The Honor Guard of the Primarchs

 

 The Honor Guard of the Primarchs

The Primarchs of the Imperium, each a giant of incredible proportions, armored in the finest war plate humanity can craft and wielding weapons of ancient and impossibly deadly power, their very presence enough to shatter the minds of lesser beings. In truth none of the Primarchs truly needed a bodyguard of any kind, even the transhuman might of the Legiones Astartes unable to keep up with the rampaging power of a Primarch unleashed. Yet virtually all of the Primarchs maintained an honor guard of some kind, perhaps for purely ceremonial purposes or to honor and recognize the achievements of their sons. Here is a list of those Honor Guard and the known details of their organization, equipment and use. 

Legion I - The Dark Angels - The Deathwing Companions

-Within the Dark Angels Legion there existed six different warrior orders and a wide myriad of lesser known and more mysterious orders and sub-sects within the Legion, many of them secret and whose purpose and membership were known only to the Legion's Primarch, Lion El'Johnson. The order that most resembled an honor guard were the Deathwing, and within that august brotherhood the warriors known as the Companions stood above the rest. To be granted the position of a Deathwing Companion a warrior of the legion had to have taken a mortal blow meant for their charge and survived, proving their willingness to sacrifice their own lives to protect their brothers. In battle they would form bodyguards for the Legion's senior officers and elite strike forces to break the most stubborn foe. Of the six orders of the old Legion only two, the Deathwing and Ravenwing still exist in the modern chapter. The Deathwing of the forty-first millennium are similar to their ancient brethren but now bear the burden of knowing the darkest secrets of the chapter and the old Legion, the knowledge of the existence of the Fallen and the responsibility to hunt down and exact vengeance on the traitors. Membership in the Inner Circle of the Deathwing is a necessary component of advancement in the modern chapter and only those battle-brothers who have proven their loyalty and reliability beyond doubt are considered for elevation into this select brotherhood.


Legion III - The Emperor's Children - The Phoenix Guard 

-The personal retinue of the Primarch Fulgrim were known as the Phoenix Guard. Among the ranks of the Emperor's Children there existed several elite formations favored by the Primarch, including the Palatine Blades, but it was the elite terminator armor clad warriors of the Phoenix Guard who acted as Fulgrim's bodyguard and chosen retinue in all things. Armored in the most advanced Tartaros-pattern tactical dreadnought armor and bearing powered energy-spears the Phoenix Guard made for a deadly and all but unstoppable tide of armor and killing fury. The outbreak of the Horus Heresy would see the Phoenix Guard be among the first warriors of the legions to stain their blades with the blood of their brothers, the retinue of Fulgrim murdering the honor guard of the Primarch Ferrus Manus shortly before the Istvaan III Dropsite Massacre when Ferrus refused to join Fulgrim and the traitors. In the battles that would come much of the organization and doctrines of the Emperor's Children would collapse as their desperate need for sensory stimulus and excess stole the perfection and discipline of the legion and turned the Emperor's Children into a motley mob of deranged lunatics. There is no indication that the Phoenix Guard still exist in the forty-first millennium in any notable way, individual members of that order may still live and fight to this day but the order and its purpose have certainly been lost. 

Legion IV - The Iron Warriors - The Iron Circle 

-Perturabo, the Lord of Iron, was infamously cruel and abusive towards his own legion. When he initially took command of the legion he was so disappointed by the comparative lack of victories the IV Legion had acquired compared to their fellows that he ordered the legion be decimated, one in ten battle-brothers cut down by their comrades. From then on Perturabo commanded the Iron Warriors pitilessly, treating his own men with little more regard then he would for a bolt shell or a combat blade. When his personal bodyguard failed to prevent Imperial Fists boarders from reaching his inner sanctum during the disastrous Battle of Phall the Primarch of the IV Legion was incensed. The surviving members of his guard were disbanded and replaced with hulking battle automata of Perturabo's own design. Based on the Domitar battle-robots of the Legio Cybernetica the customized Domitar-Ferrum replaced the standard weapons of the class for specially designed siege-shields and massive power hammers, as well as shoulder-mounted twin bolt cannon. Wherever Perturabo went from then on he was accompanied by a guard of his newly reforged Iron Circle, steadfastly loyal, immune to sleep, morale or manipulation the Iron Circle would never fail him the way his sons had. It is unknown if the Daemon Primarch Perturabo, isolated in his terrible fastness on the Daemon World of Medrengard still maintains a bodyguard of any kind, though if he does that guard may well still be the automata of the Iron Circle, perhaps now infused with the power of shackled daemons and their forms twisted beyond all recognition.

