The Rock

The Rock, the Dark Angels Chapter's mobile Fortress-Monastery

The Rock, officially known as Angelicasta ("The Tower of Angels") is the massive mobile Fortress-Monastery and home of the Dark Angels Space Marine Chapter. It was once a part of their lost homeworld of Caliban upon which sat the fortress-monastery of The Order, the elite monastic order of knights that was led by the Dark Angels' Primarch Lion El'Jonson before he was rediscovered by the Emperor and from which many of the later Astartes recruits for the I Legion were drawn. After Caliban was destroyed by a Warp Storm summoned by the Ruinous Powers that tore the world asunder during the rebellion of Luther and the other Fallen Angels, the Dark Angels reshaped the old fortress into a massive mobile fortress-monastery outfitted with the most advanced Imperial technology including a Warp-Drive, gravity generators and Void Shields so that it could serve as their mobile headquarters as they sought to hunt down every one of the Fallen. The Rock serves as the primary source of imprisonment for every one of the Fallen Angels hunted down by the Dark Angels Chapter and its Unforgiven Successor Chapters, as they believe that they can never restore their honour in the eyes of the Emperor until every single one of the Fallen has been captured and forced to repent before they die. The Rock also holds the greatest of the Dark Angels' secrets: the Arch-Traitor, Luther himself, is alive and well in its deepest dungeon, kept alive by a stasis field while he insanely mumbles that he has no need of confession or repentance, for one day Lion El'Jonson will return and forgive him for his sins against the Emperor.

Caliban, the ancient homeworld of the Dark Angels, was once a verdant world of dense forests. Those forests seethed with mutation and corruption, the baleful influence of the nearby Eye of Terror making Caliban one of the deadliest Death Worlds in the galaxy. The original inhabitants of Caliban are said to have been a proud, martial people similar to the medieval European society of Old Earth, brought up to live and die by the sword. The lush forests were inhabited by all manner of terrifying Great Beasts that had been warped by Chaos. The ferocity of these creatures forced the people of Caliban to build brooding stone fortresses in huge clearings hacked from the forests, in which the Calibanite warrior-elite dwelled. It was from one knightly monastic organisation drawn from this aristocracy, called The Order, that the officer class and most of the later Astartes of the Dark Angels Legion were recruited.

During a terrible battle immediately following the end of the Horus Heresy, the entire planet of Caliban was torn asunder, reduced by the power of the Warp and the effects of a cataclysmic orbital bombardment to scattered debris. All that remained was the fragment of Calibanite rock upon which stood the ruins of The Order’s fortress-monastery. In the long millennia since the destruction of Caliban, the Dark Angels have drilled deep into the bedrock of this fragment and rebuilt the fortress' ruins. The dead asteroid was transformed into the Dark Angels' home, called The Rock, while the rebuilt monastery is referred to as the Tower of Angels. Countless tunnels, halls and chambers were constructed and, in time, even a Warp-Drive and more powerful Void Shield emitters were fitted to allow The Rock to move from star system to star system. As a result, the Rock does not stay in any one place for any length of time, and the Dark Angels recruit their Neophytes from a variety of different worlds.

Many dark secrets lie deep within the Tower of Angels. Dungeons that have remained sealed for centuries and secret caves shut behind Adamantium doors and bound with holy sigils conceal vast repositories of ancient archeotech. Only the most senior of the Dark Angels, the Masters and the members of the Chapter's Inner Circle, are aware of these chambers' existence and may unlock their dread secrets.

History

Stained-glass window located within The Rock's main chapel

The Rock was once the original fortress-monastery of the monastic knights known simply as The Order. This fortress was known as Aldurukh, which meant "the Rock of Eternity" in one of the ancient Calibanite dialects of Low Gothic. Aldurukh was originally the name of the mountain that the Order's founders had decided for the site to build their fortress-monastery, using the name of the mountain for the fortress. Though the Order had other fortress-monasteries, Aldurukh was their first, and so they gave it a name that mattered, a name that summed up exactly what they were trying to build. This sacred site was the Order's literal rock, their foundation of stone. As long as it endured, then some part of their ideals would always be alive.

