The Bringers Of Dawn (Scott's Fluff)

the pain that was was normally a dull ache in his waking hours became worse in his dreams. As they invaded his body, his mind too suffered. and the constant battle against the insanity- he feared he was losing.

it had been 47 years since the first incursion. Crexus prime had erupted in war- its forges and cities overrun with them- them that came from below, sleeping these long years.
When the plea came, decade old vows of loyalty wold bring the Harbingers to the aid of the beleaguered people.

It was in this battle that he served in the Proxy. The desire to avenge the deaths of his brethren so horribly butchered at the hands of these creatures threatened to consume him at every step, but he fought the exhaustion, the exploding power his gene seed had summoned. his very soul and all its power came shining through his very eyes, his very blows shattering all in his onslaught.
and he'd been there- there when captain Tiburo fell. he fought the along side the honor guard, though half their age and nowhere near their experience. he was reckless where they were precise, brutal while they were calculating in their actions.

this burning fire drew him into the battle with the lord of the host- a emotionless monstrosity that drew the very life out of his brothers, even as they struck to defend their fallen captain.

he had, in the end, survived. completely run through and beaten near unconscious by this thing, he defeated it. those that remained crawled to the side of the captain.

this man, who was broken and fading quickly, had been the family he had known, the one to suggest to him, in the beginning, that he could be something more... and the one that, to the surprise of all, named him successor.

He startled from his thoughts as the artificer entered.

"Captain Santiago, we are ready"

It has been only two years.

"I trust your treatment is proceeding as planned?" it was more a hopeful wish then a question.

Santiago was dressed in the canvas leggings left for him by the apothecary. his head ached as he rose from his sleep. the dim lights of the cell glowed enough to betray the artificier's face. He could, through the ache in his head, perceive the worried look on the man's face. he didn't answer him right away, causing the craftsmen to second guess himself.

"I can return when you are feeling better-"

"You don't have that kind of time to wait Sertyis, and so neither do I."

It'd been two years. he had led the assault. Crexus prime would not fall, not after all the sacrifice to keep it from them the first time. the first time they emerged and destroyed, enslaved, harvested. he would deny them.

"Quickly brethren, bring the charges up. Begin activation immed-"
His words had been cut short by the final assault of the necrons. a last, honor guard guard came forth from the crypt the harbingers had battled so faithfully to uncover. they stood in the middle of that cavernous hall, surrounded now. They may have time enough for arming the detonation, but little else. and even that would require sacrifice. It was their time.

"Then we will begin. The carapace is holding nicely though we need to recalibrate the dorsal stabilizers to better accommodate your specifications." the artificer buzzed and hummed as an assembly team led Santiago to a larger assembly room, away from the apothecarion. stripped down to nothing, he was soon surrounded in a whirlwind of apparatuses building around his frame

"my specification is not much more than a simple request," he twisted as the carapace was placed over his chest," i simply request to avoid early retirement. see what you can do about it"

his usual grim yet optimistic quips were almost lost on the forgemaster. either he was accustomed to his captain's typically under spoken demeanor, or was simply to enthralled with the work before him

"this design is old Captain. Very old. and yet..."

The lord advanced on the captain, his bale eyes ablaze with hatred. Santiago knew this one. It was the same, yet different. it walked slower, almost with a hitch in its step. this did not hinder it as it threw aside santiago's accompanying guard.
"brother thraxes, if ever you had to activate a demolition charge as soon as possible, this is it"

ooo!! I like me some Necrons.

"It is old, yet crafted exceptionally well. simple in design to be sure-"

the armor now completely enclosing the captain was simple. no adornment on the chest plate, no engravings. the tubing, wiring and auxiliary systems were completely enclosed. the greaves ended in rounded caps, and the boot ends flexible beyond his previous fitting. indeed, the whole piece was lighter, more flexible, yet harder, sleeker... easier.

