Novamarines

"The existence of the Alien is a problem with but one solution: Extermination. When Mankind is alone in the cosmos, only then will we have achieved our destiny."

- Lucretius Corvo, first Chapter Master of the Novamarines

The Novamarines are a Loyalist Space Marine Chapter and Second Founding Successors of the Ultramarines Legion. An ancient and proud Chapter, the Novamarines are hard-line adherents of the Codex Astartes who consider the writ of this sacred text, penned by their blessed Primarch Roboute Guilliman, to be divinely ordained law. In the past, they have been known to have drawn blood against those who would stray too far from the Codex. The Novamarines' virtue and honour are such that they have been held up as an example to other Chapters of what it means to be of the Adeptus Astartes, much like their parent Chapter. They have no known Successor Chapters, at least not officially, but they are believed to have had the honour of their brethren being selected to provide a portion of the gene-seed used in the Founding of several Ultramarines Successor Chapters in the past, notably the Dark Sons and the Angels of Fury.

The Novamarines are one of the proud Primogenitor Chapters, sired by the Ultramarines Legion during the Second Founding. The Chapter’s homeworld of Honourum is to be found in the galactic north of the Ultima Segmentum, a great distance from the Ultramarines’ Realm of Ultramar. The region is sparsely populated and its proximity to the Halo Stars means that the Chapter’s sphere of influence and area of operations is large indeed. The Halo Stars, as well as the vast tracts of unexplored wilderness space around Honourum, are host to all manner of ancient threats, nascent alien empires and as-yet undiscovered lost human colony worlds from the Age of Strife. As a consequence, the Novamarines have seen action against a wide range of enemies, from terrible xenos monstrosities to isolationist human realms that refuse to bow to the rule of the Emperor of Mankind. Perhaps partly because the Novamarines operated across such a wide area, the Chapter has very rarely gathered all 10 of its companies in one place. As far as can be ascertained, this has not occurred since the 37th Millennium, so active and far-flung are its companies.

As a Primogenitor Chapter, the Novamarines maintain close links to the Ultramarines and their other Successor Chapters. The great distance between Honourum and Macragge means that the Chapter is unable to send representatives to the court of Marneus Calgar as often as its brother Chapters, but every Novamarine aspires to make a pilgrimage to the Shrine of the Primarch on Macragge at least once in his lifetime. Those that have done so traditionally mark the fact by adorning their battle helmets with a laurel wreath,a mark of honour that the Chapter's Scout Marines mark with awe and dream of one day earning for themselves.

The Novamarines contributed a large force to the continuing battle against the expansion of the Tau Empire during the Damocles Gulf Crusade in the mid-8th century of the 41st Millennium, based far to the galactic south of Ultima Segmentum. This deployment surpassed the demands of normal operations on the Chapter and took on the dimensions of a full Imperial Crusade, scouring the upstart aliens from several star systems in and around the Lithesh Sector and earning many glorious battle honours in the process. When the crusade force was ordered by Inquisitor Lord Kryptman to redirect to Macragge to face the onslaught of the Tyranids' Hive Fleet Behemoth, the Novamarines sped to the side of their Progenitors. In the aftermath of the Battle of Macragge, the Novamarines' contingent remained in the region for several months, rearming and refitting before making for the Jericho Reach. The Chapter's first battles were fought exclusively against the Tau of the Velk'han Sept, which included a series of fleet engagements rimward of the Black Reef. The Novamarines have recently taken losses from which they are rebuilding following a series of less-than-successful assaults on the traitorous human warlords of the world of Iphigenia.

Chapter History
"We do not judge ourselves as lesser men are judged. For us to face the foe without fear and without retreat or surrender are a simple expectation. Victory, too, is seen as our right; the due reward for setting foot on the field of battle. For a Battle-Brother to earn distinction within the Adeptus Astartes he must go beyond what commanders and captains expect of him and make himself worthy of the Emperor."

