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The Fallen

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Targetdrone.gif This article is about the Fallen Space Marines; for the Novel by Mike Lee, see Fallen Angels (Novel).
The Fallen
Fallen Symbol.jpg
Origin: Dark Angels[5]
Leader: Luther[5]
Homeworld: Caliban (destroyed)[5]
Colours: Varies, often black with cream colored robes[16]
Specialty: Varies
Chaos Dedication: Varies

The Fallen are renegade Space Marines that split off from the Dark Angels Space Marine Legion ten thousand years ago and have since been scattered across space and time by a Warp Storm. They are the secret enemy of the Unforgiven, a group containing the modern Dark Angels Chapter and its successors. To those Fallen that dwell within the 41st Millennium, many have become Chaos Space Marines, others pirate and renegade warlords, while some have since regretted their heresy and live a life of peaceful seclusion.[10] Others have even gone on to loyally serve the Imperium.[21]

History

The Fallen Angel Attias the Untamed[9]

The seeds of the Fallen have were planted during the Great Crusade. During the campaign against the Sarosh, enemy forces managed to sneak a nuclear warhead aboard the Invincible Reason, flagship of Lion El'Jonson, Primarch of the Dark Angels. Luther, 2nd in command of the Legion, discovered the plot but for a time his jealousy of the Lion prevented him from stopping it. In the end, however, he saved the Lion's life, but somehow his primarch discovered his hesitation. Luther and his forces were forced to return to Caliban in the aftermath, ostensibly for recruitment and administrative purposes but many felt it was akin to banishment. Luther and The Lion had another falling out after the Zaramund Campaign when Luther left Caliban to fight alongside Horus in the Zaramund Campaign.[13]

As the Lion's absence from Caliban increased due to the Horus Heresy, Luther and his forces increasingly felt bitter and abandoned, left to deal with a rebellion by Caliban's disgruntled former nobility and Chaos affiliated Sorcerers. The Warp-taint plaguing Caliban became apparent, and Luther and his followers became convinced that Caliban would be destroyed by the Emperor when this became known. They believed that The Lion had knowingly exiled them as a death sentence. Thus the seeds of Heresy were planted.[5] The Fallen degraded into even further treachery when an expedition to Caliban led by the loyal Dark Angels Chapter Master Belath arrived before Luther. Eventually, Astelan and Zahariel led a purge against those among Belath's forces who would be loyal to the Lion, including the Chapter Master himself.[13]

Eventually, Luther's Angels fully embraced treachery when they attempted to utilize the insurgents' own Chaos powers to halt the rebellion on Caliban.[5] At the end of the Horus Heresy, when Lion El'Jonson returned to Caliban, his fleet was met by a devastating barrage of defence laser fire. Stunned by the ferocious attack, Jonson withdrew his vessels from orbit and attempted to find out what had happened on his homeworld. A nearby merchant ship soon provided the answer; Luther, second-in-command of the Legion and the Lion's greatest friend, had apparently ordered the approaching fleet fired upon. His reasoning for this action is unknown to the Primarch, it was suspected that Luther, like many of the Lion's brothers, had become influenced by Chaos.[Needs Citation]

The fury of the Lion and his Dark Angels at what they perceived as a terrible betrayal knew no bounds; Jonson himself immediately ordered a sustained bombardment of the traitor positions and led an attack against Luther's position personally. In the resultant battle, the two adversaries struck blow upon blow against each other, tearing down the monastery around them until nearly the whole massive edifice had been leveled by their battle. Meanwhile, the massed guns of the Dark Angel fleet pounded the planet, until the very surface of Caliban began to crack under the strain of the bombardment. As the planet itself started to break apart, the battle between the Lion and Luther reached its climax. Luther, apparently aided by the powers of Chaos, unleashed a furious psychic attack that knocked Jonson to his knees and left him mortally wounded. But as the dying Primarch struggled to stand, his noble features wracked with pain, it was as if a curtain was lifted from Luther's eyes and he realized the full extent of what he had done. Devastated, the realization shattered his sanity and he slumped down beside Jonson, no longer willing to fight.[Needs Citation]

Soon after Luther's breakdown a warp storm of unprecedented fury engulfed Caliban. In an uncontrollable flood of psychic energy, the warp rushed into the physical universe. The immense strain these forces placed upon the planet, in combination with the tectonic shifting and cracking caused by the orbital bombardment caused the horrific end of the entire planet; Caliban itself shattered, breaking into countless chunks of dead and dying rock. The 'fallen' Dark Angels who had served under Luther were sucked from the face of Caliban into the warp and effectively scattered throughout space and time. None know of these events other than the Dark Angels, their Successor Chapters, and the Emperor on his Golden Throne. Even within the Chapters themselves, very few brother-Marines know the full story. It is only when Dark Angels gain entry into the Deathwing that they learn that many of the Dark Angels who followed Luther are still alive.[Needs Citation]