Legion V - The White Scars - The Keshig

-The personal honor guard of Jaghatai Khan the Keshig Terminators were among the most heavily armored and lethal warriors of the White Scars. The V Legion relied very heavily on lightning assault and rapid mobility operations and had relatively little use for slow and cumbersome units or formations such as terminators, however when the situation called on Jaghatain Khan to take the fight to the heart of the most dangerous foes he would call upon the services of his elite guard, led by the champion Qin Xa these elite warriors were more than capable of tearing their way through nearly any foe with remarkable speed and agility for warriors so heavily armored. Of all the patterns of terminator armor available the Tartaros-pattern favored by the Keshig was by far the most mobile, offering similar protection to other patterns but hampering the movements of its wearer far less than its fellow designs. Following the disappearance of Jaghatai Khan into the Eldar Webway and the breaking of the Legions the Keshig were more or less dissolved. The term may still be in use to refer to the command squads or chapter honor guard of the White Scars but the formation as it was in the days of the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy is no more.

Legion VI - The Space Wolves - Varagyr Terminators

-The elite of the elite within the VI Legion were the personal bodyguard of Leman Russ, his chosen Varagyr Terminator veterans. Hand-picked from among the most battle-hardened packs of the Legion the Varagyr were given the finest weapons and armor the Imperium could provide these warriors were honored to fight at the side of their lord and Primarch no matter how dire the battle or how lethal the foe. The Varagyr served loyally alongside Russ even during the Scouring of Prospero and the VI Legion assault on the Vengeful Spirit. They would continue to serve Russ until well into the Scouring when the Primarch of the Space Wolves was suddenly taken by a vision during the feast of the Emperor's Ascension and suddenly, without warning, chose to depart the Space Wolves and disappear into the unknown reaches of the galaxy. When Russ departed his Varagyr went with him, save one, the youngest warrior of his guard the renowned hero Bjorn the Fell-Handed. Alone of Russ' favored champions to remain behind Bjorn would eventually take command of the chapter and begin a series of Great Hunts searching for the lost Primarch but to this day these hunts have failed to discover the location of the lost lord of the VI Legion. To this day the elite of the Space Wolves are formed into cadres of mighty heroes known as the Wolf Guard, a modern iteration of the Varagyr elite from the days of the VI Legion. The mightiest of the Wolf Guard still take to the battlefields of the forty-first millennium clad in heavy suits of tactical dreadnought armor and wield devastatingly powerful weapons from the relic armories of the chapter.

Legion VII - Imperial Fists - The Huscarls

-Unlike some of the other honor guard formation of the Legiones Astartes the retinue of the Primarch Rogal Dorn, lord of the VII Legion the Imperial Fists, does not appear to have a standard set of equipment or weaponry, rather is made up of well armed and armored veterans of the VII Legion who are entrusted with the security of Rogal Dorn and his primary domains in the Imperial Palace on Terra, the star fortress Phalanx and wherever else he may go. Given that Rogal Dorn was given the responsibility of fortifying the Imperial Palace on Terra the Primarch of the VII was put in a position to be regularly exposed to a wide variety of security threats most Primarchs did not have to deal with. Exposed regularly to some of the most influential, powerful and dangerous individuals in the Imperium on a daily basis and required to move through domains where the Imperial Fists were not the ultimate authority in all things like they would have been aboard their legion strike craft at the leading edge of a Crusade Fleet the demands on the Huscarls were much higher than they would otherwise have been and likely the number of Huscarls was similarly considerably higher and their ranks more varied than typical honor guard formations. Certainly when called up on to fight alongside their liege lord the Huscarls regularly proved themselves among the deadliest fighters and most hardened veterans of the Legiones Astartes. The Huscarls as a formation do not appear to have survived the breaking of the Legion, nor did most of the unique fighting orders of the Imperial Fists, such as the Phalanx Warder or Templar Brethren. The modern Imperial Fists chapter maintains honor guard in the standard definition of the Codex Astartes, a small body of elite warriors hand-selected from the veterans of the chapter, equipped with artificer armor and relic blades and assigned to protect the greatest heroes of the chapter.