- Brother-Librarian Hancarn of the Novamarines Chapter

The Novamarines' founding Chapter Master is known to have been Lucretius Corvo, a highly honoured Captain of the Ultramarines Legion who served as one its Champions during the vicious fighting against the apostate Word Bearers Legion on the planet Astagar during the Horus Heresy. During the particularly brutal six-day battle, Corvo led a desperate counter-attack against an enemy force many times his own unit's number. His chosen band managed to destroy a Traitor Warlord-class Battle Titan and break the siege. As recognition for his tenacity and heroic actions, a Laurel of Defiance was awarded by Roboute Guilliman himself. This sacred object is still enshrined at the Novamarines' fortress-monastery, the Fortress Novum. At their Founding, the Novamarines were given the guardianship of the pre-Imperial fortress world of Honourum by the Ultramarines' Primarch. This sacred site had once marked the furthest northward extent of their Legion's advance into the galactic North of the Ultima Segmentum. At their founding, the Novamarines swore an oath to defend the Ultima Segmentum from the enemies of Mankind, and in almost eight thousand standard years they have not wavered once in this charge.

Notable Campaigns

 * The Pale Wasting (Unknown Date.M34) - A stelae mounted within the Imperial Palace on Terra recognises the services of the Novamarines for their action against the Pale Wasting that occurred in the 34th Millennium. This artefact praises the Chapter and credits their work for having "unmade that which cannot die." This was campaign was where the Novamarines earned some of their earliest recorded battle honours. During the dark and terrible times known to later historians as the Nova Terra Interregnum, when the Imperium fractured into warrior factions during this tumultuous period, there exists in what records remain from this era scattered and veiled references to a great threat arising from the Ghoul Stars. Much of the extant evidence relating to this threat has been censored or purposely destroyed, but there are contradictory indications which describe the nature of the threat as both a "Star-spawned plague" that swept away scores of worlds and as "Nightmare engines" slaughtering whole sectors. Those partial records which have been uncovered suggest that the threat was xenos in nature and that more than one Space Marine Chapter may have been completely destroyed in the course of the conflict. The Novamarines Space Marine Chapter took part in the campaign to quell the threat of the Pale Wasting, and though this is one of the Chapter's earliest recorded battle honours, the Chapter's own chronicles are curiously empty of any reference to this conflict. Were it not for such prominent recognition, the incident might be completely forgotten.
 * The Lok'Kroll Xenocide (119.M37-164.M37) - The Lok'Kroll Xenocide was an Imperial Crusade carried out by the Novamarines against the foul Lok'kroll xenos from 119.M37 through 164.M37. This campaign is notable for being the last time the Novamarines fought together at full Chapter strength. The Novamarines had volunteered to be at the forefront of carrying out an Edict of Extermination against the Lok'kroll. These hulking invertebrate aliens, having damned themselves in the worship of the Ruinous Powers, had risen up within the span of no more than a century to carve out a pocket empire to the galactic south of the Warp anomaly known as the Storm of the Emperor's Wrath in the Segmentum Ultima. Given their rapid expansion and the massacre of several Imperial colonies and mining outposts in the region, the decision was thereby taken by the Imperium to scour them from the stars before they could grow into a greater threat. Under the Novamarines' direction, the alien demesnes were systematically blockaded by squadrons from Battlefleet Ultima, while the Novamarines, supported by the 109th Phyrus Army Group and numerous Deathwatch Kill-teams, attacked and destroyed the isolated Lok'kroll outposts and nest-worlds one at a time, often employing Exterminatus-class weaponry sanctioned by the edict. Nothing now remains of the Lok'kroll save for a few taxidermically-preserved specimens at the Bastion Geniticus on Varsavia.
 * Cleansing of the Death of Integrity (887.M39) - In 887.M39, the Space Hulk Death of Integrity was seen near Vol Secundus. The ancient ruin had been encountered twice before in recent centuries, each time preceding the appearance of Tyranid forces upon nearby worlds. A general call for immediate Adeptus Astartes assistance was issued, with members of the 1st Companies of both the Novamarines and the Blood Drinkers Chapters responding to the call for assistance. Exhibiting a tremendous amount of co-operation, the two groups deployed nearly 200 Space Marines equipped with Terminator Armour to the massive hulk. Over the course of two months, the combined forces thoroughly purged the space hulk of a rampant Genestealer infestation. Both Chapters suffered losses, as the xenos were well-suited for battle within the cramped and toxic environment. Though the battle was costly in terms of damage to armour and loss of life, the ultimate prize was stunning. Hidden deep within the hulk’s ruins was a remarkably well preserved Standard Template Construct (STC). The Adeptus Mechanicus gladly accepted this priceless artefact and went so far as to repay each Chapter with a newly commissioned Strike Cruiser.
