Ordinators

This article, Ordinators, was written by Decimus Aurelian. Please do not edit or 'acquire' this fiction without the writer's permission.

Ordinators
Ordinators Armourial with Chapter iconography.
Intercessor Brother-Initiate Valens of III Contubernium, IV Cohors Acesian
Space Marine Chapter
Founding	23rd 'Sentinel' Founding
Successor of	Classified Mutation of Rogal Dorn's Gene-Seed
Chapter Master	Legatus Decimus Aurelian
Homeworld	Azuran
Fortress-Monastery	Arx Numinex
Number of Marines	Classified by Ordo Malleus Directive
Specialty	Locating and exterminating Chaos Daemons and Chaos Space Marine presences through martial and spiritual means.
Battle cry	Total silence beyond battle communication and the chanting of litanies and hymns in High Gothic or strange languages in quiet volume.
Colours	Black & Dark Gray
Successor Chapter(s)	None

"The foolish and the ignorant may think themselves slaves of the Imperium. True slavery is only knowable by the thralls of the Dark Gods, whose lives and souls are forfeit to the hunger of their uncaring, insatiable lords. Only the Emperor may grant liberation to the souls of man in death."

— From the Litanies of Ordination

The Ordinators are a 23^rd 'Sentinel' Founding, semi-Codex compliant Space Marine Chapter thought to have been founded by directive of the Ordo Malleus to build on the successful practice of Daemonic Possession Therapy pioneered by the Exorcists Chapter to create a specialized anti-Chaos Astartes chapter in a besieged corner of the Imperium. The Ordinators were first mentioned in Administratum records as one of very few Space Marine Chapters with a permanent homeworld within the Segmentum Pacificus in late M38, and are considered by those who know of their presence to have been one of the "Sentinel Chapters" formed to protect the frayed borders of the Imperium In a region which is subject to frequent infiltration by the forces of Chaos.

Chapter History

The chapter's creation was a result of the labors of both the upper echelons of the Adeptus Terra and the Plutonian faction of Radicals of the Ordo Malleus to re-create the extremely successful Daemon-hunting capabilities of the Exorcists within a new Space Marine chapter. Any inquest into the origin of the background of the chapter's structure, history, or location is impossible by any, except the highest-ranking Imperial adepts, due to the chapter's data files having been classified by the top echelon of the Inquisition. However, due to the rising profile of their parent chapter - and their own string of victories primarily in Chaos-tainted regions of the Imperium, they have begun to arouse suspicions in more well-informed Adepta and Puritan Inquisitorial factions in recent years. Most of those who accuse them of heresy find an end to their lives at the hands of Vanguard Kill-Teams, or in some cases, Officio Assassinorum Temple Adepts.

Since its inception, it has been tasked with the dual task of protecting the Southeastern Segmentum Pacificus as well as the populated Southern reaches of the Segmentum Solar from incursion from various threats as well as with restoring Imperial law and order to the many Imperial worlds which had been experiencing significant unrest in the former - many of which were suspected by the Inquisition to be a result of the influence of Chaos. This unrest eventually lead to a series of sector-wide mass uprising by M41 with shattered Imperial control over their Western border sector called The Night of a Thousand Rebellions. In contrast with the attitude which is popularly expected from Inquisition-linked military actions, the Ordinators have responded with a restrained strategy inclined towards attempting to limit unnecessary human casualties or infrastructure loss.

While fortunate in the number of victories it has won in battles over many systems and in multiple sectors, it is still a relatively young chapter and has only taken part in few major Crusades. Meeting with great success in the Suppression of the Macharian Heresy, it has recently played a much more visible and extremely decisive role in the restoration of many Imperial sectors from heretical planetary governments, and in doing so they earned a fearsome reputation among heretics as ferocious loyalists willing to strike at the heart of any enemy without mercy. Ruthless vigilance and dedication to their mandate to safeguard humanity from the horrors of the warp and the Dark Gods are not without being balanced by ingrained valor and compassion where innocent human life and spiritual purity are concerned, however. To dutiful Imperials, however, they have earned a reputation as a compassionate and tireless protector of humanity within the Segmentum Pacificus. It has established near-total control of the Azuran Sector along with the other major power of the sector. It has played a major role in establishing or restoring Imperial Compliance within countless sectors in the Segmentums Pacificus and Southern Solar.

