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Dark Brotherhood (Blackshields)

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Targetdrone.gif This article is about the Blackshields; for the Space Marine Chapter, see Dark Brotherhood.
A Blackshield of the Dark Brotherhood[1a]
Dark Brotherhood icon and ceramite bonding stud reinforcement[1a]

The Dark Brotherhood were a group of Blackshields during the Horus Heresy. From 007.M31, after being cut off by the Ruinstorm, they carved out a pirate empire at the edge of the Pale Stars.[1b][2]

History

The origins of the Dark Brotherhood are shrouded in mystery, but they seemed to have some connection with the Drop Site Massacre and included members from both loyalist as well as traitor Legions.[1a] At least one of their members was probably an ex-member of the White Scars' Brotherhood of the Foresworn.[1d]

After arriving in the Pale Stars in 007.M31, the Dark Brotherhood found a safe haven in the Eridayn Cataract. Using this location as their base, the Blackshield then began to build a pocket empire in the Pale Stars which became increasingly isolated by the Ruinstorm. However, the group was quickly drawn into a long war against an Alpha Legion force. The latter intended to capture the region for Horus, and tried to crush the Dark Brotherhood due to the Blackshields' interference with the traitors' attempts to sway local planetary leaders to his cause.[1a][1b][2]

In the bloody war that followed, both sides used hit-and-run and unconventional tactics. Eventually, a flotilla from Segmentum Solar under Council of Terra Lord Orpheus arrived seeking local support against Horus' drive on the Sol System. Orpheus found a region in chaos, with the Alpha Legion, Blackshields, and other factions forming their own fiefdoms and spreading anarchy. Eventually the Alpha Legion's subversion tactics prevailed, forcing Imperial authorities from the system. Orpheus' messenger returned to Terra with the tale, and Malcador the Sigillite heard of the mysterious leader of the Brotherhood, The Nemean, and tasked Nathaniel Garro with bringing him into the Knights-Errant.[1a]

As Garro negotiated with The Nemean, the Alpha Legion tracked him to the Dark Brotherhood's base and launched an attack. The Brotherhood then fractured into mobs that fought each other, causing the disgusted Nemean to leave with Garro. In the aftermath of the ambush, the Dark Brotherhood carved their way across the region until reaching the Eridayn Cataract.[1a] In the next years, the Blackshields continued their operations to maintain their pocket empire,[1c] until eventually disappearing, not to be encountered again for an age.[1a]

Sources