Unbeknownst to those at the time, the Warp storm on Caliban and the subsequent scattering of the Fallen throughout time was the result of a causal loop in the 41st Millennium. After Cypher surrenders himself to the Inner Circle, perhaps in a desperate bid to change history, Cypher reveals The Rock has been host to an ancient device known as the Tuchulcha which when combined with two others (the Ouroboros and another held by Typhus) can create a bridge through time. Cypher warns that Astelan's Fallen are seeking the same devices in cooperation with Typhus, and that the two plan to create a new "Death Angels" legion by combining the Plague Fleet with the original army of Fallen. It takes the Watchers in the Dark supporting Cypher's mission for the Dark Angels to agree to aid him, and eventually all three devices are brought within proximity to Caliban and a time portal is opened. But as enemy Fallen close in on the portal Ezekiel convinces Azrael to destroy it, arguing that history should not be rewritten and the Fallen may bring catastrophe on mankind by changing history. Azrael commands Tuchulcha to scatter all those near the rift, inadvertently including the Fallen ten thousand years previous.[12]

Sometime later, the Dark Angels' Librarians are struck down by a shock wave of terror and fell visions. Most of these are too fragmentary and fleeting to be recalled in detail, but the vision that strikes Ezekiel, seers itself into the mind of the Grand Master of Librarians. What he sees shakes Ezekiel to his core, as the entirety of the Fallen are revealed to him and he realizes that during the Horus Heresy, Luther had built a Legion-sized force of Dark Angels that were loyal to his cause. Worse still, Ezekiel now knows that the Fallen's numbers are even greater than the Inner Circle had feared, as a greater portion of them were still trapped within the Warp. Before Ezekiel or his Chapter can act on this though, the Great Rift is created and sends the Imperium into turmoil[17a]. Later during the Terran Crusade, Cypher and a group of Fallen proved vital in the rescue of the reborn Primarch Roboute Guilliman, but were arrested by the Custodes on Terra shortly after.[16]

The Rock itself, is later invaded by a Daemon army led by the Fallen Daemon Prince Marbas, after the Great Rift's creation, and though they defeat the Daemons, the Chapter suffers heavy casualties[17b]. Years later rumours, psychic signatures, and the torture-wrought confessions of captured prisoners tell the Dark Angels Chapter, that a large number of the Fallen are mustering within the darkest recesses of the warp-shrouded Imperium Nihilus. The rumours claim the gathered Fallen are the size of a Legion, that could bring the entire galaxy to heel and are being led by a single commander. Only Supreme Grand Master Azrael suspects this commander could be their Primarch's betrayer Luther himself[17c], as the Fallen was freed from his hidden dungeon during Marbas' invasion of The Rock.[17b]

Overview

A variety of Fallen in the 41st Millennium

There are several different types of Fallen. They have no unified outlook or goal. Many Fallen are non-Chaos renegades who seek the destruction of the Imperium in a continuation of their rebellion. Others serve the Chaos Gods and have fully succumbed to Chaos, yet still others realise they were mislead in their rebellion and once again fight in the Emperor's name.

While not all of them have succumbed to the powers of Chaos, although every Psyker captured by the Dark Angels has been so far [5]. A large number of the Fallen, though, have become true Chaos Space Marines. For some this was a natural step, cementing beliefs fomented by Luther, and some Fallen feel their liege lost his sanity due to not aligning himself boldly enough with the Chaos Gods. For other Fallen Angels, their embracing of Chaos was an act of desperation; as they saw no chance for salvation in the fractured remnants of their Legion and home world. To them, the Chaos Gods were the only power that could shepherd them through the Warp and give them a renewed purpose. The Chaos Gods themselves have vied with one another, in order to claim these corrupted Fallen Angels as servants. While Khorne was quick to shackle the most ruthless and warlike of the Fallen, the other remaining Gods were more subtle in their advances. Nurgle's emissaries sought out those Fallen that were driven to despair by the loss of Caliban, and promised them the Garden of Nurgle, which was a forested realm of a far more resilient kind than their lost Homeworld. From there, those Fallen that embraced Nurgle could plot their revenge against their foes.[20a]

