For Holy Terra Because space is scary

RPC – Halo Knights

Second place, which gets the tricked-out Rhino!

Submitted by Graham:

Founded in the chaotic years following the Nova Terra Interregnum, the Halo Knights were one of many Chapters tasked with bringing the heretic worlds back into the fold of the Imperium. Serving with distinction, the Halo Knights were rewarded with the opportunity to claim one of the recaptured worlds as the Chapter’s homeworld, which the Knights’ Master Drago Arcteris turned down, instead requesting that the Halo Knights remain as a Crusading fleet, bringing the Emperor’s Justice wherever it was needed. The High Lords of Terra, perhaps insulted by the refusal of their gift and certainly inspired by the Chapter’s own iconography, agreed to master Arcteris’ request and sent the Halo Knights on a crusade to the very edge of the Imperium. For a thousand years the Halo Knights guarded the edges of the Segmentum Pacificus from encroaching Ork hordes, Eldar corsairs and the agents of Chaos, gathering members from the worlds they saved or conquered to replace their losses. The Knights were slowly diminished over time, as the constant battles the Chapter engaged in claimed more losses than could be replaced and by the closing of M38 the Chapter was a shadow of its former self, with only four companies of Battle-Brothers to its credit.

The end of the Chapter came during the Parssus Crusade against the Dark Eldar of the Cabal of Grief, vicious slavers who preyed on the outlying worlds of the Segmentum Pacificus and eluding all Imperial attempts to end their savagery. The Halo Knights took up the call to battle and through a series of planned raids against Cabalite strongholds lead the xenos pirates into the waiting gunsights of an Imperial Navy fleet. While the Navy battleships ground down the Dark Eldar ships to rubble and dust, the Halo Knights stood ready to catch any ships that broke free of the Imperial encirclement. At the climax of the battle, the Dark Eldar flagship Lament of Thorns broke free of the Navy blockade and fled for open space. Determined to see the end of the foul slavers’ reign of terror, the Halo Knights pursued in the Chapter’s lone Battle Barge Argent Glory, chasing the xenos cruiser far beyond the borders of the Imperium. The Argent Glory and the core of the Halo Knights leadership and fighting strength was never seen in the Imperium again. What remained of the Halo Knights were disbanded by the High Lords of Terra and folded into other Chapters, ending the short but successful history of another minor Chapter.

The Argent Glory and the Halo Knights inside survived however, hounding the Lament of Thorns beyond the rim of the galaxy into the scattered Halo Stars themselves. Finally crippling their prey, the Knights boarded the Dark Eldar cruiser and systematically eliminated every xenos warrior they could find. Far beyond the borders of the Imperium and running short of supplies, the Argent Glory began the long, cautious journey back to the Imperium. As power and supplies dwindled, the Halo Knights made a shattering discovery, human-populated worlds far beyond the Imperium, colonized long ago but never appearing on any star chart or record within the Argent Glory’s libraries. Fearing some trap or heresy but critically short of supplies, the Halo Knights made contact with these worlds and discovered their origins. Claiming descent from the ancient Imperial crusade under Admiral Usurs in M33, the dozen inhabited worlds of the Halo Stars had been settled and held since the Admiral’s crusade and had been waiting for contact with the Imperium for generations (while never recorded in official histories, Admiral Usurs had been exiled beyond the Imperium by the High Lords of Terra and the crusade into the Halo Stars had been a way of ‘diplomatically’ removing the Admiral from power. The Admiral’s reports of conquered and settled worlds were never followed up and abandoned).

Inspired by the resilience and tenacity of these colonists, long sundered from the Imperium, the Halo Knights’ Chapter Master Broma Hargull made the decision to remain in the Halo Stars, protecting the scattered human worlds at the edge of the galaxy until the Imperium finally came to reclaim its own. The long vigil of the Halo Knights continues to this day, a single Space Marine Chapter aided only by the few worlds they choose to protect, exemplars of the honour and chivalry espoused long ago by their ancient Primarch, Rogal Dorn.

Organization:

The Halo Knights are a fleet-based chapter, perpetually patrolling the Halo Stars between scattered human worlds. Central to the Chapter’s fleet is the ancient Battle Barge Argent Glory, the same vessel that brought the Halo Knights to the Halo Stars nearly three thousand years ago. The rest of the Chapter Fleet is made up of over a dozen Strike Cruisers and numerous smaller escort vessels. Whenever possible, the Halo Knights prefer to operate as a whole Chapter, or at least to divide themselves between as few fronts as possible, to deliver maximum strength against their foes as possible rather than trying to hold down multiple engagements. This doctrine means that the Halo Knights are always on the move as they hammer down each battle in turn before moving on to the next, but does ensure that they are never spread so thinly that their strength is wasted.

