Index Astartes: The Heralds of Morkai

 The Heralds of Morkai 

Introduction: 

Striking from the void in armor the color of the midnight sky, with fangs bared and blades drawn the Heralds of Morkai appear without warning, strike without mercy, and vanish without a trace. Many enemies of the Imperium have come to fear their own shadows after encountering this strange and savage chapter. In a short span of years the Heralds of Morkai have gained a reputation for their brutal yet efficient methods and their mastery of ambush and stealth tactics.

Origins: 

The Heralds of Morkai are a recent addition to the ranks of the Adeptus Astartes. Established during the early years of the Indomitus Crusade during the Ultima Founding the Heralds of Morkai were created initially with a core body of veterans from the Unnumbered Sons of Russ, split off from the ranks of the Grayshields and formed into a new successor chapter of the Space Wolves. Records from the founding of the chapter mention the Imperium awarding the Heralds of Morkai a chapter homeworld and recruiting domain yet all mentions of where this recruiting world may be or what it may be called have been redacted. To all intents and purposes the chapter appears to the Imperium as a fleet based formation, operating from a sizable fleet of rapid strike vessels and assault cruisers. Only a single vessel in the chapter fleet is larger than a strike cruiser while the chapter possesses nearly twice as many escort-sized craft of a typical Ultima Founding Chapter. These vessels are employed by the Heralds of Morkai to swiftly transport small strike teams far and wide across a conflict zone or region of space, sowing chaos and fear in the ranks of the enemy, disrupting supply lines, assassinating officers, disabling communication and supporting beleaguered Imperial forces. To their enemies the Heralds appear to be everywhere and nowhere at once, striking from unseen quarters with unstoppable force only to melt away in the face of stern resistance or counter-attack. Enemy reinforcements find themselves cut-off, scattered and ambushed while enemy assault troops find their target zones empty of threats, the Heralds long gone, leaving nothing behind but mines and trip-falls. To their Imperial allies the Heralds appear as unusual and unsettling. Grim, dour warriors who move about with a lupine grace, their thin, rangy faces sporting knotted beards and swirling tattoos of blue-ink and their armor sporting totems and trophies of pelts, fangs and claws. The mark of Russ is clear on the features and mannerisms of the Heralds but in many other respects their behavior and attitudes are a far cry from the boisterous and proud Sons of Russ. Grim, dour and merciless the Heralds of Morkai are a bitter and bloody brotherhood of silent killers more accustomed to slitting throats in the darkness than the crash and bang of open battle. 

 

Organization:

 

Unlike their primogenitor chapter, the Space Wolves, the Heralds of Morkai follow the dictates of the Codex Astartes very closely. The pack structure, markings and priests of the Space Wolves are not reflected in the organization of the Heralds of Morkai at all. In part this is because the chapter was formed from the Unnumbered Sons of Russ, its members have never visited Fenris or ever met acting priests or packs of the Space Wolves. Some consideration was made for trying to recreate the structure of the founding chapter from what records the Heralds had available but ultimately the chapter command decided that the training and experience of their warriors was already so heavily influenced by the Codex and the doctrines of Mars that trying to shift the structure of the chapter was unnecessary at best and counterproductive at worst. Thus the Heralds of Morkai operate more like a successor of the Ultramarines than a successor of the Space Wolves. The chapter maintains Techmarines, Apothecaries, Librarians and Chaplains instead of the Iron Priests, Wolf Priests and Rune Priests of the Space Wolves. The chapter's warriors are organized into squads identified by their specialty, battle-line, assault and support. Instead of the Great Companies of the Space Wolves the chapter is ordered into ten companies, with the 1st being the Veteran Company, the 2nd-5th companies being battle companies, the 6th and 7th companies the Tactical Support, the 8th the Assault Support, the 9th the Heavy Support, and the 10th the Scout or Recon Company.

