Index Traitoris: Lions of Alba

[Lysimachus]

Index Traitoris: Lions of Alba

 

Pride's Fall

 

 

 

Throughout the long history of the Imperium of Man, there have been those who have chosen to stand against their people, their brothers and their Master. Many are corrupted by their own desires for power, knowledge or glory. But perhaps the most dangerous to face are those turned to darkness by misplaced pride and honour. Traitors motivated by selfishness and greed will falter if it will preserve their contemptible lives, but those certain of their own righteousness will fight ever onwards, with all the fury and resolve they showed as loyalists. Among such unabashed renegades stand the Lions of Alba.

 

Origins and Early History:

 

"We put too much stock in our past glories and histories; in the end, they are but ashes in the march of time."
The Champion (The Lions' Fall, Act I, Scene IV)

 

The Lions of Alba are a relatively young Chapter, that contradictory records date to both the 23rd and 24th Founding. Successors to the gene-seed of the noble Rogal Dorn, they were first lead by a cadre of veterans from another Imperial Fists successor, the Shields of Dorn. Once the new Chapter had acquired enough war materiel to be largely self-sufficient, it was directed towards the galactic northeast, to the edge of the region known as the Eye of Terror. The young Chapter spearheaded a crusade to reclaim systems lost to chaotic invasion several centuries before.

 

Amidst these conquered worlds they discovered one that, despite being vastly outmatched, had refused to bow down to its oppressors. The people of Alba, possessing no technology more sophisticated than steel blades and stone walls, had courageously fought a guerrilla war of resistance against the forces of Chaos but were finally on the verge of being wiped out. Impressed with the tenacity of the locals, the Marines intervened, destroying a vast force of traitors in open battle.

 

Days later, after conducting the necessary purity checks on the populace, the Chapter declared the world as its own through right of conquest. Alba became the location of the Chapter's Fortress Monastery as well as the primary source of their recruits. As a mark of respect to the great bravery shown by the common people of their new home, the Marines took the name Lions of Alba. Over the following centuries, the world and those of the surrounding systems prospered as never before under the watchful eye of the Chapter.

 

But all such golden ages must end...

 

The Old Master and the Three Captains:

 

"...And 'tis our fast intent. To shake all cares and business from our age; Conferring them on younger strengths, while we, Unburden'd crawl toward our death."
Chapter Master Leyr (The Lions' Fall, Act I, Scene I)

 

By the beginning of the 40th Millenium, the Lions of Alba had settled into their role of protecting the outlying Sectors around the northern rim of the Eye of Terror. They had been led for nearly five centuries by Chapter Master Leyr, a venerable warrior of campaigns and victories beyond counting. Respected though he was, Leyr had reached an age of more than nine hundred years and had decided that it was time for another, more vigorous warrior to lead the Lions into battle.

 

On Alba, amongst the feudal Lords that ruled over the populace, succession had ever been a convoluted affair, riddled with politicking, contention and even occasional bloodletting. Many of these traditions had become part of the Chapters' own way.

 

Brother-Captain Cordell of the 2nd Company, a proud but capable soldier, was held by many (including himself) as the natural and obvious choice to succeed Leyr. However, he had spent long years away on campaign, and in his absence Gorinel of the 3rd Company and Rygen of the 4th Company had worked to sour the relationship between Cordell and the elderly Leyr. Convinced by the words of his two subordinates, the ancient Master declared that a Chapter Conclave would be held to ratify his choice of successor.

 

On hearing of this, Cordell returned with all speed to Alba, sure that his time to reign had finally come. When he arrived and discovered his brother Captains' scheming, the conclave was riven by arguments and recriminations. The entire Chapter was divided and Leyr was once again placed at an impasse. Finally, Rygen, who had a reputation as a cunning strategist, stepped forward and declared that he would willingly share the mastery of the Chapter with his brother Gorinel, thereby healing the schism. While Cordell scoffed at the suggestion, Leyr was tired and eager to find any solution to his problem, even one that was less than perfect. He accepted Rygen's proposal, quietly stating that the two Captains would rule jointly when he stepped down.

 

Cordell's reaction was immediate and furious. He decried Leyr's decision as the weakness of an old man and demanded that the Chapter Master name a single successor. Though still bowed by age, Leyr responded angrily, his proud hearts fired by the insult his officer had delivered. Incensed, he ordered in a suddenly thunderous voice that if Cordell would not respect his wishes, the Captain and his men would be punished, banished from Alba to wander the stars for a hundred years. An angry curse died on Cordell's lips, quashed by his master's ire. With his head bowed, Cordell silently left the great hall, followed by his men and by Gorinel and Rygen's satisfied stares.