 * Damocles Gulf Crusade and Lithesh Sector Crusades (740's.M41) - The Novamarines were also involved in the Damocles Gulf Crusade and the Lithesh Sector Crusade -- both conflicts fought by the Imperium against the rapidly expanding Tau Empire.
 * The Luxor Uprising (812.M41) - The Luxor Uprising was a recent campaign conducted by the Novamarines on the industrial Hive World of Luxor in 812.M41. The cruel ruling Oligarchs of this world were overthrown by a workers' uprising backed by the insidious Chaos Space Marines of the Alpha Legion, with several of that Traitor Legion's warbands making planetfall in surprise attacks to support the revolt. The planet itself was a lynch-pin of the Departmento Munitorum-dominated Helioret Sector which was vital to the wider supply of war materiel to the northern Segmentum Ultima. The Novamarines rightly feared that should Luxor fall, it could start a chain reaction that might leave a hundred other worlds vulnerable. Without the time to wait for reinforcements or for the slow grinding wheels of the Segmentum authorities to act, the Novamarines gathered what forces they could and attacked immediately before the rebels could crush all local resistance and become entrenched. In the swift, savage war that followed, the Novamarines excelled in the urban fighting over Luxor's war-torn hive-citadels, bringing their superior combat abilities to bear in the tangled warrens of shattered rubble, cancelling out the rebels' massive advantage in numbers. The Chapter's Land Raiders and Predators likewise proved their supremacy over the Traitor's tanks, which were crewed by inexperienced conscripts. The Astartes armour destroyed them in huge numbers. The war tipped in the Chapter's favour when the Novamarines assault reserves cornered and overran the Alpha Legion forces guiding the failing rebellion in an anarchic battle at the planet's principal star port. A Terminator-led attack struck the deathblow and finished the encircled Alpha Legion Astartes, putting the few survivors to flight. With the remaining Traitors driven back in disarray from their initial gains and cut off from the Alpha Legion's command and direction, the Novamarines led the rallying Imperial Loyalists in a brutal offensive which left over 400,000 recidivists dead and restored Luxor to Imperial rule within a standard year.
 * The Badab War (901-908.M41) - Delayed in time by numerous conflicts the Chapter was already engaged in, a Novamarines contingent finally arrived in the Badab warzone in 906.M41 in response to the first calls for aid. They responded primarily because of their revulsion to the Astral Claws' renegade Chapter Master Lufgt Huron and the rebel forces' presumption and arrogance at defying the Imperium. The Novamarines were quick to apply themselves to saving their Loyalist allies against the barbarous Executioners Chapter. At the request of the Loyalists' High Commander Carab Culln of the Red Scorpions Chapter, the Novamarines remained in several smaller, highly mobile taskforces for the remainder of the war, guarding Imperial shipping and fighting small-scale and intense battles on several frontier worlds. The Novamarines withdrew their forces in 908.M41 to defend their homeworld against the impending threat of a growing Ork WAAAGH!, amongst many other problems plaguing the Ultima Segmentum.
 * 13th Black Crusade (999.M41) - The Novamarines contributed six full companies to the defence of the Cadian Sector against the Forces of Chaos during the 13th Black Crusade.

Chapter Organisation
Being a proud Successor Chapter of the Ultramarines, the Novamarines Chapter are amongst the most strict adherents of the Codex Astartes and its divine tenets. They have continued to rigorously enforce the Codex's mandates despite their companies being scattered across the length and breadth of the Imperium throughout their long and glorious history. They are very proud of maintaining the honorifics and titles employed by their parent chapter, the Ultramarines, despite the galaxy-spanning distance from the realms of Ultramar. Another notable feature is that this Chapter maintains many ancient relics in fully operable condition from the bygone days before the Horus Heresy. This includes a full complement of Terminator Armour to equip their entire veteran 1st Company if needed, as well as extensive arsenals of early pattern Predators, Vindicators and Whirlwind armoured personnel carriers and numerous Dreadnoughts lovingly maintained with great reverence by their Chapter's forge.