 

Because of the stealth-focused combat doctrines of the chapter the Heralds of Morkai field many more Vanguard and Phobos-variant armored units than a typical Ultima Founding Chapter. It is not uncommon for up to half of the warriors of the chapter to be equipped with MK X Phobos armor at any given time and there have been more than a few campaigns fought by the chapter where entire companies, in addition to the 10th, have fielded equipped in the lighter stealth armor of the Primaris Marines. Many Captains, Lieutenants and Librarians of the chapter prefer Phobos armor and wear it as standard and even the Chapter Master of the Heralds of Morkai favors the lighter armor variant, in addition to a jump pack and custom lightning claws. Those battle-brothers not equipped in Phobos armor tend towards very mobile and assault focused equipment with the chapter fielding many bikes, speeders, jump pack units and grav tanks in its line of battle. When the stealth units have pinned down and trapped an enemy in ambush the chapter will then send in rapid and heavy assault elements to crush the encircled enemy in a single devastating assault before rapidly withdrawing back into the shadows from whence they came. Such tactics are accomplished by the utilization of many mobile assault elements with the chapter heavily favoring the Invictor Tactical Warsuit and Impulsor grav-transports and Gladiator battle-tanks.

Combat Doctrine: 

As their name indicates the Heralds of Morkai have adopted the tactics of the favored followers of the two-headed wolf of Fenris. Stealth, ambush, hit-and-run, assassination, sabotage, misdirection and terror are the tactics of choice for the Heralds of Morkai. Executed through the heavy employment of Phobos-armored battle-brothers equipped specifically for silent and stealthy operations the squads of the Heralds of Morkai are expert infiltrators, snipers, assassins and cut-throats. The lives of countless enemies of the Imperium have ended on the end of a combat knife or with their brains blown-out by a high-caliber sniper round. When the situation requires more direct application of force the Heralds of Morkai emphasis speed and maneuverability, heavily favoring Outrider bikes, Invader ATVs, and Impulsor grav-APCs to deploy rapid assault elements into the heart of the enemy with incredible speed. Supported by Gladiator and Repulsor grav-tanks, Redemptor Dreadnoughts and Invictor Warsuits the assault forces of the Heralds of Morkai strike fast and with overwhelming force, applying maximum firepower and lethality against the weakest point of an enemy formation, smashing the foe into tatters and destroying the remaining elements piece-meal. Not content merely to defeat their foe the Heralds of Morkai are merciless in their execution, often taking great care in ensuring that not a single solitary enemy survives any encounter, as well as striving to leave not a single corpse, fragment of armor or errant bolt shell is left for reinforcements to discover when they eventually arrive. More than a few campaigns the Heralds have participated in has lasted months before the enemy even discovers the nature, let alone the identity, of the forces assailing them. Often by the time the enemy realizes they are facing the Heralds of Morkai it is already too late and their defeat has been ensured.

Though the fleet elements of the Heralds of Morkai are considerable the chapter eschews protracted fleet engagements, avoiding direct void combat whenever possible and using ambush tactics and infiltration to destroy their foes, even in the depths of space. Only a few records exist that record sizable fleet engagements performed by the Heralds of Morkai, and always these were conducted in situations where the enemy could not be effectively faced in any other way. Even then after-action reports often indicate significant damage and disruption caused to the enemy fleets even before engagement with the Heralds of Morkai, resulting from sabotage, infiltration and assassination. These reports indicate that when direct combat cannot be avoided the Heralds of Morkai still seek to stack the deck in their favor by secreting strike teams aboard the enemy fleet long ahead of the battle to lay the groundwork for the space battle to come. 

Beliefs: 

Despite largely discarding the structures and doctrines of the Space Wolves the Heralds of Morkai are nevertheless the Sons of Russ and hold the Primarch in the highest regard. The chapter venerates the Emperor as mankind's greatest warrior, not a god as taught by the Imperial Church and the chapter has, over time, rejected the fundamental teachings of the Machine Cult indoctrinated into the sleeping minds of the Grayshields during their long sleep in cryo-stasis. Instead the Chaplains of the Chapter teach the neophytes of the Heralds of Morkai all that they know of the beliefs and traditions of Fenris, half-remembered stories passed down from the initial veterans of the Unnumbered Sons of Russ or gathered from records and texts the chapter has discovered about their Primogenitors. Such teachings are basic in the extreme for the Heralds have no direct knowledge of Fenris or its culture and have managed to make no direct contact with elements of the primogenitor chapter at this point and so must rely on what second-hand knowledge and fragmentary memories of the Indomitus veterans they can gather. Nevertheless this has been enough to form the chapter's identity around the twin-headed wolf of Fenris, Morkai, and venerate the ways of stealth and pack hunting above all other forms of combat. Fragments of other aspects of Fenris' culture including the taking of certain trophies, and the use of runic script in adorning armor have all become common practice among the warriors of the chapter.