 

Chapter War:

 

"For the good of us all? If so, I cannot see it." 
Brother-Captain Cordell. (The Lions' Fall, Act III, Scene II)

 

The 2nd Company left Alba with heavy hearts, each one sure that they would not see their world again for many years. Strangely though, it would be only a matter of weeks before they would look upon Alba's green fields once again.

 

Only seventeen days after the conclusion of the conclave, Gorinel and Rygen, their patience for the vagaries of Leyr's great age worn thin, seized control of the Chapter and forced the venerable leader to announce his formal retirement. While Leyr outwardly accepted his fate, the canny old warrior quietly used his influence among the Chapters support staff to have a message sent to the 2nd Company, in which he apologized for his foolishness in alienating Cordell and revealed the treachery of the other two Captains. Cordell, headstrong as ever, reacted at once and turned his vessel around to return to Alba.

 

Even as the Strike Cruiser of the 2nd Company raced towards home, Leyr's duplicity had been uncovered. Chapter Master Gorinel, enraged at his predecessor's betrayal and the perceived slight against his own honour, reacted rashly. He stormed to Leyr's quarters, drawing his sidearm. With a single bolt shell, Gorinel angrily executed the Marine who had once been his mentor. As his rage slowly subsided, Gorinel realized that his impulsive action had killed all hope of a reconciliation between himself and Cordell just as surely as it had killed Leyr. On hearing of his brother's actions, Master Rygen immediately insisted that the Chapter be mobilized for battle, ready to face down the returning 2nd Company.

 

As Cordell's Strike Cruiser arrived in orbit above Alba, the rest of the Lions' Fleet moved to encircle the lone vessel. Cordell stubbornly insisted that he be allowed to speak to Leyr, and Gorinel and Rygen flatly refused. Prideful words and heated recriminations were exchanged, followed by challenges and insults. Who among the gathered Astartes fired first is unknown, but the results were inevitable. For a matter of minutes the skies of Alba were lit as if by a second sun as the Chapter turned upon itself.

 

Though Cordell ranked among the greatest leaders the Chapter had ever known, his fate would surely have been sealed were it not for the commanders of several of the Lions smaller escort vessels. Horrified by the murder of Leyr, they rebelliously opened a hole in the blockade around Alba and aided Cordell as he fled from the ambush. Together, they fought their way to the edge of the system and escaped into the warp. Gorinel and Rygen immediately launched a pursuit, declaring Cordell and all his followers to be renegades that had to be hunted down.

 

What followed was a series of running battles that burned across several systems, as the two Masters led their forces against Cordell's. The war between brothers raged for several months but eventually played itself out to its only possible conclusion. On Dardelio IV, Cordell and his outnumbered and poorly equipped forces were cornered and killed, butchered to the last man.

 

 

Lions of Alba Chapter Heraldry.

 

The Imperium:

 

"We have seen the worst of our time: machinations, hollowness, treachery - all ruinous disorders. They follow us disquietly to our graves."

Lord-Commander Glawster (The Lions Fall, Act I, Scene II)

 

However, the ponderous weight of the Imperium had already begun to move. Imperial authorities were alarmed by the reports of what had happened at Alba and by the violence spreading across the sub-sector. Lord-Commander Glawster of the Imperial Navy, an old friend of Leyr, had mobilized a task force to investigate further. Even as the first salvoes were fired above Dardelio IVs atmosphere, Glawster's ships were quickly closing in.

 

While Gorinel stolidly ignored the long range hails from the Imperial Navy as an unwanted and unwarranted intrusion into Chapter affairs, Cordell sent a last, desperate message revealing what he saw as his brothers' treachery to their Master, their Chapter and the Imperium. Though Gorinel was able to enjoy the momentary satisfaction of seeing his former rival's broken corpse brought before him, his ignorant and proud refusal to respond to Glawster would bring ruin to his Chapter. With no reason to believe otherwise, the Lord-Commander accepted Cordell's message as genuine; and as the ships of his Fleet entered the Dardelio system, it was with shields up and weapons armed.

 

Even as Gorinel and his forces boarded their vessels, the Astartes ships came under crippling long range fire from the Navy Fleet. Gorinel's response to this new treachery was to fight back, but Rygen insisted that the Lions, weakened by their war against their former brothers, must retreat. After a moment when it seemed that even more of the Chapter's blood must be spilt, Gorinel acquiesced to his brother's demands and the Lions limped away, hiding themselves in a nearby nebula. Though Glawster's ships could not prevent the Lions' escape, the Lord-Commander did not rest. Messages were sent across the breadth of the Sector, appealing for help to hunt the traitors down.

 

Days later, after completing temporary repairs to their vessels, the Lions quietly made their way back towards Alba. What they found there was terrible to behold. Their home, once a beautiful jewel in the blackness of space, had been reduced to nothing more than a lifeless rock. The interrogation of the crew of a Navy escort captured while patrolling the system revealed the truth. Imperial forces, including three Companies of the Heralds of Light Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes, had responded to Glawster's warning, falling on the Lions' world, killing the few, impenitent defenders and plundering their Fortress Monastery. Before their ships had left orbit, the Heralds had delivered the final blow, a pair of cyclonic torpedoes that had reduced all living things on Alba's surface to ash.