"you black carapace is adjusting well to the modifications. however..." the forge master turned to show him only secondly the charred ruin of his helmet

"somethings will take longer to replace"

The wreathed blade of the lord slashed around toward santiago's head, and he ducked all too late- the searing cut tore through the grill at a glancing angle, and suddenly the optic feed dropped. blind, the Santiago should have ducked away to recover. But the fury in his gene seed was already pouring through him. In a furious thrust, he kicked at the Necrontyr. catching it in the pelvis, it was driven to the floor. Santiago dashed the helmet from his head, and brought it slamming down on the metal cranium, even as he ran another of the lords retinue though with a snapping thrust.

"Retire it, it is finished. Salvage the pauldrons. They carry the names of many friends and brothers im not prepared to forget."

suddenly he was taken over with pain, doubling up even as he retched. black vomit leapt from his mouth, his vision blurred. the servitors and artificiers came to his side, and the last thing he knew was blackness

the Lord clamered to his feet.
"thraxes, quickly!" his voice boomed, and from his eyes shone a visible light, rays of radiance illuminating his position to the surrounding necrontyr. he was raging now- his gene seed unlocked the spiritual barrier, and as his soul pour in his physical self was enhanced- empowered.
Throwing a vicious backhanded fist across the first metal abomination, he threw it aside, and slammed his sword through another. driving it on, he connected with another and withdrew the blade, leaving the two smoldering in a pile.
He turned. there it was- the lord, finishing his accompanying retinue. brother yuirsi slumped forward, and the lord let him drop past his dulling light form. the sickly green haze around his weapon crackled and hummed, he was poised to attack, but waited.
Suddenly in the captains head could be heard a haunting voice-
"you have done much to prove you usefullness. how great a subject you will become. the first of many."

i forgot how much i love nercons.

dreams blacker than ever, nightmares more real than before. he could feel them tearing at him, taking pieces of his very Self with every second.....

even as the lord spoke, santiago slowed, then stopped. he suddenly dropped to his knees, head to his chest in pain. his booming voice blasted through his vox grill, tearing from his mouth as he screamed. his vision faded into colors, red then blood red. then black
"first, strip the flesh. you remember of course. years ago, you were young. i knew you before today captain..." the voice was not spoke n in the air, but in his mind. and not distantly, but loudly, bouncing around and echoing inside the struggling captain.
he fought to gain his feet, and could not...

there were millions of them, and he could feel everyone. their purpose for years had been to lie dormant, until the day santiago would again meet the being that had planted them in his torn body through mortal combat years before.

"its not enough to destroy you of course," the lord cocked his wordless head to one side, burning witchfire from its sockets. its minions came forward, into sight. santiago could see them clearer than before. they were different than the others. taller, more articulate. and more terrifying. with the fear enclosing around him, he could feel his own light dim.
"it will take little time. indeed it has already begun. within my guard, you shall be my eternal servant, my slave, happily doing the work i've prepared"
the first of the minions reached him, and grasped the captain by the collar. lifting him, santiago was brought to eye level. the terrifying aura was worse looking deep into the things face. what were these? WHY were these?

he thrashed in against his restrains. they were again in his mind, driving him out, taking over. they would erase him, and rebuild him.

terror filled him, and he looked toward his techmarine. slain with his hand on the detonator, ready to send these things to their end. he was alone.
looking back at the thing, he noticed them. teeth. and flesh, below the armor, below the living metal. horrified, he was faced with his future, here, gripping him in its grasp.
he was given a dark, black destiny, and he felt the will to escape it draining quickly.

but this would not be him, no, he would not serve

in this moment, when he was threatened to give up his shell to the machine, to submit, he felt the white, burning fire. his very being fighting back, his will to exist, to defy this. it raged through him, obliterating the microscopic constructs that wished to destroy him.

no, he would not.
with a defiant burst, he reached out and gripped the throat of this thing, and felt the strength of his arm given new power as his soul ignited. again the light burst form his eyes and he tore outward. reeling, the necron dropped him. he kicked it away and snatched up its staff. crackling energy snappped through the rest and his spun it amongst them, not gracefully, but judiciously, brutally.
leaving the weapon buried in the last of them, he dove for his sword as the lord fell leapt toward him. they fought there amongst the bodies, desperately. in the throes of battle, the necron glared his baleful gaze again, and pain increased. but he would not submit. tearing free from its stare, he drove the blade of his sword through the things chest, then up and out the head. fire burst out and green smoke as any life that still remained in its shell was released.