The fortress hadn’t changed too much in the intervening years for the first wave of selected Dark Angels that had been away fighting the Emperor's Great Crusade. At the base of the mountain, rising incongruously to either side of a narrow, paved lane that passed between two towering barracks facilities, stood the ancient, weathered menhirs that marked the foot of the old road. The old stones depicted the beginning and ending stages of a knight’s journey: the left menhir was carved in the likeness of a proud knight striding forth into the world, pistol and chainsword in hand; the one on the right showed a battered and weary warrior, his armour splintered and his weapons broken, kneeling wearily but with head held high as he contemplated his return home. Brother knights would often brush their fingertips lightly against the right-hand menhir as they passed by, a tradition that reached back to the earliest days of the brotherhood. This simple gesture of feeling the smooth stone beneath their fingertips made a returning knight think of the generations of their forbears who had done the same, stretching back for millennia. Within the many practice halls inside Aldurukh, knights and supplicants spent their days honing the skills they needed to survive on Caliban. These knights had taken of the cause to protect the innocent, and for five thousand years had hunted the vile beasts which terrorised the populations of Caliban.

The main monastery was known as Angelicasta or the "Tower of Angels". The primary residence of the Order's Grand Master, resident Masters and subordinate knights. {C}Within Angelicasta was the primary place of gathering known as the Circle Chamber. This was a place where the Order could meet representatives from other visiting orders of knights, without rank or station, where all were equal. At its arched entrance flickering torches hung at the entrance, sending a fragrant aroma of of scented smoke into the enormous chamber. The hall could hold hundreds of novices, knights and supplicants on the many stone benches that rose in tiers from the raised marble plinth at the chamber’s centre. Mighty pillars rose at the chamber’s cardinal points, curving inwards in great, gothic arches to form the mighty roof of the dome, a green and gold ceiling from which hung a wide, circular candle holder filled with winking points of light. The walls of the chamber were composed almost entirely of tall lengths of stained glass, each one telling of the heroic actions of one of the Order’s knights. Many of these glorious panels depicted the actions of the Lion and Luther, but many more pre-dated them joining the order, and several of these depicted the legendary warrior known as Brother Amadis, the Hero of Maponis. The centre was empty, with a single throne-like chair set in the middle of the floor. Banners hung from the chamber’s roof, where a brother could read the history of the Order in their pictorial representations of honour, valour, and battle. Gold stitching crossed ceremonial standards of green and blue, and red-edged war banners outnumbered the ceremonial ones by quite some margin. The entire roof was hung with banners: so many that it seemed as though a great blanket had been spread across it, and then slashed into hanging squares.

Within the heart of the monastery was located the Lord Cypher, the individual brother expected to police the customs of the subordinate brothers within the Order. He ensured that the Order's rituals were preserved, and advised on matters of protocol as well as officiating at ceremonies. The path to the Master's chamber led down into the dark catacombs that riddled the rock the fortress was built upon. It passed by darkened cellars, forgotten chambers and ancient cells. The Lord Cypher would be waiting to initiate potential candidates into the inner working of the Order in a vaulted chamber, the walls fashioned from enameled bricks that reflected the light from the many candles spread throughout the chamber. At each stage of a supplicant’s training the Order's Masters decided whether or not to continue it and whether any such trainees possessed the mark of greatness that merited special attention. The Lion himself would decide who warranted such special attention.

The Coming of the Emperor

When the Imperium of Man rediscovered the lost human-settled world on the fringe of the Eye of Terror during the Great Crusade they brought with them their formidable technology, and transformed the face of Caliban. The Emperor’s servants had descended on the planet with enormous machines that cleared dozens of kilometres of forest a day and left flat, lifeless earth in their wake. Mines, refineries and manufactorums had followed, ready to transform the planet’s abundant resources into vital war materiel for the Emperor’s ongoing Crusade. Aldurukh rose above all else, a bastion of strength and tradition {C}surrounded by a sea of constant change. Its granite flanks had been scraped bare by Imperial construction machines. Titanic excavators had scaled its sheer sides, carving out ledges and boring tunnels deep into the rock as the fortress was expanded into the heart of the mountain itself. A series of gates were built at the foot of the mountain that provided access to the fortress’s subterranean {C}levels as well as lifts that would carry passengers up into the centre of the fortress within seconds. For all its efficiency, this notion seemed vaguely offensive to those senior members of the old Order; the path up the Errant’s {C}Road to the castle gates had been trod by the knights of the Order for centuries, and had taken on great spiritual significance in their legends and lore. Brothers could ride the lifts if they preferred; but some intended to walk the path built by their elders for as long as they were able.

