Night Reapers
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The Night Reapers were once a loyal Space Marine Chapter, before they turned to Heresy.[1a]
Contents
Notable Actions Taken As A Loyal Chapter
- The Siege of Lakadamon — aiding the Sons of Guilliman and Tekarn Imperial Guard, alongside the War Bearers and Imperial Navy they fought against the Orks of Vorhgad Bloodfang.[2]
Downfall
The beginning of the Night Reapers' downfall began in 981.M41, in what became known as The Constantinus Iconoclasm, when the Chapter was charged with defending the Shrine World Salvation-Gamma from an incoming Chaos invasion. However, once the Night Reapers saw the scope of the Chaos forces closing in on Salvation-Gamma, the Chapter performed an Exterminatus on the Shrine World, in order to grant the population what they considered a merciful end. Once word of the Chapter's actions reached the Ecclesiarchy, it lodged such vociferous objections with the Senatorum Imperialis that the Night Reapers were declared to have committed a gross dereliction of duty and as punishment were cosigned to duty along the outer fringes of the Laanah Rifts. Within a decade of Salvation-Gamma's destruction, the Imperium's communication with the Chapter was almost entirely lost.[1a]
In 989.M41, the Night Reapers were conclusively linked to the destruction of Rogue Trader Baron Stross Yuen's fleet and were declared Excommunicate Traitoris. After the declaration, the Minotaurs and Red Templars Chapters were dispatched to track the Night Reapers in the depths of the Laanah Rifts to bring them to the Emperor's justice. The war within the Rifts became known as the Harrowing of the Night Reapers and saw the once loyal Chapter unleash numerous Xeno weapons and technology against the Minotaurs and the Red Templars. Finally after three years, what remained of the Night Reapers were cornered on board a vast pre-human void construct known as the Perun Cross as they attempted to mine some unknown xeno weapon from its core. Before the Night Reapers' pursuers could begin their final assault on the fallen Chapter, a Grey Knights strike force arrived and joined them, in what became known as The Perun Cross Incident.[1a]
The battle between the Imperium's forces and the Night Reapers came to a sudden conclusion when the Perun Cross exploded without warning, killing the Grey Knights' entire strike force and a large number of the Minotaurs' squads. It had been assumed by the Imperium that the Night Reapers had also been destroyed in the explosion, but they later appeared and clashed with Inquisitor Celaeno and a Company of the Red Hunters in 999.M41. The Inquisitor was able to bring the Night Reapers to battle on the barren worlds of the Calligulan Nebula, but was later killed by an errant shell from the Red Hunters' vehicles as they fought the Night Reapers' Daemon Engines. The Night Reapers went on to defeat the Red Hunters, who vowed vengeance against the fallen Chapter as they retreated.[1a]
Sepktraal Cult
Due to the Night Reapers large use of Decimator Daemon Engines, the Inquisition believes that the fallen Chapter has had numerous dealings with the Dark Magi of the Sepktraal Cult.[1b]
See Also
Related Articles
Sources
- 1: Imperial Armour Volume Thirteen - War Machines of the Lost and the Damned
- 2: Imperial Armour Volume Two - Second Edition, pg. 17