 

Legion VIII - Night Lords - Atramentar Terminators

-Of all the Primarchs of the Legiones Astartes none could rely on or trust their subordinates less than Konrad Curze of the Night Lords. Recruited from the criminals, murderers and psychopaths of Nostramo's night-shrouded world the merciless and fickle killers of the Night Lords were treacherous and deceitful long before their lord joined his fate to the rebellion of the Warmaster Horus. To ensure the commanders of the Legion would follow orders and obey their liege the Primarch Konrad Curze employed the elite first company of the Legion, the Atramentar, as a personal cadre of enforcers and executioners. Assigned as bodyguards to the senior legion commanders the Atramentar were peerless fighters and excellent protection for the masters of the legion but also merciless executioners should the officer they served ever betray their lord. Following the death of Captain Sevatar the first company of the Legion appears to have somewhat lost its cohesion and direction, the replacement for Sevatar, the warrior known as Zso Sahaal was not able to hold the Legion together the way the darkly charismatic former first captain had. After Konrad Curze was slain by the assassin M'Shen the Night Lords Legion ceased to exist as a functionally unified body, splintering into disparate warbands with few, if any, ties of loyalty or brotherhood between them. For their part the Atramentar appear to have splintered as well, small groups adhering to whatever powerful chaos lord of the Legion they respected or supported and serving as an elite and deadly bodyguard to that lord or sorcerer.

Legion IX - Blood Angels - Sanguinary Guard 

-Led by the legendary warrior Azkaellon, borne aloft on winged jump packs and wearing armor of burnished gold the Sanguinary Guard were ever to be found at the side of their lord, whether in peace or in war. In battle the Sanguinary Guard would form a golden shield of ceramite and blades to protect the flanks and back of their lord in the thickest of battles, hurtling out of the sky on wings of flame to smite the Emperor's foes with bolters and masterwork power blades. Off of the battlefield the Sanguinary Guard worked tirelessly to protect their liege from any threat, securing his private quarters, the bridge of the Red Tear, the flagship of the IX Legion Fleet or his apartments on Macragge during the short-lived time of the Imperium Secundus, or on Terra during the months prior to the coming of the Warmaster's fleets and the Siege of Terra. Assassination, infiltration, sabotage, these were all threats the Sanguinary Guard were ever vigilant to protect against, doing their best to keep their liege safe from all threats. Yet even the best of the Legiones Astartes cannot protect a Primarch from another Primarch and the personal quarters of Sanguinius were violated by Konrad Curze after he infiltrated Macragge and Azkaellon, commander of the Sanguinary Guard, lost an arm to the twisted monster. Perhaps the greatest failing of the Sanguinary Guard would come later however, during the last days of the Siege of Terra when Dorn, Sanguinius and the Emperor all took part in a daring teleport assault against the Vengeful Spirit, flagship of the traitor Warmaster Horus. The entire body of the Sanguinary Guard took part in that assault save Azkaellon alone who was ordered to remain behind by Sanguinius himself. The Primarch of the IX Legion would perish in that boarding assault alongside the entire strength of his personal retinue. Yet despite this terrible tragedy the Sanguinary Guard would rebuild and today thirty or so of these storied heroes in golden armor serve as the honor guards of the Blood Angels Chapter to this day, accompanying the greatest heroes of Baal into battle. 

Legion X - The Iron Hands - The Morlock Terminators 

-The Primarch of the X Legion, Ferrus Manus, maintained an honor guard of hand-picked veterans clad in the finest Terminator Armor the Primarch and his forge masters could design. The Morlocks served as the retinue and bodyguard of Ferrus Manus and were present when the Primarch of the III Legion, Fulgrim, attempted to sway his brother to the cause of the traitor Warmaster Horus shortly before the Istvaan V Dropsite Massacre. When Ferrus Manus refused to betray the Emperor the elite bodyguard of Fulgrim, his Phoenix Guard, struck treacherously and beheaded the unsuspecting Morlock Terminators waiting with them for the meeting between Primarchs to end. Further enraged by the treachery of his closest brother and the insult to his legion Ferrus led the loyalist counter-attack on Isvaan V. Followed into the thickest fighting of the Urgall Depression by his remaining Morlock Terminator elite Ferrus confronted Fulgrim. Despite his rage and skill Ferrus could not overcome the chaos-infused strength of Fulgrim and was cut down, beheaded by the traitor Primarch and his warriors slaughtered. Only a handful of the Morlocks survived the massacre, and fewer still survived to see the end of the Horus Heresy and the defeat of the traitor Warmaster. It is unclear whether the order was reformed in the aftermath of the Horus Heresy but given that no such body exists in the Iron Hands Chapter today it is likely that the Morlocks were one of the many traditions and orders cast aside in the breaking of the legions and the formation of the modern Iron Hands chapter.

