a company sets off on a four-six year campaign, each member hand-paints the wraith-raven on their left shoulder pad. On the right shoulder pad is their designation. Assault squads, the mobility of the chapter, are represented by a pair of stylized wings. Tactical squads, the Astartes lifeblood, use a diamond-shaped body. The Tempered marines use a trio of talons to set themselves apart. Tactical Doctrine "Throne! They're fast. Don't forget that." - Harriss Borunkal, Colonel of the Mordian 179th, date unknown The Wraithtalons are stubborn and hardened warriors, viciously relentless and unwilling to retreat. They rarely withdraw from a fight, a fact that is reflected by their ridiculously low rate of survival. Those who survive the first few years become intense, brutal warriors. Those who die are replaced and not missed. The Wraithtalons do not possess many Lascannons or Melta Guns, and they have no real way of replicating them. They vastly prefer plasma weapons, though these are also rare, so they will steal them whenever possible. The Chapter possesses an adequate amount of Heavy Bolters and Missile Launchers, but these are shunned for lack of well-crafted ammunition. Thus, the Chapter has no Devastator squads. Similarly, without the support of Mars, maintaining anything other than a Rhino APC or a Drop Pod requires a great deal of effort, and the Chapter has under twenty battle tanks. Instead, the Wraithtalons rely on Drop Pods and Jump Packs to speed them into short-range combat, where their tenacity usually allows them to prevail. Their Land Speeders are kept functional using parts stolen from hive worlds as well as from the technosorcerous armies of the Tau. Famous Battles "Dangerous? Of course. Malevolent? Almost certainly. But they are fighting the enemies of the Emperor." - Unknown Inquisitor 394.M33 - The Bar'nir Campaign - A Chaos incursion was sent packing by a force of Raven Guard and Wraithtalons 645.M34 - The Crosof Conspiracy - Five companies of Wraithtalons were forced into a drawn-out campaign with Orks. (M34?) - Thallian Primus - The Wraithtalons engaged and obliterated a large coven of Chaotic heretics. (M37?) - Kiratuan - The Wraithtalons encountered a small group of Dark Eldar and annihilated them (M39?) - Hett'thru'hir - The Wraithtalons met a nest of newly-awakened Necron warriors and eradicated them (M40?) - Bastion Primus - The Wraithtalons headed off a splinter of Hive Fleet Leviathan and destroyed them over four years, though losses were heavy. 557.M41 - The Battle for Valeure - The Wraithtalons came back into Inquisitorial memory when they aided a member of the Ordo Malleus and the entire Adeptus Astartes Imperial Wyverns in a sector-wide campaign. Though some have doubts, none who have seen them suspect their loyalty or connect them to the nameless chapter from before the Apostasy. 997.M41 - Gharince - The Wraithtalons, after negotiating with the heathen Tau, turn on the xenos and purge them with the Emperor?s light. Motto: Inter Arma Leges Silent (In time of war, the laws are silent) Battle Cry: The Laws are Silent! |
Chapter Structure: "Even now, we suspect that the insidious Wraithtalons are still in existence, aiding tattered bands of Imperial Guard or embattled colonists before turning on their allies and butchering all witnesses. Their deception runs deep within our organization. I suspect that some of us are aiding them, for how else could they be so elusive?" - Inquisitor Emplaes, - Address to the Cell. The Wraithtalons lost hundreds of their battle-brothers during the Crosof campaign, and, had they not chosen to eventually go into hiding, would probably have died out. Mars will only send so many gene-organs before abandoning faith and terminating a Chapter. After the Apostasy, the Wraithtalons were left with only one third of their Battle-Brothers, and no real way to expand. But they had an ally, a powerful one. Though the Recongregator Inquisitorial faction would not be spawned for some time, a man within the Ordo Hereticus believed that the Wraithtalons were on the right track. Using methods best left forgotten, he helped the Chapter obscure their past and eliminate records of Jure. Afterwards, he manipulated some of the weaker, more deranged elements of the Adeptus Mechanicus into copying some of the gene-seed reproduction facilities on Mars. The group worked efficiently, stealing information and abusing countless machine-spirits to further their goal. Finally, after stumbling across some pertinent shreds of STC data, the modifications to the Chapter?s duplication vats were completed and the chapter could once again grow. The Inquisitor?s pupils, and their eventual pupils, continued to aid the Chapter down through the ages, and their gift has ensured the gratitude of the Wraithtalons for all time. The amount of gene-seeds that the Chapter possessed has grown exponentially (as the Chapter no longer submits a tithe), and as a result, the Wraithtalons are able to maintain more Astartes than anyone is comfortable with. When an aspirant completes their three-year basic training on Tribulation they begin the |
LEGIO INFITIALES VENIA |
WRAITH TALONS By Jameson Rohrer ( Acelor ) |
This article has been published with the kind permission of Jameson Rohrer. Planetary image created by Shadow Guard |