 

Broken-hearted, the Chapter lamented the loss of its home, but there proved to be little time for grief. The fleet's long range augurs picked up no less than four separate groups of Imperial ships, each approaching at high speed from every direction. Gorinel and Rygen argued again as to whether they should fight or flee, but once more Rygen's tactical acumen prevailed. Even impetuous Gorinel was forced to see that there was no chance of victory or revenge here. With a voice filled with bitter hatred of all those that had betrayed and turned against him, he cursed the vile Imperium and swore that to the very last breath of their very last warrior, the Lions would bring bloody vengeance and damnation upon it for its treachery. With a final howl of grief and denied rage, he turned the Chapter fleet to the only heading left open to it - deep into the vast chaotic realm known as the Eye of Terror.

 

The Lions' Fall:
Written by the dramatheurge Myrlow and based on eyewitness accounts of scribes and soldiers attached to Lord Glawster's task force, the play entitled 'The Lions' Fall' remains surprisingly popular among the worlds surrounding the Alba system, and is still performed regularly in festivals or feasts. Despite its controversial subject matter, it has escaped censure by local Administratum officials and the Ecclestriarchy due to its focus on the heroism of Captain Cordell and his doomed Company rather than on the fall of his Chapter.

When the Lions of Alba first tried to reclaim their planet, their forces made a point of first visiting Myrlow's home world of Sachsen, and systematically exterminated all of the dramatheurge's descendants and relatives for the slander done on their Chapter's honour.

 

Beliefs:

 

"Wretched betrayer! Are you bored as you sit upon your golden throne... That you have us crushed like ants?

Do you take joy in watching your sons weep?"
Brother-Captain Gorinel (The Lion's Fall, Act IV, Scene III)

 

More than five hundred years have passed since Alba was cleansed and the Lions were declared renegade, yet in some ways the Chapter has changed very little. The Lions are still characterised by the qualities one would expect of Astartes born of the genetic lineage of Rogal Dorn; driven by their uncompromising sense of pride and honour, grounded by their stubborn determination to endure and persevere. Sadly, such fine qualities have been twisted against the Lions' former masters by the cruel hand of fate. The Lions believe themselves utterly betrayed, turned against without reason by those who should have been their staunchest allies, and they hate the Imperium and the Emperor with all the fire and fury that their heritage gives them. This all consuming hate influences the thoughts and motivations of every member of the Lions, each now willing to commit all manner of heinous actions that they would once have considered unthinkable, if it would bring their goal of vengeance even one step closer.

 

Although the Chapter as a whole still fervently believes in Master Gorinel's oath of retribution against the Imperium, there is a growing undercurrent of bitter realization among many Marines that such a goal will never be attained. They know that the Chapter is already lost and that all its actions since the destruction of Alba are nothing more than the death throes of some wild beast. With every battle, they see more brethren lost, yet the Imperium of Man continues on unhindered. Such hopeless warriors, often led by Master Rygen, fight on because that is all that is left to them. They are utterly professional, cold where their brothers are zealous, determined that when their death comes, as it inevitably must, they will have taken the highest possible toll of blood among the betrayers of the Imperium.

 

The Chapter still clings to many of its traditions and various special days are remembered; of particular note is the Day of the Betrayal, commemorating their 'exile' from Alba, and it is on this day all battle-brothers retake their oath to bring vengeance on the Imperium. The Chapter has, as of recent history, tried twice to invade and 'reclaim' the now barren Alba system, but has thus far been repulsed.

 

Organization and Tactics:

 

"What you have charged me with, that have I done; And more, much more."
Brother-Captain Rygen (The Lions' Fall, Act V, Scene III)

 

Now based on a handful of ships and escort vessels that are all that remain of the Chapters' once mighty fleet, the Lions survive by raiding against Imperial systems around the borders of the Eye of Terror. While their sense of honour prevents them from engaging in the wanton pillage and slaughter of civilians so common among renegade Astartes, they will attack Imperial worlds for supplies, war material and potential converts to their cause. Such assaults are never hidden with subterfuge, but are committed openly for all to see the rightful stand taken by the defiant Lions.

 

Although the Chapter are considered traitors by the Imperium at large, they have not succumbed to the warband structure favoured by most renegades and still cling tenaciously to an ad-hoc Codex structure, adapted for their much-reduced numbers. The Lions maintain several Battle Companies and although these formations are typically far smaller than in a loyalist Chapter, each still has a comparable proportion of Tactical, Assault and Devastator units. As the Chapter has lost most of its vehicles in the years since it was pursued from the Alba system, it has become necessary to use non-mechanized stratagems to accomplish its goals. The reduction of the battle brethrens' numbers has also forced the Chapter to allow its Sergeants a greater level of autonomy, and missions often have to be executed on a squad by squad basis.