Legion XII - The World Eaters - Devourer Terminators

-The chosen elite of the World Eaters and designated bodyguards of the Primarch Angron the Devourers numbered only twelve members and each aspirant to this brotherhood had to earn their place by slaying an incumbent in a duel to the death. Envisaged as the ultimate honor a battle-brother of the legion could earn in truth the Devourers were something of a disgrace. Completely ignored by Angron who did not want, or need a bodyguard, cared nothing for counsel, fellowship, or honoring his favored sons the Devourers were essentially useless and often forgotten about by their lord and Primarch. In battle the Devourers would try to follow their lord, to stay close to him and protect him, but such was the savage fury and incredible speed of the Primarch of the XII Legion that he would often leave them far behind, utterly careless for their efforts or desire to protect him and reckless in his own exploits. Although the members of the Devourers tried to remain proud of their service and hold their position as an honor few others in the Legion seemed to give the order much appreciation or attention and the only counsel that Angron seemed to favor was that of Captain Kharn. In the wake of Angron's transformation into a Daemon Prince of Khorn the purpose of the Devourers became even less important than ever before and it is unclear whether the order remained even then and even if it did it certainly did not survive the Horus Heresy and the eventual sundering of the Legion into a scattering of different warbands.

Legion XIII - The Ultramarines - Invictarus Suzerains

-The elite retinue of the Primarch Roboute Guilliman were the Invictarus Suzerains. Armored in ornate mkIII artificer power armor, armed with deadly power axes and massive breacher shields the Invictarus Suzerains were capable of absorbing enormous punishment and dealing it out in kind. Among the most veteran and accomplished warriors and heroes of the XIII Legion the Invictarus Suzerains were an august and highly respected order who served the Primarch Guilliman on and off the battlefield. Advisers and counselors as well as soldiers these heroes of the Legion were well rounded and highly educated scholars, diplomats, philosophers and logisticians as well as peerless warriors, tacticians and leaders. In the aftermath of the Horus Heresy and following the mortal wounding of Roboute Guilliman the Invictarus Suzerains were either disbanded or reorganized into a standard codex compliant honor guard. The Honor Guard of the Ultramarines Chapter were composed of a Chapter Champion, armed with a pair of powered dueling blades and ornate artificer armor, a Chapter Ancient who carried the relic standard of the chapter and wore similarly ornate and master-forged armor, and two or more honor guardsmen chosen from amongst the ranks of the chapters greatest veterans, equipped with artificer armor, relic power Axes of Ultramar and master-crafted boltguns these squads of heroes accompanied the greatest lords of the chapter into battle, heroes such as Marneus Calgar himself and Chief Librarian Tigurius among others. The honor guard of the Ultramarines would be reformed yet again with the return of the Primarch Roboute Guilliman. The newly dubbed Victrix Guard wore armor similar to that of the chapter honor guard and were typically armed with power swords and storm shields. Apart from their martial abilities those Ultramarines picked for the Victrix Guard were chosen as much for their abilities as leaders, diplomats and philosophers as their martial or strategic abilities. As yet the Victrix Guard are the only Primarch retinue to have been organized and reformed after the breaking of the Legions.