and thus he would purge them, with soul fire and the help of his brethren. indeed, as he regained consciousness, he beheld the apothecaries attending the arcane machines that would help him to destroy what remained of the things. only thousands left out of millions, it was hoped. and then he would lead again, take his place with his brothers.

kneeling respectfully, santiago closed the eyes of his brethren, their torn bodies dim in the smoldering light... he had led them here, and their sacrifice was great. he could at least take a few number of them home. drawing the bodies together, he prepared teleport evacuation, taking up the detonator in his hand.

The Harbingers
At the end of the great apostasy, the Thorian Inquisition secretly created a new line of Astartes from the gene seed of the Imperial Fists, with the intent of sending them to reorganize and colonize the worlds lost in that time. After claiming several worlds the new Chapter, dubbed The Reclaimers, came upon the Aria system in the segmentum obscurus held by Chaos renegades.
After years of fighting to preserve the system and liberate it, the Inquisition called for exterminatus. This the Reclaimers refused, as fully half the chapter had been eradicated in the campaign. To leave the people for which these brethren had died to purgation was not an option.
In a last, glorious series of attacks led personally by Chapter Master Marcallus, the remaining brethren brought the dug in cultists and chaos warbands to heed. The people enjoyed liberation for the first time in centuries, and the Reclaimers set to work organizing the governing powers.
As they began to rebuild, Inquisition ships entered the system. Sensing a conflict, Marcallus gathered his troops and began to evacuate as many as he could, with the 4th, 8th and 9th companies supporting. As the first few thunderhawks reached outer atmosphere, the Inquisition released its full measure of firepower, destroying the forces still deployed on the surface, along with every life just delivered from bondage. The planet was wiped, and an accusation of heresy leveled at the Marcallus and his chapter. This became known as the Aria’s Passing, and is a focal point of doctrine for the chapter.
As Marcallus struggled to re-group, the imperial fleet opened fire, forcing him to retreat to his cruisers and make the jump to warp.
Recorded as lost, the chapter did not resurface. The Inquisitior heading the operation, Xasier Toreille, saw personally to the erasure of historical evidence of the Reclaimers. Assuming control over the liberated peoples of nearby systems, Torielle placed himself over what the Chapter had sacrificed of itself to create. In the name of the Inquisition, he gained instant access to all the resources of the combined systems.
Aria had long been exposed to the influences of chaos, and its surrounding planets were rich in powerful artifacts and secretive cults hiding among its people. Though the campaigns raised by the Reclaimers purged this taint to near nothingness, their work was left unfinished with the arrival of the Inquisition. Torielle, with intentions unknown, began to dabble in the harnessing of these powers. Perhaps this was his goal to begin with, and latter was tried as such. Before his execution however, he escaped with the aid of this new found abilities granted by the forces of chaos.
Pitching the Aria system again into the maw of destruction, Torielle assembled forces to combat the incursions against him. A stalemate developed, as Torielle had a great knowledge of the system, a system far from nearby aid. So the siege began; the Imperium unable to directly attack and Torielle unable to leave his new haven for the time being.
Torielle soon discovered however, how to exploit the warp to open new means of dodging the blockages surrounding him. With the orbital defense systems keeping the spread-thin forces at bay, he was free to continue his exploitation of the people.
With help months away and their own forces worn to nothing, the small imperial kill-force was on the verge of declaring exterminatus when the Warp opened as it had 53 years prior. Forth spewed the battered ships of the Reclaimers. Without transmission or word of warning, they descended past the ill-prepared defense batteries. Many reason it was the lack of firing protocols that disallowed proper targeting against the Reclaimer ships, the brethren of the chapter having constructed the system themselves. Others accredit the Emperor’s grace. Whatever the case, this breach lead to a spectacular planet fall.
Landing in the mid capital zones, the ships thought lost disembarked their charge. From his tortured Thunderhawk strode Marcallus himself. At once grim yet shinning with visible fire, he led his remaining brethren to Torielle’s unholy sanctuary.
They would have been lost if not for the renewed vigour of the Imperial strike force at their back. Together, though Torielle and his forces were hell-spawned and strong, they drove them back until they found the heretic and his guard.
Marcallus was outnumbered and weary, yet something else drove him. Some inner force empowered his every blow, and he seemed to visibly radiate his vengeful spirit. Striking down Torielle, he delivered the Aria system again unto freedom.
As the Imperial forces gathered, the Inquisitorial ambassadors could barely speak to inquire of the strange reappearance of the Master and his chapter. The brethren still standing were charged with such an undeniable aura of power that those around them nearly cowered in fear. Taking up his transport again, Marcallus left the battered imperial fleet to gather and depart while he would oversee the ordering of the capital.
Marcallus somehow seemed to know of Torielle, his guilt and power, and how to overcome him. He offered no explanation, but simply set to work ordering his chapter, and securing his system.
And so five decades later, an aged and battle scarred Marcallus led his finest in a daring mission to capture and bring to justice those of the Inquisition responsible for such an offense. Cleared of charges, the Chapter renamed its self the Harbingers of Dawn, or Harbingers in honor of the title the now long dead liberated called their rescuers.
What became of Marcalus after re-ordering of his chapter is unknown officially. The brethren, however, know that he returned to the Immaterium that gave him sanctuary so long ago, and awaits the day battle calls him to their aid.