Having been so long in isolation from the rest of the Imperium, the Knights have drifted from the rule of the Adeptus Astartes, instead adopting a structure closer to their crusading kin, the Black Templars. Each new recruit to the chapter is put through rigorous testing by the Chapter Chaplains before being seconded to a serving Knight as a Squire. The Squire will follow and serve his master Knight on and off the battlefield, all the time learning the ways of the Chapter and of war. Only when his master is satisfied will the Squire be raised to the full rank of Knight and don the full suite of Space Marine Power Armour. With the newest members of the Chapter folded into the regular line units, infiltration and scouting duties fall to the Knights Errant, experienced battle-brothers who have an inherent knack for subterfuge and unconventional warfare. Clad in full suits of power armour in dull or mottled hues, the Knights Errant range ahead of the main battle force, identifying targets of opportunity and wreaking havoc on poorly protected supply lines and depots. The sudden appearance of armoured Knights wielding heavy weapons from the rear or flank has turned the tables on many enemies over the years and will do until the chapter is no more, such is the respect earned by the independent and often unorthodox Knights Errant.

Instead of rigidly organized Battle Companies, the Halo Knights create Task Forces in a more flexible, ad hoc manner suitable for the requirements of the task at hand, its members drawn from standing Companies that specialize in a given battlefield role. This inherent flexibility allows the Halo Knights to respond to multiple calls for aid with little delay, invaluable for a Chapter that must patrol so large a territory.

With only a limited ability to resupply their fighting forces through the Forge World of Grougal, the Halo Knights have several elements missing from the Chapter armouries. Foremost of these is the almost complete absence of Tactical Dreadnought Armour. The singular suit of neigh-invulnerable “Terminator” armour left to the Halo Knights is reserved for the exclusive use by the Chapter Master and over the centuries has been modified and upgraded with a host of protective wards and augmentations to further enhance its abilities.  The Halo Knights also have a severe shortage of Land Raider transports, having lost many to slow attrition over the centuries without means of replacement. As such the use of such valued vehicles has become reserved for the veteran 1^st Company, allowing the finest warriors of the Chapter to be delivered directly into the thickest fighting. Without ready access to Land Raiders the Halo Knights rely heavily on the many vehicles based on the venerable Rhino chassis, the Predator and Vindicator tanks, Razorback transport and Whirlwind missile launcher.

Tactics:

The standard battle doctrine of the Halo Knights is of encirclement and siege, which proceeds in ever-shrinking circles as the enemy is reduced to static positions before the Knights grind them down with concentrated heavy weapons support. On arriving in a battle zone the large Chapter Fleet begins the encirclement and blockade of enemy planets. As reinforcements from local Imperial Navy flotillas arrive, the Chapter Fleet will tighten the blockade and begin direct bombardment of surface positions. Once the enemy is cut off from escape or reinforcement the Halo Knights begin landing operations, centered around the ancient Battle Barge “Argent Glory” which carries the bulk of the Chapter’s ground forces into battle. When the landing zones are secured and the Knight Errant have identified the enemy’s most important positions, the Chapter makes full use of its extensive armoury of tanks and armoured vehicles, surrounding enemy forces with roaming squadrons of Predator tanks with bike and Landspeeder outriders. Once contained, the Halo Knights will besiege the enemy with companies of Marines delivered by Rhino and Razorback transports before grinding them down under Vindicator and Whirlwind barrage.

Heraldry:

The Chapter Icon of the Halo Knights is a vertical sword within a twelve-pointed ring. Armour is silver-grey in colour with bronze trim and highlights. Chaplains, Librarians and Tech-Marines retain the main armour colours with the distinctive colour of their station displayed on the shoulder pads. Librarians also wear a sand-coloured ceremonial robe and hood. The Knight Errant have armour in more subtle tones of darker greys and non-metallic browns and are often daubed with a disruptive pattern suitable for the local terrain. Since Task Forces of Halo Knights are never statically organized, a Knight’s personal heraldry adorns either the right shoulder or knee pad; the Chapter Icon of the Halo’d Sword adorns the left or both shoulders. Veterans are distinguished by the reversal of the Chapter colours on the shoulders, silver trim on bronze; the helmet is also bronzed.

WIPs