Dark Angels

The Dark Angels are one of First-founding Legions of the Space Marines. Their primarch is Lion El'Jonson,

History

The Dark Angels have the honour of being the first Legion created by The Emperor. Like the others, their Primarch was lost while he was still in his infancy. He later turned up on the distant planet of Caliban, which bore some resemblance to early medieval Earth. The Primarch, named Lion El'Jonson, became the leader of an order of knights. The knight who discovered the young primarch, Luther, saved him from death at the hands of his fellow knights, due to the young Primarch's wild appearance, and the two become close friends.

When the Emperor finally discovered El'Jonson, many of the knights became Space Marines in the Dark Angels Legion, including Luther. The Legion was thusly named due to the fact that they were the only Legion at the time who wore jet black armor. They performed well during the Great Crusade, although during a particular battle, Lion El'Jonson and Leman Russ, the Primarch of the Space Wolves got into a fist fight, which began a feud which still continues. Although the rivalry typically takes the form of a ritulistic duel between champions elected from the ranks of both chapters, it can manifest in other ways. It can become very violent, but it is typically set aside when more pressing matters, such as common enemies.

The Horus Heresy

During the Horus Heresy, both the Dark Angels and the Space Wolves Legions were far from Terra, and were unable to participate directly in the events taking place on Terra. However, their imminent arrival forced the traitor leader Horus to take his last gamble, knowing that if they arrived before he took control of the planet, they would tip the balance in favor of the loyalists. Luckily for the Imperium, he was defeated by the Emperor and shortly thereafter both Legions arrived to mop up the remaining Chaos forces.

After the Heresy, the Dark Angels helped restore order to the Imperium. However, during this time, the Dark Angels who had been left behind on Caliban became agitated at being forced to essentially babysit a backwater planet. This led to the leader of the garrison, Luther, turning to the dark gods of Chaos, who had just been defeated with the death of their champion Horus during the Heresy.

The Great Betrayal

When the Dark Angels returned to Caliban after the war, they were met by a fierce attack from the planetary defenses. They were forced to assault their own homeworld, where they found their corrupt brethren had betrayed them. In a last stand which mirrored that of the Emperor and Horus, Luther and Lion El'Jonson fought, which resulted in Luther mortally wounding his friend. Luther went insane upon realizing he had struck down his close friend and was captured; and in a fit of rage at being defeated once again, the Chaos Gods opened a warp rift in the planet which scattered the traitorous "Fallen Angels" throughout the galaxy. One of the "Fallen Angels" who escaped is Cypher, who reportedly took with him the Lion Blade, the sword of El'Jonson, when he was sent through the warp.

The Dark Angel space fleet also bombarded the planet mercilessly, and this caused the structure of the planet to collapse. The bombarment, combined with the newly formed warp rift, broke the planet up and it is now an asteroid field. The largest piece, which survied due to the massive void shields in operation around the largest fortress-monastary, called the Tower of Angels, was hollowed out and became a gigantic spaceship/monastery which is now the home of the Dark Angels. This ship is known simply as The Rock. The Legion, like all others, was forced to break into smaller Chapters.

This betrayal has tainted their Legion's honour, in the eyes of the Dark Angels themselves. Given that the event was purely within the Legion itself, and was on a world far from Terra, nobody outside of the Legion knows it occurred. Within the chapters themselves, only the elite veterans are permitted this knowledge- In the modern Dark Angels chapter, only the Deathwing know this secret. The chapter leadership will go to great lengths to ensure that this knowledge does not reach the Imperium at large, even at times going so far as to disobey direct orders from Inquisitors and cause overly curious individuals to "disappear".

Only the most senior members, known as the inner circle, know the greatest secret- that Luther, the great traitor, is still alive and insane, living in a cell deep within The Rock. Lion El'Jonson's body was never found; rumor has it that an enigmatic race known only as the Watchers in the Dark have taken him away to a secret place, where he is slowly healing. Luther claims, in his near-senseless mutterings, that the Lion will return and forgive him.

Organisation

The Dark Angels is one of the few Chapters that does not follow the Codex to the full length

The Deathwing

The First Company of the Dark Angels is the Deathwing

The Ravenwing

The Second Company of the Dark Angels is the Ravenwing

Company Disposition

Like all Codex chapters, the Dark Angels are divided into ten Companies. Each Company is led by a hero of the Ultramarines, who - in addition to his Company command - is in charge of a particular aspect of the Chapter's logistics.

• First Company - The Deathwing: Captain
• Second Company - The Ravenwing: Captain
• Third Company: Captain
• Fourth Company: Captain
• Fifth Company: Captain
• Sixth Company: Captain
• Seventh Company: Captain
• Eighth Company: Captain
• Ninth Company: Captain
• Tenth Company: Captain

Notable Dark Angels

• Lion El'Jonson - The Dark Angels Primarch
• Azrael - Current Chapter Master and Keeper of The Truth
• Ezekiel - Current Chief Librarian and Holder of The Keys
• Asmodai - Interrogator Chaplain
• Naaman - Veteran Sargeant