Organization of the Harbingers
Varying in both great and small measure from the Codex Astartes, The Harbingers put a large emphasis on the strength and capability of each company. Since Aria’s passing, the chapter has not rebuilt the 4th, 8th or 9th companies, in honor of those brave brethren. Instead, each company is larger than 100 strong, compensating their numbers. In addition, each company produces and keeps its own veteran squads, and trains its own recruits, eliminating the need for a 10th company. Some even enjoy the complimented support from worlds they have liberated, such as the 7th company, that receive a good amount of their manufactured supplies from Crexus Prime, a highly efficient forge world. In control of many STCs and building protocols, they are independent of Mars, and supply their chapter with the means to conduct their wars.
Each company is not independent of its peers, but rather self-sufficient. They rally under the same banner, yet each have their own holdings for their respective campaigns, campaigns that keep them constantly on the move. As such, each is a tightly knit group, veterans fight alongside each other for centuries.
Scouts are drawn from liberated worlds, trained as per codex, and added to the respective companies. Before a scout graduates, before he can become a full fledged battle brother, he must perform one hundred acts of service among the inhabitants of a chosen system. This may take years, but is held as not only a necessary rite of passage, but also fully awakes the gene seed that, since Marcalus returned, has undergone curious changes. As a marine grows in humility and develops a love for his people, he learns what it is to defy evil. This not only serves to literally fuel his righteous battle fury, but it earns the respect and support of the people as well. The Harbingers find supporters on many worlds, be they ones that they have delivered from tyrant and warlords, or alien slavers and worse.
Every company maintains its own collection of relics, artifacts, and heraldry, including suits of tactical dreadnought armor and ancient weapons.
Veterans from each company are kept in the company, promoted alongside their brothers. Sterngaurd, Vanguard, and terminator squads come directly from the ranks of the company’s own.
Mission and Doctrine
Because of past experience with the Inquisition and the other branches of the Imperium, the Harbingers have become more independent minded in doctrine than their peers. They see the Imperium as a sprawling, broken and aimless giant, uncaring of its people. They hold the Emperor as their insightful king of great power, a brother in the same struggle but recognize his weaknesses, holding more faith in their brethren and their cause than in blind faith preached by a power hungry Ecclesiarchy. The Emperor’s dream of unity and a perpetuation of mankind can only be achieved through the people, not through their manipulation. They seek for the safe unification of man, as their Emperor wanted. To the chapter, The Imperium is a force to be allied with, not wholly assimilated into.
Agents of Order
Since the return of Master Marcallus, the scholars and sages of the chapter have delved deep into their search for knowledge concerning not only the source of his strange power, but the miracle of his survival itself.
The Harbingers believe despite leveled accusations of heresy and the constant suspicion of chaotic taint that there is more in the Immaterium. If comprised of the emotion and souls of mortals, than there is a no doubt opposition even there. Indeed, the traditions of faith held by the chapter hold that the warp holds worlds of good, of order, ruled by the self-less will of good souls. They believe that the defiance of evil, the love of selfless deeds, and the pious sacrifice of noble warriors reflects in this realm. All these together have given form to a conscience opposing the chaos gods, and that many are touched with its power, including the Emperor himself. They hold this power to be the source and fuel of their abilities, and that only by distaining chaos and its influence can one actually hope to be worthy of its blessings.
It is accepted among the brethren that Marcalus visited one of these realms while lost in the warp, a place known only as Haven. Whether by chance or destiny, the legend and tradition of the chapter holds that he was imbued with the power to free the people he loved, though was warned that the power he were to be granted would be great and so the risk high. But such is nobility in the face of darkness, and the master accepted.
As the Imperium is more than happy leaving the Astartes to their own beliefs, they are happy to look not too closely into the traditions of the chapter. The Inquisiton, however, finds few things more frustrating than its inability to prove the Harbingers tainted. Passing every test and exam of gene seed and purity, the chapter has nothing but respectable records of service and form, something truly inconceivable- surely they must draw their power from the dark depths of Chaos!
From its creation, it has been the intent and mission of the chapter to liberate, and this remains today. The Harbingers hold the Aria system as their home of origins, and several others across the galaxy together form an alliance with the Chapter. They may draw upon forge worlds, aggri- worlds, and hive cities for support in their campaigns to free more worlds from the dominating powers of the alien, the tyrant, and the ever encroaching powers of Chaos. In return, they are pledged to protect these worlds, should they be threatened from within or without. Indeed, there have been occasions when the chapter has had to purge corruption from its own worlds.

