"We are the purest of all. We can do no wrong."
- —Flawless Host Catechism
The Flawless Host is a Chaos Space Marine warband in the service of Slaanesh. The Flawless Host believe they are the embodiment of justice and purity. Their gene-seed was once free from Chaos taint, and the rigid mental training of their former incarnation as the Loyalist Space Marines known as the Shining Blades gave the Chapter an unshakeable faith in its own abilities.
They were victorious in battle so many times that they convinced themselves they could not fail, leading to the Berillia Massacres of 498.M34. Their overweening pride and wilful delusion caused them to attack, in a frenzy of indignation, any who questioned their magnificence, cementing their damnation and betrayal of the Emperor.
Renaming themselves the Flawless Host, they have scarred the Imperium ever since as hedonistic servants of Slaanesh, still believing themselves to be pinnacles of biological perfection.
Warband History
Prior to their disastrous failure during the Berillia campaigns and swift descent into madness, the Shining Blades Chapter was one of those Chapters renowned, alongside the Red Scorpions, Ultramarines, Umbral Titans and a few others, with a gene-seed record of extreme purity.
However, the Shining Blades fell victim to their own pride, turning from the Emperor's will and beginning a traitorous crusade to cast down any who would claim to be their equals.
Now calling themselves the Flawless Host, they spent a standard century harrying Loyalist Chapters, burning isolated outposts and decimating smaller detachments of loyal Astartes warriors until they assaulted a Red Scorpions strike cruiser, the Crux Puritatis, as it returned from campaigns in the Segmentum Tempestus, capturing the vessel and taking the Chapter's dead to augment their stocks of uncorrupted gene-seed.
Then Lord High Commander Thay Kraun of the Red Scorpions recalled all of that Chapter's combat units from their previous engagements and scoured the area from which the Flawless Host was known to operate. Once the asteroid fortress used by the Flawless Host and its degenerate allies was discovered, Kraun committed his brethren en masse to its utter destruction.
In a titanic battle that raged for six solar days the Red Scorpions battered the Flawless Host, blasting apart their defences and storming their fortress chamber-by-chamber. Lord High Commander Kraun himself led the re-taking of the Crux Puritatis, using the Blade of the Scorpion to decapitate the Flawless Host captain who claimed the ship in single combat.
Withdrawing in the face of the Red Scorpions' overwhelming wrath, the Flawless Host vowed to exact vengeance upon those who would tarnish their glory.
Notable Campaigns
- Berillia Massacres (498-601.M34) - Over a dozen campaigns, the Shining Blades Chapter of Astartes wins a string of victories that ultimately become known as the "Berillia Massacres." When the Chapter's methods are questioned due to the extremely high number of civilian casualties that resulted from their actions, they attack their erstwhile allies and the Red Scorpions Chapter appear unheralded to bring them to justice. Much blood is shed in the ensuing war and the Shining Blades Chapter's true allegiance is revealed as they transform into the Heretic Astartes servants of the Chaos God Slaanesh. In an act of overweening pride, the Shining Blades declare themselves the "Flawless Host," a sin of hubris for which the Red Scorpions vow to exact punishment.
- Assault on Euthenia (310.M41) - A combined Flawless Host and Night Lords Heretic Astartes assault force attacked the Agri-world of Euthenia XX.
- Liberation of Novaris (Unknown Date.M42) - The newly chosen Chapter Master of the Silver Templars Chapter, Akilios Zanaris, led his Chapter of Primaris Space Marines to the surface of the world of Novaris, only to find that the populace had been enslaved by Heretic Astartes of the Flawless Host. The Silver Templars and the Heretics engage in a short but fierce war, resulting in the deaths of a quarter of Novaris' population. Eventually, Captain Ducas of the 1st Company defeats the Flawless Host's leader, Lyrius Soulslaver, in a duel that lasts more than a solar day. With Soulslaver's defeat, the battle for Novaris is soon won. The planet was then granted to the Silver Templars to serve as their new Chapter homeworld.
Notable Members of The Flawless Host
- Chaos Lord Eleaxus the Flawless - Eleaxus is a devout Champion of Slaanesh and the Chaos Lord of the Flawless Host. Eleaxus cares for nothing more than his own glorification and the furtherance of his desire to sit at the right hand of Slaanesh, damning himself further by partaking in blasphemous feasts after his victories. With the promise of all the luxuries of the Imperial world of Makenna VII, Eleaxus' fealty was bought by Warmaster Davroth of the Word Bearers Traitor Legion, to help him conquer the doomed world. He led three elite squads of Emperor's Children Chaos Terminators known as the "Scream of Hatred," as well as three squads of Emperor's Children Traitor Marines mounted on Rhino armoured transport carriers, who were called the "Choir of the Damned," to Makenna VII.
- Brother Jhasius (Chaos Dreadnought) - Jhasius is a former battle-brother of the Flawless Host who is now interred within the sarcophagus of a Chaos Dreadnought.
- Lyrius Soulslaver (KIA) - Lyrius Soulslaver was the Champion of Slaanesh of the Flawless Host who led his warband in conquest of the world of Novaris during the Era Indomitus. The world was reclaimed for the Imperium by the Primaris Marines of the Silver Templars, though it cost the lives of a quarter of the world's population. Soulslaver was slain by Captain Ducas of the Silver Templars' elite 1st Company, after which the Flawless Host's resistance collapsed.
Warband Appearance
Warband Colours
The Flawless Host's power armour is painted pale pink. The right arm and shoulder plate, lower legs and backpack are painted in a purple flame-like pattern. The trim and warband insignia are painted black.
Warband Badge
The Flawless Host's warband badge is a black symbol similar to the sigil of the warband's patron Chaos God Slaanesh, except that the lower part is a crescent instead of an orb, and the other end is the eight-pointed star of Chaos. This symbol is centred on a field of pink.
Sources
- Apocalypse, pg. 171
- Codex: Chaos Space Marines (6th Edition), pg. 15
- Codex Heretic Astartes - Chaos Space Marines (8th Edition), pg. 50
- Codex Heretic Astartes - Chaos Space Marines (8th Edition) (Revised Codex), pg. 50
- Codex: Space Marines (4th Edition), pg. 20
- Imperial Armour Volume Four - The Anphelion Campaign, Second Edition, pg. 117
- Imperial Armour Volume Thirteen - War Machines of the Lost & The Damned, pp. 21, 77
- Angels of Death: The Judges, In Their Hunger (Short Story) by David Annandale
- Warhammer 40,000: Silver Templars (8th Edition), pg. 19
- Imperium Nihilus: Vigilus Ablaze (8th Edition), pg. 73