It is only a matter of time before the Heralds of Morkai make contact with elements of the Space Wolves, or perhaps make a concerted pilgrimage to Fenris itself, at which point the chapter cult is likely to greatly expand and refine itself as fresh knowledge of Fenris and the Space Wolves is discovered. What effect such an event will have on the organization or wider doctrines of the chapter remains to be seen, it may yet turn out that the Heralds will, in time evolve to better reflect the structure and doctrines of the primogenitor chapter, or may continue to operate as a heavily stealth-focused but codex-compliant chapter for centuries to come.

 

Notable Figures:

Chapter Master Sigmund Stormclaw

-The current master of the Heralds of Morkai is a veteran of the Indomitus Crusade. One of the first of the Unnumbered Sons of Russ to be awoken from stasis Sigmund fought in some of the earliest battles of the Indomitus Crusade, serving alongside the Avenging Son, the returned Primarch of the Ultramarines Roboute Guilliman. During that time Sigmund learned well the value of misdirection and subterfuge, seeing what many of his fellow Adeptus Astartes did not, that much of what the Crusade did was symbolic and political, as well as strategic, military and logistical. Perhaps in other circumstances Sigmund would have grown into a hot-headed berserker so typical of the Sons of Russ but his experiences in the crusade tempered Sigmund and taught him the value of patience, the importance not just of striking hard and well, but with perfect timing and at the most optimal place as well. The most savage and skillful blow that glances off of a raised shield is wasted effort, where a hidden stab to the heart, unseen and unguarded against can do far more damage. Having risen through the ranks of the Grayshields to command a whole chapter of the Unnumbered Sons the veteran commander was chosen after some years to take command of a whole new chapter of the Ultima Founding, a thousand of his fellow Unnumbered Sons of Russ under a new name and a new badge would be his to command. Sigmund has taken these warriors and molded them into the image of the grim twin-headed Morkai and forged them into a deadly and patient band of murderous hunters and killers almost without peer. For his part Sigmund has used his position of command to commission a highly customized set of wargear for his own personal use, including a master-crafted suit of MK X Phobos armor, a custom jump pack, a pair of retractable lightning claws and a master-work bolt pistol have transformed the former line-captain of the Crusade into a silent and deadly assassin able to ghost through the thermals of a midnight sky to fall upon unsuspecting enemies unseen and unheard and strike with maximum lethality. 

 

Master of Sanctity Yngvar Direfist

Chief Librarian Baldur Ravenclaw

-Eldest and most powerful of the chapter's Librarians it has been the teachings of Baldur Ravenclaw that has helped mold the chapter's psykers into stealthy killers, able to wield the shadows as weapons and cloak themselves and their allies in darkness. Many strike teams of the chapter's infiltrators and saboteurs are accompanied by one of the Vanguard Librarians of the chapter's Librarius.

Chief Apothecary Oleg Skinweaver

Master of the Forge Trond Ironhelm

First Captain Halstein the One-eyed

-Rare among the chapters of the Adeptus Astartes, or even those of the Ultima Founding, First Captain Halstein the One-eyed often takes to the field in Phobos Armor, and many of the chapters veterans are deployed as veteran Reiver squads, armed with powered-blades and skull-faced helms to sow terror and dread in their foes even as they reap them with bloody blades. The first company of the Heralds of Morkai also maintains dedicated squads of veteran Eliminator snipers, the best marksmen in the chapter who have racked up more kills with their specialized rifles than many Space Marines will in their whole lives on open battlefields armed with bolter and chainsword.

Chapter Ancient Lief Bitterblood 

-It is a grim joke among the warriors of the chapter that the position of the Ancient is at best unnecessary, often Lief will overhear warriors of the chapter mocking that enemies rarely, if ever, see the standard of the chapter, and those that do won't live to tell about it. Even Lief, the bearer of the chapter standard, understands that his position is more ceremonial than practical, few battles of the chapter call upon or require the services of a standard bearer, let alone the rare and sacred chapter banner. Lief's grim determination to continue to uphold his duties and honor his responsibilities have earned him the half respectful, half mocking honorific of Bitterblood. Whatever his brothers may call him though Lief is a proud and competent fighter who has more and more frequently used his position of rank to force himself into deployments, accompanying various battle-forces whether they want his presence or not and unfurling the chapter banner in battle even if no foe will see it. He does this for the honor of the chapter, the Primarch, and his brothers, whether they like it or not.