The Battle Halls of Aldurukh quickly resounded with the clash of arms as supplicants and knights were put through grueling training rituals overseen by the Astartes of the I Legion. They wanted to test the suitability of Caliban's human stock and whether or not they were fit to join the ranks of the I Legion. They put the potential Astartes aspirants from the Order through numerous trials to gauge their level of martial prowess and character. Only the strongest and most dedicated were allowed to pass to the next stage, the end result of these trials kept secret. The Astartes made their final selection for advanced training and genhancement to their ranks. Through the application of Imperial science and the marvels of Gene-Seed, these selected aspirants were transformed and recast in the warlike mould of the transhuman Astartes. Aldurukh was quickly deluged with potential aspirants who wished to join the ranks of the newly renamed I Legion, now known as the Dark Angels. The fortress monastery became a large selection and processing centre, as the demands of the Crusade dictated the need to speed up the selection and training of potential Astartes. Over a period of fifty years Luther, the Lion's right hand, was highly successful in this endeavour.

Horus Heresy

Unfortunately, the vagaries of fate would transpire against the Regent of Caliban and his lieutenants as they soon faced a widespread rebellion on Caliban. It was revealed that Caliban was plagued by a resurgence of the beasts that once ran amok across their homeworld. This dire threat was further compounded by the insurgency raised against them which included former Knights of the Order who felt that the Lion had betrayed them. At the center of this conspiracy was a mysterious cabal of Terran sorcerers that were somehow linked to the reemergence of the warp-spawned beasts and hordes of undead corpses. Learning of Warmaster Horus’s rebellion against the Emperor, Luther decided that in the best of interests of Caliban, he was compelled to declare their world’s independence in opposition to both Terra and their Primarch alike.

The Warmaster Horus, first amongst the Primarchs and most favoured son of the Emperor, had foresworn his oaths of fealty and had instead, decided to launch an intergalactic rebellion to usurp the throne on Terra. Accounts were fragmentary, and infrequent, but slowly the Dark Angels stationed on Caliban pieced together what had occurred during the opening days of the conflict. They heard the stories of the other Primarchs and their Traitor Legions turning against the Emperor, and against themselves. It became impossible to tell friend from foe. The Dark Angels on Caliban had heard on more than one occasion that the Lion's Dark Angels had turned from the light of the Emperor, or that the Lion had been killed. There was even heretical talk of the Space Wolves Legion assaulting the homeworld of the Thousand Sons, and of Astartes killing Astartes across the width and breadth of the galaxy.

As the Emperor fought Warmaster Horus for the possession of the Terra in the closing days of the insurrection, Lion El'Jonson was far away fighting for humanity. Hearing of the potentially disastrous proceedings taking place on Terra, Jonson hurried back with all haste. But as the Dark Angels finally arrived in Terra's orbit they quickly realized that they had arrived too late. Events had already taken their terrible course and the cataclysmic final battle was over. The Forces of Chaos had been defeated, but they had left the Imperium in ruins. And for Jonson one final, shattering betrayal remained to be discovered on his return to his home world of Caliban.