Wars and Crusades of the Chapter

• The Hellpurge (393.M38-412.M38) - The first three provisional companies of the chapter are dispatched to the Eye of Terror for the chapter's trial by fire. Over the course of 19 years, six Daemon Worlds in four systems are cleansed of their foul Neverborn inhabitants by less than 300 newly-minted Ordinators and their Exorcist mentors.
• The Razing of the Witch Worlds (414.M39-416.M39) - When the worlds of the Vompiyya system cease their payment of the Imperial tithe, a secretive investigation by the Ordo Hereticus reveals that the three inhabited worlds within it have been usurped by a heretical magocracy, in which unsanctioned psykers have overtaken rule of the loyal Imperial population in a horrific reign of terror in which the citizenry are treated as livestock used to satiate every need and desire of the ruling class. The Ordinators, with the aid of the Astral Leviathans, manage to cleanse each of the witch-lords and their minions from each world in under a year per planet, as the Ordinators' superior psychic conditioning enables them to act as a vanguard in many operations against sorcererous foes, better able withstand their foes' psychic assaults during the brutal campaign the two chapters wage to destroy the enemy's centers of power, though a number of entire hive cities are left as burning necropolises in the course of the war. The campaign came to grisly end with the the command squads of each respective chapter holding out in a last stand within the throne room of the vile psyker-queen. the Void Empress, after setting beacons for a precise orbital bombardment after multiple wave assaults failed to penetrate the void shield generator in the heart of the palace. The Ordinators Auspexus (Chief Librarian) keeping the potent enemy psykers relatively at bay as the Leviathans' Commodus (Chapter Master) and his Honour Guard sacrificed themselves in the midst of the onslaught of enemies, taking down many times their number in heretics and their legionaries - allowing the Ordinator Auspexus to be extracted and bombard the enemy strongholds bringing and end to their reign.
• The Phaedon Gulf Crusade (603.M40-607.M40) - A large Eldar Corsair fleet is discovered as being the cause behind a plethora of abductions, genocides, and acts of naval piracy in the Jokahn Sector in the early latter-half of M40. With the help of the sector battlefleet and two other unknown chapters, the Ordinators manage to ambush the much larger fleet of the Voidsparrow Raiders, led by Prince Koaiel Iyddinnah. The ego of the arrogant Eldar murderers ends up being the cause of their ultimate downfall, as they refuse to quit the fight even after the battle turns against them. The body of Prince Koaiel and his closest advisors are crucified within the wreckage of an Imperial Navy graveyard. Eldar piracy never occurs within the sector again.
• The Atmaran War (332-334.M40) - The Sector Capitol of Atma attempts to lead a secessionist movement to break the planet away from the Imperium of Man under the guise of "reforging a new empire in the Emperor's true vision". Unknowingly to the inhabitants of the world of Atma II, the rebellion is lead by a pawn of the traitorous Alpha Legion. Intuiting the role of the Dark Gods, the Ordinators and eleven Imperial Guard regiments engage in a war to surgically cut out the corruption from the massively populated sector to spare the lives of as many as possible, though most of Atma II itself is purged in the process. The war ends with the killing of the Chaos Lord Ukon in a hidden bunker at the core of the world, followed by the seizing and public execution of the rebellion's leader on live holo-vision. The remaining population of Atma II - approximately 41% of the pre-war citizenry - are ultimately spared only because the preaching of the chapter's Reclusiarch guides the better part of the native PDF forces to redeem themselves and to seek forgiveness through death in battle against their treacherous brethren.
• The Purging of the Hakari - (378.M41) - The gruesome Hakarian Flesh-Reaper Warband of Khornate pirates - a faction of once-loyal voidsmen and Imperial adepts once serving Chartist Captains, Rogue Traders, and even the Imperial Navy fallen to worship of the Blood God wage a three-century long insurgency within the less-well defended systems in the sector - converge in a massive attempted raid on Azuran itself and are nearly obliterated with aid from Battlefleet Azuran and ultimately driven from the Azuran sector into the very Western edge of the galaxy, though no Imperial fleet has been able to find their forces since. Lord Inquisitor Garus Kolonius recognizes the mark of the Flesh-Reapers when examining reports of piracy in the Segmentum Pacificus in subsequent years, however, and an edict is issued charging the Ordinators to continue searching for the void-based warband of raiders until they are utterly annihilated - a hunt which has continued unsuccessfully ever since
• Suppression of the Macharian Heresy (400.M41-470.M41) - The Ordinators are called upon to defend their own home sector from the predation of both Alpha Legion infiltration units and the renegade traitor-general Junor Rankar, a once great-commander fallen to the temptations of Tzeentch, cultivating a secular absolutist monarchial cult of personality leading a multi-sector kingdom who quickly rose to economic prosperity and winning much of the population in the process, as well as suppressing and exterminating the many Chaos cultist uprisings all over the Segmentum Pacificus. At one point, the chapter nearly comes to blows with the Minotaurs over the latter's indiscriminate slaughter of Imperials, but the Ordinators are ordered by the High Lords of Terra to remain on the periphery of the crusade, and spend the next half-century culling traitors and destroying pocket-empires in the shadows.
• The Gerrhae War (993.M41-998.M41) - A Tzeentchian Warband, the Host of the Unending Tower, ambushes and massacres an Ordinator frigate carrying a fell tome of dark knowledge through an artificial warp rift, seizing it and using its knowledge to begin carving out a realm of it's own in the Gerrhae Sector within the Segmentum Pacificus. The Ordinators, along with an allied chapter, eventually turn the tide with the help of the Ordo Malleus by sealing the warp rift and either liberating or exterminating any planet along the path of the Cult - led by the dual Sorcerer-Kings of Land and Void, Nagem and Ahtu, respectively. Though the war is incredibly costly and results in the destruction of the sector's de facto capital of Bellator - it comes to a decisive end with the deaths of Ahtu in the Battle of of the Blood Nebula, followed by the slaying of Nagem's entire Chaos Space Marine warband as well as their patron Lord of Change, O'kazhk's banishment, above and upon the surface of the the newly re-inhabited world of Martyr's Hope.
• The Terran and Indomitus Crusades (999.M41-111.M42) - Accompanying the Living Saint Celestine and Arch-Magos Belisarius Cawl in the "resurrection" of Roboute Guilliman and the many battles fought from Cadia to Macragge, Terra, and then back to the outer rim, Aurelian leads 7 companies over the course of the massive odyssey. To the chapter's grief and anger, more Brother-Initiates and Neophytes are lost over the course of the two crusades than in any previous campaigns undertaken by the chapter in its entire history. After the heavy damage to the chapter's Battle Barges and the outright destruction of the Strike Cruiser Eternal Faith in the Terran Crusade's largest naval battle, the Ordinators now bear a particular hatred for the Red Corsairs. The Ordinators receive a company's worth of Primaris Astartes as replacements but, to this day, the Chapter hold them under suspicion as outsiders and of questionable genetic stability, restricting most of their number to remain in stasis while the other half has been conditioned and deployed as a special demi-company strike force. The chapter is still recovering from its hundreds of deaths by recruiting new Astartes in the old way, and it will be several decades before they are back up to full strength.
• The Khaigara Crusade (112.M42) - Decimus Aurelian is chosen by Inquisitor Leonid Svaltysh to lead an incursion into a satellite realm of the Dark Eldar known as Port Khaigara with the intent to destroy and seize the technological innovations of the city's Haemonculi covens. Millions of Imperials are drawn by the call to the crusade, and within weeks of its declaration, the invasion is able to commence (with the aid of the Inquisitor and his highly questionable technological assets and allies) as a Dark Eldar raiding fleet emerges from a webway portal near the world of Cordania. Within days, two million Dark Eldar and half a million Imperials are killed or wounded under Aurelian's strategic and tactical leadership. Millions of human slaves are freed, and the realm of Port Khaigara is utterly annihilated.
• The Cacophony (123.M42) - A brutal ambush by a massive Knights of Laeran fleet against the 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th and 8^th Companies of the Ordinators aboard the Battle Barge Paladin and Strike Cruisers Herald of the Sacred Wrath and Purifier as well as two escort Gladius-class Frigates - Victory of Light and To Justice Due - lead to the deaths of nearly a third of the entire chapter. All but one of the ships are either grievously crippled and effectively destroyed or outright explode from massive plasma reactor detonations under a withering hail of lance fire and aggressive Slaaneshi Terminator boarding sabotage teams at the cost of very few destroyed Laeran ships. Only Centurio Ulixes aboard the Purifier manages to escape after Centurio Brutus, the Master of the Fleet, orders an emergency disengagement. Less than one year later, the Stolos Omega fleet of Forge World Ferunus arrives and fights off the still-looting Knights of Laeran and rescue the ship hulks with colossal recovery ships - along with hundreds of Brother-Initiate bodies. Miraculously, Centurio Brutus (and around 40 other Ordinators) survived the near-destruction of Paladin through the use of Sus-An Membranes and Mucranoid Glands and swears vengeance by taking the chapter's Sacred Oath of Justice alongside Centurio Ulixes and Legatus Aurelian against the massive Slaaneshi warband. Massive cultural changes are forced to occur within the Ordinators, and, if only for the blessing of Guilliman, the creation of Primaris Marines from the chapter's Scouts begins using the surgical technique pioneered by Belisarius Cawl. Preparations for a massive war begin shortly after.