Legion XIV - The Death Guard - The Deathshroud Terminators

-At all times at least two of the elite, nameless warriors of the Deathshroud, chosen from veterans believed to have been slain in battle, would ever stand within seven times seven paces of their lord, the Primarch Mortarion, master of the XIV Legion, the Death Guard. Equipped with suits of advanced Tartaros-pattern Terminator Armor and wielding massive manreaper power scythes and arm-mounted flamers fueled by chem munitions the Deathshroud Terminators were devastating and merciless killers whose very presence promised painful and terrible death to all who stood against them. When not acting as bodyguards to the legion's commanders or Mortarion himself the Deathshroud would form the tip of the spear in forlorn hope assaults and could be found in the thickest and most brutal fighting on any battlefield. Following the corruption of the Death Guard by the powers of Nurgle the Deathshroud became the representatives and enforcers of Mortarion, used to convey the wishes of their daemon Primarch master to the officers and specialists of the Legion. Often assigned as bodyguards, even to this day, the presence of the Deathshroud is a double-edged sword, both blessing and curse even to their allies. For while they may protect their charges from harm they may also exact the displeasure of Mortarion should that charge fail in their duties to the Legion or Nurgle.

Legion XV - The Thousand Sons - The Sehkmet Terminator Cabal

-The closest thing to a bodyguard the Primarch Magnus maintained were the cabals of the Sehkmet Terminators. Raised from the elite ranks of the First Fellowship of the XV Legion, the Thousand Sons, the Sehkmet were both some of the finest warriors in the Legion and among its most powerful sorcerers as well. Armored in advanced suits of tactical dreadnought armor and carrying some of the finest blades and guns the Legion could provide the Sehkmet were a truly terrifying foe to face. Empowered not just physically but psychically as well the very minds and souls of these elite terminator-clad warriors were weapons every bit as deadly as their guns and force axes. Often known outside the Legion as the Scarab Occult Terminators, after the jade-green scarabs affixed to their armor in recognition of their brotherhood, the order of the Scarab Occult continues to exist to this day. However, like every brotherhood within the Thousand Sons, the vast majority of the Sehkmet Terminator Cabal's members were burnt to dust in the terrible Rubric of Ahriman. Only a handful of Scarab Occult Sorcerers survived the rubric, the remaining members being transformed into unliving suits of empty armor filled with the dust of their obliterated bodies and possessed by the diminished and largely non-sentient souls of the fallen battle-brothers. Still powerful and deadly warriors the Scarab Occult Rubricae are shepherded into battle by Terminator Armored Sorcerers of the Legion, their brutal weapons and deadly blades directed by the will of their still living brethren.

Legion XVI - The Sons of Horus - The Justaerin Terminators

-The elite first company of the Luna Wolves, later the Sons of Horus, and later the Black Legion, would become among the earliest and most ardent supporters of tactical dreadnought armor. In time the bulk of the first company of the Sons of Horus would come to wear heavily customized suits of jet-black Terminator armor. Known as the Justaerin the elite first company served as the bodyguard and chief enforcers of the Primarch Horus Lupercal, the first Warmaster of the Imperium and the Primarch who would become the arch-traitor. Famed for their brutality, efficiency and prowess in battle the Justaerin and their lord Horus would often form the tip of the spear in the famed assaults of the Luna Wolves, cutting the head from the enemy as they struck right at the heart of their foe, slaughtering the enemies greatest champions and beheading their leadership, figuratively and literally as the case may be. After the fall of Horus the Justaerin would eventually become no more, one of many orders that would not survive the chaotic splintering of the traitor legions as they retreated from Terra and fled into the Eye of Terror. Their master, the First Captain Ezekyle Abaddon, would however rise in time to become the new dread Warmaster of Chaos, uniting the traitor Legions under his rule and leading them in a series of devastating Black Crusades against the Imperium culminating in the 13th Black Crusade that broke Cadia, destroyed the Necron Pylon network and spilled the power of the warp in a Great Rift that sundered the galaxy in half. Under Abaddon's leadership the Sons of Horus would be reforged into the Black Legion, adopting the colors and panoply of the Justaerin in their entirety and following the leadership of Abaddon.