The Novamarines are not a strictly fleet-based Chapter. Often they have had cause to divide their warriors and disperse them over vast areas of the galaxy to fulfill their duties. This wide dispersal over such a vast area has meant that the Chapter has seldom fought together as a whole. The Novamarines have not fought as a whole chapter since the 37th Millennium. Whilst their strength may be divided, in the past this has been advantageous, as the Novamarines have been able to be the first to answer the call of their fellow Chapters in need. A recent example would be their intervention in the defense of Obsidia, the homeworld of the Sable Swords Chapter. Their timely intercession prevented Obsidia from being overrun by mutant hordes whilst the majority of the Sable Swords were engaged elsewhere. A solemn oath of eternal debt was sworn by the Sable Swords to the Novamarines for their valiant rescue of their homeworld, something not taken lightly by the Chapter.

Although the Novamarines have confronted the enemies of Mankind in every guise over their long history, they have perhaps had their most extensive experience in combating the alien in all its horror, and are boundless in their hatred for all non-human intelligences. They have conducted systematic purges of a great many xenoforms, and their expertise in this area coupled with their reputation as faithful scions of the Ultramarines, has meant that the Novamarines Battle-Brothers have often served within the ranks of the Deathwatch and maintain unusually close ties to the Chamber Militant of the Ordo Xenos.

Chapter Homeworld
Primarch Roboute Guilliman granted the Novamarines rule over the planet Honourum at the time of their Founding. Throughout their ten millennia existence they have guarded and exploited its resources responsibly. When they received the right of its fealty, the planet represented the Northern border of the Segmentum. Since that time, the secured region has significantly expanded, but their responsibility for maintaining security throughout the broader region has not changed. The world of Honourum is characterised by brutal storms, savage seas, and barren mountains. Most of its native life forms are primitive plants and lichens. Its fauna largely consists of ocean-dwelling invertebrates. Many of the more sophisticated organisms employ potent toxins that are as effective against humanity as they are against the planet’s native species. Heavy metal contamination is present in many of the world’s regions, leading to toxicity among much of its plants. It is as though the planet actively attempts to defend against the intrusion of any life. The feral human population consists of nomadic tribes of hunter-gatherers. These savages migrate constantly to avoid the worst of the planet’s brutal climate and to constantly scavenge for any available food. They lack the resources or the ability to effectively establish mines or to refine and shape sophisticated metals. Those who can survive in this harsh environment have proven to make exceptional candidates for membership as Novamarines.

Chapter Combat Doctrine
As befits a Successor Chapter of the legacy of Roboute Guilliman, the Novamarines strictly adhere to the rigid tenets laid down in the sacred Codex Astartes. For nearly eight millennia they have fought in the prescribed manner as laid out in the illuminated pages of this holiest of texts. They do not deviate from the words of Guilliman in the slightest, for to do so is considered anathema. The Novamarines believe that this work of divine wisdom penned by their Primarch and sanctified by the Emperor of Mankind himself, is divinely ordained law. This Chapter is not afraid to mete out punishment to those that would deviate or profane the blessed dictates of this sacred text.

Chapter Beliefs
The Novamarines' homeworld of Honourum has a small population made up of feral hunter-gatherer tribes. These simple and hard people have provided recruits to the ranks of the Novamarines since their founding. During a Neophytes' indoctrination into the Chapter, all vestiges of their former life are stripped away and replaced with the pattern of thinking and culture identical to those native to Ultramar. The only idiosyncrasy of Honourum's natives that is retained is the practice of ritually tattooing their skin. Each Battle-Brother's skin become an illustration of their career and their lives, with designs and sigils depicting where they've traveled throughout the galaxy and the campaigns they have fought in. When the Chapter’s members reunite, they often spend hours displaying their most recent tattoos as they recount the successes and tragedies that led to the latest artwork. Their tattoos take on the quartered appearance of the Novamarines' own colours, which is itself based upon Lucretius Corvo's original personal heraldry. The Chapter believes that these tattooed images serve to armour their soul from the predations of dark spirits, and that it is by this roll of deeds recorded on their skin, when they reach the realm of Death, that the Emperor's Champion will judge their worth.
 * Laurels of Ultramar - Part of the close ties between the Novamarines and the Ultramarines includes a desire by the Chapter’s Battle-Brothers to pay homage to the tomb of their Primarch on Ultramar. Many Battle-Brothers make this pilgrimage at least once during their lives and use it to strengthen their resolve as well as their connections with the Ultramarines Chapter. A Battle-Brother who completes this pilgrimage will receive the Laurels of Ultramar, which he may wear with honour.

