Adeptus Astartes
They shall be my finest warriors, these men who give of themselves to me. Like clay I shall mould them and in the furnace of war I shall forge them. They shall be of iron will and steely sinew. In great armour I shall clad them and with the mightiest weapons shall they be armed. They will be untouched by plague or disease; no sickness shall blight them. They shall have such tactics, strategies and machines that no foe will best them in battle. They are my bulwark against the Terror. They are the Defenders of Humanity. They are my Space Marines...and they shall know no fear. -THE EMPEROR OF MANKINDThe Space Marines or Adeptus Astartes are foremost amongst the defenders of Humanity, the greatest of the Emperor of Mankind's warriors. They are barely Human at all, but superhuman; having been made superior in all respects to a normal man by a harsh regime of genetic modification, psycho-conditioning and rigorous training. Space Marines are untouched by plague or any natural disease and can suffer wounds that would kill a lesser being several times over, and live to fight again. Clad in ancient power armour and wielding the most potent weapons known to man, the Space Marines are terrifying foes and their devotion to the Emperor and the Imperium of Man is unyielding. They are the God-Emperor's Angels of Death, and they know no fear. The Astartes are physically stronger, far more resilient and often mentally far removed from the lot of most normal Human beings. In the presence of the Astartes, most people feel a combination of awe and fear, and many cultures on the more primitive worlds simply worship them outright as demigods or angels of the God-Emperor made flesh. They should feel so, for many Space Marines feel little compassion for those they have sometimes termed "mortals" in comparison to themselves, seeing the very people they were created to protect as little more than obstacles to a more efficient eradication of the Imperium's enemies. This is an attitude sometimes taken by whole Chapters. They see normal Humans as frail, weak creatures given to the follies of temptation, avarice, greed, lust and cowardice -- all emotions they rarely feel, if ever. Yet there are some Astartes who remember why they were created by the Emperor, who avoid the trap of hubris which the Space Marines are so prone to and which has seduced so many of their number to serve the Ruinous Powers of Chaos. They are the final guardians of Mankind, the saviours of last resort. They were intended not to lead Humanity, but to defend it, sometimes even from itself. At the heart of that mission lies the limitless compassion the Emperor extended to every man and woman in the galaxy when He willingly chose to condemn Himself to more than 10,000 years of imprisonment within a dying prison of flesh for their sake. Some Astartes sneer at compassion, seeing it as one more Human weakness that has been purged from their superior transhuman bodies and minds. But the wisest of the Space Marines know that in the end, compassion is their only salvation. Potential Space Marines are usually, but not always, recruited from the worlds where a Chapter has established its fortress-monastery, although some Chapters are known to recruit from a collection of different worlds in an area of space that they protect or frequent. Recruiting methods vary from Chapter to Chapter. Some select their neophytes from feral tribes roaming the surface of inhospitable worlds, while others draw upon eager volunteers who have been groomed from birth to become an Astartes. Still others watch and kidnap potential warriors, turning them into Astartes whether they will it or not. Whatever the method, all Space Marine Chapters will only accept those who successfully pass the grueling initiation trials and prove themselves worthy of becoming a Space Marine.
Structure
"Such is the woe cast upon the Domains of the God-Emperor of Mankind in these times that in their wisdom and beneficience, the High Lords of Terra have this day issued this decree: Let there be a Founding of the Adeptus Astartes, and let the foes of the Emperor know that this galaxy belongs to Him, now and forever." — High Lord Tagus, Convenor of the 349th Congress of the ImperiumSpace Mairnes were once formed into vast legions, but after the Horus Heresey, they were broken up into formations known as Chapters. A Chapter is a completely autonomous military unit made up of one thousand transhuman warriors known as Space Marines and their related vehicles, starships and support personnel. Each Chapter serves collectively with the others of its kind as part of the Imperium of Man's Adeptus Astartes. Every Chapter is entirely autonomous from every other adepta of the Imperium, including the Inquisition, and takes its orders only from the High Lords of Terra themselves. Most Chapters have feudal title to an entire planet of the Imperium which serves as its Chapter homeworld or to a large fleet of powerful and massive starships that serves as a mobile headquarters if the Chapter is fleet-based. The majority of Space Marine Chapters follow the dictates of the Codex Astartes, a sacred tome written by the Ultramarines Primarch Roboute Guilliman. The Codex Astartes details the proper organisational structure and mobilisation methods for a Space Marine Chapter. The Codex has been adopted by the vast majority of Space Marine Chapters as their organisational blueprint. Consequently, most Space Marine Chapters are considered "Codex Chapters" or "Codex-compliant Chapters" due to their adherence to the Codex Astartes. It is believed that there are about 1,000 Chapters of Space Marines operating throughout the galaxy at any one time, though this number can fluctuate greatly as time and circumstances determine. Each Space Marine Chapter traces its origins back to its founidng legion, each with its own primarch. These are;
- The Dark Angels
- White Scars
- Space Wolves
- Imperial Fists
- @blood
- Iron Hands
- Salamanders
- Raven Guard
Type
Military, Marine Corps
Parent Organization
Subsidiary Organizations
Related Species
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