The Halo Deviance
When Master Marcallus made his return to liberate Aria once more, he was said to radiate power, to the point that it could be felt around him in a concentrated cloud of determination. Indeed, since the rebuilding of the chapter, there have been many accounts of the same, when brethren of the Harbingers have been described similarly- as aggressive, power encompassed crusaders, wreathed in visible and light and energy as they make their charges or defend their fallen brethren.
This, unlike many supernatural accounts, is explained by scientific fact. It seems that while trapped in the tides of the void the brethren and their gene seed warped to develop a curious psycho-sensitive enhancing property. Referred to as the Halo Deviance, thanks to the radiating light their gene seeds emit, this seems to empower the brethren in many ways.
Linked unexplainably to what seems to be both the subconscious and the soul itself, the Halo deviance allows for the physical (through the gene seed) to interact with the spiritual being through the subconscious synapse. When a marine is emotionally incited to anger, for example, it appears the Deviance draws power from his soul to augment his physical power. Thus a soldier inspired to avenge a fallen brother may double his strength, increase his fortitude, and speed his assault, through an empowered feat of will. He finds the very real power in himself, and draws it out.
Unlike psychic abilities shared with thousands of others, the Deviance is not a conscious power that can be called upon at a moment’s need. Instead, it is better thought of as an augmentation of one’s spirit or will, whether that emotion is manifest by anger, courage, or determination. Indeed there are few psykers among the Harbingers- it is thought that the Deviance blocks these abilities from all but the most powerful psykers, and the psychic needs of the chapters are provided by the “Keepers”, sanctioned sages of the chapter.
And so the Harbingers are the bringers of dawn. While the gene seed of the chapter makes them appear outwardly grim and dark, when inspired to great works the brethren will begin to radiate power- their eyes will alight, their countenance and surrounding aura profoundly bright, and they are changed for a moment to new level of power.
This is not without price however. For those who experience increase are always tempted by greed. Those who know power feel corruption. And so it is with the Deviance- a brother who feels the power of his very self being multiplied must keep these things in check, for to abandon reason to emotion completely invites a loss of control and a rational thought. This left unrestrained can lead brethren to grow to immense abilities, where the Deviance begins to compromise them. Their every strike and blow is devastating, every word a heralding, booming echo, and eventually it is hard to draw the line. It is not unknown for brethren to get carried away- then insanity and meltdown begins as the soul is put into overdrive and the body cannot continue. Some have pushed themselves too far before, to secure an impossible victory or defense and those that do almost always perish from the exhaustion. Thus the brethren become martyrs for the most noble of deeds and battles. It is both a blessing and a curse then, the Deviance. It must be controlled- the power it grants is immense.
There are then, of course, those among the Harbingers that are wholly consumed by the power the Halo Deviance grants, and turn to dark pursuits in hopes of increasing their powers. Chaos takes them then, and it is no longer good that invigorates or empowers them- there are simply conduits for their tainted souls to manifest terrible things. Then it is that the Deviance no longer empowers positively, but negatively. The disgraced brethren are soul leeching entities whose vacuum of a tainted gene seed incurs a very real sense of fear and pain in the hearts of those nearby, instead of inspiring and uplifting.
Indeed, to attain the rank of Captain, one must harness and control the power of the Deviance. To be able to physically withstand the pressures of a mortal shell powered by the very soul is a rare feat to be sure.