Chapter Gene-Seed
"The galaxy is scarcely large enough for humanity’s needs. The xenos must be cleansed so that we can claim what is ours by divine mandate."

- Novamarines Chaplain Gustus Fiore

The Novamarines gene-seed is completely consistent with that of their Primogenitor Chapter, the Ultramarines. In keeping with the noble lineage of Guilliman, it shows no signs of contamination and produces the full range of Space Marine implants. Their reserves have been sufficient that the Adeptus Administratum is believed to have used Novamarine gene-seed as the basis for the creation of Successor Chapters. The care that they take to preserve their gene-seed is much the same as that they show towards their sacred duty to defend the Ultima Segmentum and to carefully maintain the many ancient war machines in their care. All of these elements represent the core of the Chapter’s traditions, which are considered absolutely vital for its preservation.

While all Space Marines have hatred of the enemies of Mankind, especially those which lurk among the stars preying on the worlds of the Imperium, the Novamarines have fostered a deep repulsion for xenos beyond even that of most of their kind. This is fostered from a thousand battlefields across thousands of light years of space and a history which has seen the Chapter clash with the greatest and vilest of the galaxy’s aliens time and again. At first, this hatred is indistinguishable from that of a normal member of the Adeptus Astartes, forming only the staunch disdain required to face them in combat and turn away their insidious advances against the domain of the God-Emperor. In time it grows, encompassing all forms of alien life, even those of little interest or threat to the Imperium, until eventually they cannot bear to see the xenos live, even at the cost of prudent tactics and the strained measures of battlefield diplomacy.

Notable Novamarines

 * Captain Mordacai Blaylock - Mordacai Blaylock, "The Stormbreaker," the Captain of the elite 1st Company, is one of the greatest warriors in the Novamarines' long history. This no-nonsense officer's physical bravery is legendary, even amongst his fellow Astartes. Commanding the 1st Company for the last five decades, age has not diminished his strength nor his wits. During the lamentable conflict known as the Badab War, Captain Mordacai Blaylock commanded the Novamarines taskforce that served with the Loyalists. The Novamarines reason for intervention was simple: a deep-seated revulsion at what they believed was Lufgt Huron and his Space Marine allies' unforgivable presumption and arrogance. The Novamarines Chapter was well-disposed to the overall command of the Loyalist assault by the Red Scorpions, as they knew that Chapter to be firm in the tenets of the Codex Astartes and to possess a hatred of the alien that matched their own. Captain Blaylock most notably came to the aid of the beleaguered Howling Griffons forces who had been driven back in bloody disarray by the Executioners Chapter. The Novamarines quickly applied their forces to saving their brethren from further attack, intercepting several Executioners raiding forces with mixed success. With the aid of fleet elements the Novamarines managed to check the Executioners' attacks in the Khymaran Drift. At the behest of Lord High Commander Carab Culln, the Magister Millitant of the Loyalist forces, the Novamarines performed a crucial role in combating Secessionist raiders, as well as conducting punishing attacks against the Ork and Eldar Corsairs who sought to use the anarchy of the conflict to pursue their own dark purposes uncontested. Captain Mordacai Blaylock and the Novamarines withdrew from the conflict in 908.M41, having gained much renown for themselves and their Chapter.

Chapter Colours
The Power Armour of the Novamarines is quartered navy blue and bone with a golden Aquila. The Chapter's rare use of a quartered livery is believed to be based on Corvo's personal heraldry, further setting their first Master's stamp upon the Chapter.

Chapter Badge
The Chapter's badge is a skull surrounded by a stylized star that resembles an Iron Halo.

Gallery
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