Legion XVII - The Word Bearers - The Ashen Circle

-Of all the Primarchs of the Legiones Astartes the lord of the XVII Legion, the Word Bearers, was easily the least likely to take to the field of battle and the one who focused the least on his martial and strategic aspects. Lorgar was much more focused on the realms of the philosophical and spiritual. His Legion was heavily focused on the conversion of their conquered worlds into the faith of the Emperor, in the construction and consecration of cathedrals and places of worship and on the rooting out and destruction of heretical beliefs and divergent cultures. In truth Lorgar maintained no particular cadre of bodyguards but kept a large retinue of chaplains and spiritual leaders. Led by Kor Phaeron and First Chaplain Erebus it was the chaplains of the Word Bearers who made up the closest advisors and chief enforcers of Lorgar's will. However if the Word Bearers were said to have had an organization remotely resembling the honor guard and retinues of other Legions, before the outbreak of the Horus Heresy, it would be the Ashen Circle. This zealous cadre of assault troops was dedicated to erasing the holy works and heretical beliefs of the enemy as much as they were in destroying the military might and leadership of the foe. The axe rakes and hand-flamers wielded by these jump-pack equipped troops enabled them to tear down statues, burn books, scrolls and holy texts, and destroy monuments, frescoes, murals and mosaics depicting the faiths and deviant cultural beliefs of deviant societies. As one of the least martial legions and one of the earliest to be corrupted by chaos much of the structure of the Word Bearers devolved into the aberrant worship of chaos quickly and the ultimate fate of the Ashen Circle remains unknown. It is likely the order which was initially quite zealous in their faith of the Emperor may have been purged from the ranks of the Legion. However clearly not all held to their faith in the Emperor and the Ashen Circle in time became some of the most ardent enforcers of Lorgar's new creed and the worship of chaos. Despite this change in direction it is unknown if the Ashen Circle continues to exist in any form, no such organization or formation has been sighted in the ranks of the modern day Word Bearers Chaos Space Marines and it is likely the order was eventually disbanded in the wake of the retreat from Terra.

Legion XVIII - The Salamanders - The Pyre Guard

-During the Great Crusade the personal honor guard and retinue of the Primarch Vulkan, lord of the XVIII Legion the Salamanders, were an order known as the Pyre Guard. Numbering seven members at the time of the Istvaan V Dropsite Massacre the Pyre Guard were all hand-picked by Vulkan from the senior ranks of the legion. Each member of the Pyre Guard wore heavily customized artificer armor and bore a unique weapon of various kinds, many that were able to emit deadly flames in addition to whatever killing blade or crushing hammer-head the weapon possessed. Artellus Numeon served as the commander of the Pyre Guard and one of Vulkan's closest advisers and also served as the Captain of the Legion's elite 1st Company, the Firedrakes. Numeon would survive the dropsite massacre and escape Istvaan with the help of the Ultramarines hero Aeonid Thiel. Brought back to Macragge the captain of the Pyre Guard would be reunited with the lifeless body of Vulkan that had fallen from the sky, somehow escaped from the impossible labyrinth where he had been kept and tortured by Konrad Curze following his capture on Istvaan V. Determined to bring him home to Nocturne captain Numeon and those Salamanders gathered on Macragge set out to take Vulkan home and inter him beneath Mount Deathfire on Nocturne. Despite being opposed by the Death Guard the Salamanders were ultimately successful and Numeon sacrificed himself to restore Vulkan to life. After being restored Vulkan chose to embark on a journey to Terra, forsaking his battered and much depleted Legion to travel to seek out the Emperor. A trio of Salamanders led by Atok Abidemi made the journey with Vulkan, protecting him and aiding him in his trials to reach Terra ahead of the traitor Legions. Vulkan designated these Salamanders as his Draaksward, a replacement for the fallen Pyre Guard who were at last wiped out with the death of Artellus Numeon. Once arriving on Terra the Primarch Vulkan did not make his presence known to the defenders or any of his brothers on the Throneworld but travelled directly to the Golden Throne and took up a role protecting the sundered webway gates in the Imperial dungeon beneath the palace, a secret duty that his sons were sworn not to reveal to anyone. In the wake of the Horus Heresy the Pyre Guard were clearly never reconstituted and instead the modern chapter master acts as both the commander of the chapter and captain of the elite first company, still known as the Firedrakes. These elite Terminator-armored heroes of the chapter serve as both the veteran corps of the chapter and the honor guard of the chapter master.