The Betrayal

As Jonson's fleet entered Caliban's orbit they devastated by a defensive barrage from the planet below. Enraged, Jonson immediately ordered a sustained orbital bombardment of what he saw as Traitors and then led a surgical strike against Luther's position at Aldurukh. Meanwhile, the massed guns of the Dark Angels' fleet continued to pound the planet's surface until the very surface of Caliban began to crack asunder under the strain of the sustained bombardment. The two former friends fought in a titanic struggle. Luther was now a Champion of Chaos empowered with the fell power of the Chaos Gods, he was now a equally matched against the power of the Primarch. Using his fell powers, he mortally wounded Jonson during the fight. As the Lion lay mortally wounded, Luther realised his own mistake and slumped down next to the fallen Primarch as Caliban was engulfed in a Warp Storm of epic proportions. The immense strain these powerful psychic forces placed upon the planet, in combination with the tectonic shifting and cracking caused by the orbital bombardment, caused the entire planet to heave and twist itself into oblivion. Caliban shattered, breaking apart into countless chunks of rock. The planet was entirely ripped apart and destroyed, the debris sucked into the Warp.

The Rock at Present

The only thing that remained of the Dark Angels' former homeworld was a large chunk of rock the size of a large asteroid. The huge fortress-monastery where the Lion and Luther had fought survived the conflagration, protected by gravitic force field emitters of awesome power. The monastery of Angelicasta and the huge chunk of bedrock of Caliban had held together when the rest of the planet had shattered. This was all that was left of their once proud and magnificent homeworld. The Dark Angels flew down to the surface of the planet that had survived the Warp Storm and gazed about them in horror at what was left. The great fortress of Aldurukh had been razed to the ground. At the heart of the ruined wasteland they discovered a mentally shattered Luther. Unable to get a coherent answer from their prisoner, the former second-in-command of the I Legion kept babbling on incoherently. Of the Lion there was no sign.

Following the destruction of Caliban, the Dark Angels drilled deep into the old bedrock and rebuilt the ruins into a vast new complex with advanced Imperial technology worthy of a Chapter of Astartes. The fortress-monastery is known officially as Angelicasta (the Tower of Angels) but was once commonly referred to as "The Rock" just like its ancient predecessor Aldurukh. The Rock has been equipped with massive Warp-Engines, enabling faster-than-light transit through the Immaterium and across the entire galaxy. The Rock itself does not stay in any one system for long, at most only for a few generations. The Chapter gathers recruits from each world at which the Rock pauses.

Larger than the heaviest class of star ship, the Rock is armed with enough firepower to devastate an entire fleet. The cliff-sides are studded with multiple gun turrets, lance batteries, torpedo tubes and observation blisters. It also possesses cavernous docking bays able to accommodate many hundreds of smaller vessels. As the Rock travels across the void of space, it is surrounded by swarms of lesser craft, such as Thunderhawk gunships and transporters and escort frigates. Atop the Rock rises Angelicasta -- the Tower of Angels -- the ruined fortress-monastery of The Order within which the Lion once fought the Arch-Betrayer. Even to this day, the tower remains undisturbed and eerily silent, protected by the same gravitic force fields that shielded it during the destruction of Caliban. None know what secrets lie forgotten within its dark halls, for even the Dark Angels themselves dare not set foot upon its hallowed ground, and never shall, until the Lion walks amongst them once more.

The warrens beneath The Rock are where the Dark Angels bring their Fallen Angels brethren to be redeemed by their Interrogator-Chaplains. It is believed by the Inquisition to hold many other secrets of critical importance to the Imperium. Beneath the shattered ruins of The Order's greatest fortress-monastery lie many dark secrets. The further one penetrates to its rocky core, the closer one comes to uncovering all the secrets of the Dark Angels. At the very heart of the gargantuan Rock, lies its deepest, darkest and dankest dungeon. There, kept alive for ten thousand years inside a stasis field, languishes the broken man who was once Luther. Only when a Dark Angel reaches the rank of Master (Company Captain) does he truly learn all the secrets of the Dark Angels, but this final secret is known only to the Supreme Grand Master, the Master of the Chapter. Incurably insane, Luther has thwarted the attempts of every Supreme Grand Master to make him repent to date. Luther simply rants and raves that he has no need of confession or repentance, for one day Lion El'Jonson will return and forgive him for his sins against the Emperor.

Sources

• Codex: Angels of Death (2nd Edition), pp. 12-13
• Codex: Dark Angels (4th Edition), p. 10
• Deathwatch Core Rulebook (RPG), p. 44