Tzeentch meanwhile, spoke to the most scrupulous and brooding of the Fallen. The Chaos God then weaved Luther's dark claims into a far larger tapestry of betrayal and deceit, while promising the Fallen all the intellect they would need to unravel it. As for Slaanesh, the Dark Prince whispered of indulgences beyond imagining, to those Fallen who had already opened their souls to depravity in the halls of Caliban's keeps. Other Fallen venerate Chaos Undivided instead, as they think themselves above servitude to a single God. These Fallen draw strength from the arcane currents of the Warp when they need to, but are blind to the many manipulations worked upon them in return. However those Fallen who embrace Chaos Undivided, are forever denied the ability to ascend to Daemonhood. Only those who pledge their soul to a single Chaos God, can attain such glories and the Fallen Daemon Princes are amongst the mightiest and most feared of all of Chaos' champions. They are natural leaders and besides other Fallen Angels, these Daemon Princes often command legions of daemons and lesser human followers.[20a]

However many other Fallen realize that their actions during the Destruction of Caliban were questionable. Others, claiming that the Lion himself was Chaos-tainted and that Luther was the true loyalist have remained unrepentant and possessed of the same ideals they fought for during Caliban's fall. Disgusted by the perverse Chaos Gods and unable to reconcile themselves with the Imperium, such members of the Fallen often lead a solitary existence. Many become mercenaries or pirates, while others attempt to integrate themselves back into 'normal' human societies. Some Fallen, however, have realized their mistake and fight on their own in the Lion's name once more. Others band together in Warbands or even army-sized formations and the threat they pose is exponentially greater. These Fallen Warbands are led by Commanders, who are often former Librarians that have become pariahs and who are forever denied the honor granted to Loyalist Librarians. This has made Fallen Librarians highly volatile figures and their human anger has been made far more dangerous by years of exposure to the Warp. Led by their Commanders, Fallen Warbands will wage deadly campaigns through Realspace, tormenting Imperial fleets and claiming already stricken worlds as their own. More disturbingly, not all of the Fallen are those who battled The Lion on Caliban. Some of those Fallen who escaped took with them the knowledge to engineer new Space Marines, and have thus created new generation of Fallen to execute their agendas.[20a]

All of that is irrelevant to the Dark Angels, who believe that the only way they can restore their honour and trust within the Emperor's eyes is if all the Fallen are found and either made to repent or are slain. Consequently, the Dark Angels and the rest of the Unforgiven constantly hunt for the Fallen and regularly prioritize it above other concerns. Fallen Warbands are highly targeted by the Unforgiven and they will divert all possible resources to their destruction or capture. Even at the expense of other strategic goals[20a]. Those Fallen that are captured are taken back to the Rock, where Interrogator-Chaplains attempt to make them repent. Occasionally they do and so die quickly. More often than not though, the captured Fallen refuses and suffers a long, agonizing death at the hands of those who would save his soul.[1]

The Fallen's Perspective

In another record, Interrogator-Chaplain Uzziel was attempting to draw a confession from a Fallen in the bowels of the Rock. The Fallen decried Uzziel's attempts, saying that the Dark Angels sent to Caliban with Luther were abandoned by Lion El'Jonson and the Emperor and robbed of the glory of the Great Crusade. Eventually, the Fallen made a false repentance that led Uzziel on a crusade to recover the Lion Sword. Uzziel realized the repentance was false when he recovered the weapon only to discover it was in fact the Sword of Luther.[3]

This perspective is backed up by another record of a Fallen known as Cephesus. When finally tracked down by Interrogator Chaplain Bareus he claimed the same reasoning, that the Dark Angels on Caliban had been abandoned with Luther while the Lion claimed the glories of the crusade. Bareus was mortally wounded by Cephusus, but eventually the Fallen was slain by Brother Kaelan of the Dark Angels who received a field promotion to rank of Interrogator Chaplain by the dying Bareus.[4]

This also ties in with the perspective given in Fallen Angels (Novel) where Luther declares that the Lion has forgotten about them. He then secedes from the Imperium and is joined by many of the Dark Angels stationed with him including the Chapter Master Astelan and the Librarian Zahariel.[5]