Legion XIX - The Raven Guard - The Shadow Wardens

-The Shadow Wardens of the XIX Legion the Raven Guard formed the retinue and bodyguard of the Primarch Corax. While leading the prison rebellion on the prison moon of Lycaeus the followers of Corvus Corax were so concerned for his safety that they requested he accept a bodyguard, though he really didn't need it he ultimately relented and allowed a cadre of protectors to be formed. After being reunited with the Emperor and his legionary sons Corax reformed his Shadow Wardens from among the ranks of the Raven Guard, hand-picking from among the ranks veterans who manifested the strange abilities of the Raven Guard to blend with the shadows and remain hidden from nearly all sight. Whenever Corax went to war the Shadow Wardens would be ever watching over him, though often never seen save by Corax himself. When the Raven Guard fought on Istvaan V the bulk of the Legion was slaughtered in the Dropsite Massacre and in the aftermath the survivors were hastily reorganized. The Shadow Wardens who survived were disbanded and returned to the ranks as officers and specialists. Later, after having escaped Istvaan, the Primarch was eventually reunited with the former commander of the Shadow Wardens, the Gherith Arendi. Separated by the bulk of the legion during the dropsite massacre Arendi had managed to escape by using surviving Salamanders and Iron Hands as a distraction while he stole a shuttle and made it into orbit. Eventually Arendi was reunited with the Legion during the Liberation of Scarato. After returning to the legion Arendi was placed in command of Corax's newly formed honor guard known as the Black Guard. This formation would continue to serve and protect Corax until after the end of the Horus Heresy and the sundering of the legions. Breaking the Raven Guard Legion into a series of chapters Captain Arendi was made Chapter Master of the newly formed Black Guard chapter which continues to exist to this day.

Legion XX - The Alpha Legion - Lernaean Terminators

-I am Alpharius, this phrase has been said by more members of the Alpha Legion than can be counted and most of the time is said by individuals who are not, in fact, the Primarch Alpharius. Rarely did the Primarch of the XX Legion actually appear in person often choosing to use cut-outs or representatives to handle negotiations, diplomacy or take command of individual combat actions of the Legion. Sabotage, infiltration, assassination, misdirection and false flag operations were all common tactics favored by the Alpha Legion but when called on to use direct and terrible force the Alpha Legion were far from toothless. In situations where direct confrontation was unavoidable or maybe just preferable the Alpha Legion would employ the services of the legion's elite Lernaean Terminator squads. Despite not possessing the vast relic armories of the Dark Angels, or the master forge-wrights of the Iron Warriors, Iron Hands or Salamanders, the elite Lernaean Terminators of the Alpha Legion were perhaps the most well armed elite formations of any of the Legiones Astartes. Every member of the Lernaean Terminator Squads bears either a rare and priceless volkite weapon or may even carry into battle a ludicrously rare conversion beam cannon. Where the Alpha Legion procured such advanced weaponry in such numbers to outfit entire squads remains a mystery but in battle such devastating weaponry employed by the elite of the Legion, warriors wearing the most powerful Cataphractii-pattern terminator armor made for an unstoppable killing machine that rarely left any survivors to tell of their existence or prowess. Like much about the Alpha Legion the loyalties, organization and disposition of the legion either pre or post heresy is an almost complete mystery. Having fulfilled their bargain with the Warmaster prior to the Siege of Terra the Alpha Legion appears to have quit the field of the Heresy wars almost entirely, fading into the shadows and pursuing objectives of their own choosing. Whether the Alpha Legion remained a coherent force or splintered into varied warbands is a subject of debate and it is also unclear whether the Lernaean Terminator brotherhoods exist today. Certainly Terminator Squads in the colors of the Alpha Legion continue to serve in various chaos space marine warbands but none that match the description or bear the weaponry of the Lernaeans have been seen since the Horus Heresy.

The Custodian Guard - The Hetaeron Guard 

-While not a formation of the Legiones Astartes no list of notable honor guards should exclude the Hetaeron Guard. The entire ranks of the Custodian Guard, or the Ten Thousand as they are also called, serve as the extended bodyguard and retinue of the Emperor of Mankind. Yet within that rare and august brotherhood there is a rank that stand above the rest and serve as the closest and most elite bodyguard of the Emperor. These are the Hetaeron Guard. Equipped with the finest weapons and armor ever forged by the Imperium of man, chosen from the most elite and accomplished heroes of the Custodes and charged with protecting the Sanctum Imperialis, the very throne-room of the Emperor and the Golden Throne itself the Hetaeron Guard are warriors and bodyguards without peer. Out of the total ranks of the Legio Custodes exactly three hundred are chosen to serve as the Emperor's Companions and join the ranks of the Hetaeron Guard. 

 

I hope you have enjoyed seeing a glimpse into the varied bodyguard formations and elite retinues of the different Legions of the Space Marines!