 

In battle, the Lions are zealous warriors, full of bitter pride and determination. Marines of the Chapter will never voluntarily fall back, fighting stubbornly onwards even against overwhelming odds. While this has occasionally snatched victory from defeat, all too often the Chapter has suffered for its beliefs. The Lions lack the resources needed to properly maintain their assaults and their refusal to cut and run has many times resulted in losses that they can ill afford.

 

In recent years, as their own fatalities have mounted, the Lions have taken the controversial step of making temporary alliances with other warbands. While for the most part these have taken the form of pacts of non-aggression or trade of materials, the Chapter's marines have on a handful of occasions actually fought beside their renegade brethren. Any agreement with such vile and contemptible traitors is viewed by the Lions as distasteful in the extreme; but these pacts are nevertheless countenanced for the simple reason of the opportunities they bring to strike out at the far greater and more reprehensible enemy, the hated Imperium of Man.

 

Gene-Seed:

 

"It is the Emperor who weeps; he cannot save us from ourselves."
The Champion (The Lion's Fall, Act IV, Scene III)

 

The Lions of Alba trace their genetic lineage to the Primarch Rogal Dorn and before their fall, their Apothecaries had a reputation for fastidious precision in the care of the Chapter's precious gene-seed. Such exacting standards appear to have been continued even since the loss of Alba, as more than five centuries later the Lions seem largely untroubled by the countless deviancies that plague those Astartes who turn from the Emperor's light.

 

This is not to say that the Lions are unaffected by the warping properties of the chaotic region that they have been forced to call home. Some few battle brethren have been cursed by the blighted hand of mutation. Such changes - be they scaled skin, weeping sores or even in a handful of extreme cases additional eyes or mouths - are viewed with utter disgust and as a sign of deep shame to any warrior unfortunate enough to be so disfigured. While those Lions who have been affected endure their shame with stoic dignity, they will at the same time attempt to limit and conceal their corruption by sealing themselves within their power armour, thereby attempting to protect their brethren from its insidious spread. Whether such efforts will prove successful is a question that can be answered only with the passing of time.

 

Battle Cry:

 

"For Alba! For vengeance!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

The agonizing fire in Brother Boras secondary heart had increased to an inferno, and he painfully gulped air into his shattered lungs. The last blow must have cracked the Black carapace within his chest and driven shards of it into the flesh beneath. Given enough time, Boras could recover from even such grievous wounds, but time he did not have. Even as the Herald of Light rose to a painful crouch, his opponent stepped through the gaping hole in the thick plascrete wall that had been created moments before by Boras heavy form being hurled through the air. The renegade was clad in powered armour quartered in yellow and white and carried a long, heavy blade. Though both sword and armour had seen better days, the quality of their manufacture was clearly evident. A name was written across one shoulder, half obscured by dirt and battle damage, but Boras could make out that it ended GEN. The traitor spoke softly, continuing an argument that had raged even as had their combat.

 

"Brother, will you not see it? He has betrayed you, just as surely as He did me."

 

Boras snarled under his helmet, but could not reply for his voxcaster had been damaged. Angrily he tore the malfunctioning armour from his head and spat scornfully on the floor before his foe. While no acid bubbled in the liquid, thick blood reddened it.

 

"You are the betrayer, heretic! You turned from the light, and so He turned his back on you!"

 

The renegade paused, lowering his blade, and casually reached up to remove his own helm, hanging it carefully on his belt. Beneath it, Boras was surprised to see, not a warp-corrupted horror, but rather the face of an Astartes little different in aspect from any of his own brethren. The traitor's face was stern and proud, yet was marred by an air of weary bitterness. A faint smile crossed his lips at Boras' words.

 

"Indeed. Then tell me, brother, how does that explain your current predicament?"

 

Boras growled angrily at the insult and with the last of his strength, he hurled himself suddenly forwards, combat blade outstretched. Almost effortlessly, the renegade stepped aside and lashed out with a booted foot, sending Boras tumbling excruciatingly back to the floor. He lay still, unable to move.

 

"I have no time left for this, brother," said the traitor coldly, raising his long sword. "Will you not renounce Him? There can be no doubt that He has betrayed you."

 

Boras replied, his voice a pained whisper.

 

"The Emperor protects."

 

The renegade stood above him, reversing his blade and raising it for the killing strike. The last thing Boras would ever hear was his quiet reply, given in a voice oddly tinged with a mixture of hate, sorrow and hopelessness.

 

"No, he does not."

 

 

 

 

Edited May 3, 2023 by Lysimachus