The Testimony of Astelan

A record of the apparent motivation for the actions of those Dark Angels who would become the Fallen exists: the confession of Astelan, once a Dark Angels Chapter Master. This testimony, extracted by Interrogator-Chaplain Boreas, contains the following claims: Astelan himself is supposed to have ordered the attack on the Lion's approaching fleet, with the approval of Luther, because the Dark Angels on Caliban believed that El'Jonson had fallen sway to the powers of Chaos. Astelan claimed that while the Lion had been lost in the woods of Caliban as a child, he had had a brush with Chaos and had never quite lost the taint of darkness from the incident. He pointed out that while El'Jonson had moved through the Warp towards Terra to join the defence of the Imperial Palace, he had moved at what was believed to have been a deliberately slow pace; a pace slow enough to determine who the true winner of the conflict would be before committing his forces. In other words, Astelan believed that El'Jonson would not have hesitated to join Horus if it had seemed that he would have been the ultimate victor in the Heresy. Why else would the Lion, a man renowned for his strategic brilliance and speed of attack, have waited so long before leading troops to Terra? Astelan believed that by attacking his fleet, the Dark Angels stationed on Caliban were doing the work of the Emperor.[Needs Citation]

Astelan further claimed that Luther never fell under the sway of Chaos but was driven by his duty to the Emperor, fearing the traitorous nature of El'Jonson. Also, he revealed that, apparently, the majority of the men who had been garrisoned on Caliban were original members of the Dark Angels, Terrans who had been inducted before the arrival of El'Jonson as Primarch. This existing form of divide may have also contributed to the conflict on Caliban. Finally, he claimed that, in the ensuing battle between the seemingly loyalist Lutheran Angels and the possibly suspect Lionite Angels, Luther attempted to negotiate with the Lion before any more were slain. Refusing to talk, the Lion hastily ordered the bombardment of Caliban and descended to crush the Fallen in combat. Luther then apparently fought the Lion only as a last resort and mortally wounded him only when he had no other choice. The only thing that Astelan could not explain was the Warp-Storm that flung the Fallen far across the Galaxy.[2]

This entire point of view, as told by a member of the Fallen, should be considered suspect at best and complete fabrication at worst; it could simply be a series of malicious lies or just a warped, inaccurate view of the entire incident. Often, those who fall under the sway of Chaos do not even realize that they are serving its ends, except that at the end of 'Angels of Darkness', Boreas asks for a tranmission to be sent to a solitary cell in the rock, saying simply: 'You were right'. This cell is believed, by readers, to be that of either Astelan or Luther himself. This coming from a loyal Dark Angel throws into question the loyalty of the Dark Angels, The Fallen, and Lion El'Johnson himself.[Needs Citation]

The Risen

In M42 during the Arks of Omen Campaign, Lion El'Jonson returned to defend the Imperium once more. Starting with the Fallen Angel Zabriel, he has begun recruiting willing Fallen Angels that have been deemed loyal and pure from the taint of Chaos. These new warriors are known as The Risen.[21]

Known Fallen Angels

Images

Fallen squad miniatures

Related Articles

Sources


Chaos Space Marine Forces
Command Chaos LordExalted ChampionSorcerer LordDaemon PrinceDark Commune (Cult DemagogueMindwitchIconrachBlessed Blades)
Specialists Sorcerer (Balefire Acolyte) • WarpsmithDark ApostleMaster of PossessionMaster of ExecutionLord DiscordantWarsmithApothecaryInfernus Abomination
Troops Chaos Space MarinesHavocsChosenChaos TerminatorsPossessed (Greater PossessedAnointed) • Khorne BerzerkersPlague MarinesNoise MarinesRubric MarinesObliterators (Mutilators) • Dark DiscipleShrivetalonButcherCultists (Accursed MutantTorments) • Chaos SpawnFallen
Fast Attack BikersRaptorsWarp Talons
Chaos Dreadnoughts HelbruteFerrum Infernus DreadnoughtContemptor DreadnoughtSonic DreadnoughtBerserker DreadnoughtHellforged Leviathan DreadnoughtDeredeo Dreadnought
Vehicles & Daemon Engines RhinoPredatorInfernal Relic PredatorVindicatorLand RaiderLand Raider ProteusLand Raider AchillesLand Raider Hades DiabolusRelic SicaranSicaran VenatorMaulerfiendForgefiendDefilerBrass ScorpionBlood SlaughtererDecimatorBlight DroneKytanPlague HulkVenomcrawlerWhirlwind Scorpius
Heavy Vehicles SpartanFellbladeTyphonCerberusFalchionMastodonLord of SkullsDeath WheelPlaguereaperPlague Centurion
Aircraft HeldrakeStormbirdThunderhawkStorm EagleFire RaptorHell BladeHell TalonHarbingerDreadclawKharybdis
Summoned Greater DaemonsLesser DaemonsDaemonic Beasts
Special Characters Abaddon the DespoilerKharn the BetrayerTyphusAhrimanHuron BlackheartFabius BileCypherHaarken Worldclaimer