The Martyris Proxy
Those that are alight with the determined fire to avenge, defend or purge can become so charged that they must go to where they can be of most worth- the heart of battle. Brethren that have lost the ability to keep the charging of their war-spirited souls in check are given the chance to either expire on the battlefield in glory or satisfy this emotional need in death defying deeds.
The brethren lost on Aria have never been forgotten, their acts of selflessness and courage recorded in many tomes within the Reliquary. These names hold special meaning to the Harbingers- each is a hero.
When a battle-brother joins the Martyris Proxy, they are adorned in scripts and seals bearing the names of the fallen brethren, both old and new. In this way they bring them to battle and glory eternally, and are there when the battle-brother lays low his life.
As each brother is infused with a fierce determination multiplied and manifested by the Deviance, it is rare that those who survive the battle to be able to long endure after. So it is that the Martyris Proxy is held in the highest respect among the chapter- they personify the ideals of the Habinger’s doctrine: sacrifice for those that cannot.
Arraignment and heraldry
As befits their character, the chapter colors are predominately a dark blue grey, simple and dark. This signifies the dire circumstances war and conflict brings. By contrast, they brethren wear a lighter grey then a shining white, with lastly a gold trimming accenting their mindset: Brightness and hope only after a dark despair.
Red is borne honorably among only those that have sacrificed in the Martyris Proxy and survived. Only from these can veterans be drawn and eventually Captains be made. The Crimson Helm with the White the Laurel is reserved exclusively for the Captain of each Company, signifying not only his control of the colossal energies of the Deviance, but also his deep, bloody sacrifice for his people

many veterans will adorn themselves with broken chains, each link representing a successful campaign and each bearing the engraved name of a fallen friend, individual, brother or ally from said conflict.

The Dawning Halo Defender’s and Cross is their emblem, signifying the devotion they feel to their people. Truly, for a battle brother to done the shield and cross is to make their oath to brother, chapter, humanity and its allies.

I forgot to ask. Is the part about him changing his armor (and the helmet getting fried, etc.) tied in to your changing the miniature you use for him?

yeah- its all based on a battle i had with marshall's crons:

battle one, he deep struck a monolith a almost wiped my army. twas a four on four if i remember right. anyways, santiago was the only one left, as marshall owned the rest. i thought "hey what the heck, last turn right?" i charged him into the lords retinue as it emerged from the lith. i able to take the lord and squad out, (in the end, out of all of us, it think marsh still won). at that time, i ran him as a captain.

then, i played against dave's crons right before he left, and a similar battle happened. this time i ran him with vulkan's stats.

after the tourny before last, i took up the blood angels codex for the tactics. i graduated him to use mephiston's stats. in this way, he's grown in power game and stat wise.