Chapter Organization

In Codex manner, the first five companies of the chapter are utilized as tactically diverse "Battleline" chapters which are generally perpetually in a state of deployment. Two Reserve Battleline Cohorts exist as well as a Heavy Fire Support and Close Assault Company in addition to the Vanguard Company of the 10th and the Neophyte Scout formations that make up the same 11th and 12th Companies of the Exorcists model. The 13^th Special-Attack Expiravenator formation, often referred to a specialized "Demi-Company" is unique to the Ordinators, and asked with dealing with atypical paranormal and political threats that do not demand the attention of a full company but who undergo decades of special training to deal with everything from warp ghosts to sapient warp species and utilize unique wargear and forms of warfare in doing so, as well as studying the entirety of the known Wards of Dissolution to slice the threads holding the immaterium within the materium and ensure that stability returns and is maintained to wherever they are deployed.

Chapter Culture

The Astartes of the Chapter are distinguished primarily by the practice known as "Daemonic Possession Therapy" which was pioneered by the Exorcists, though it is called the Rite of Purification by brothers of the Ordinators. To become a full battle-brother of the chapter, a Scout-Neophyte must survive a period of Daemonic possession lasting no longer than a half-Terran day (12 hours) under the ruthless gaze and total control of an Ordo Malleus Inquisitor, a senior Librarian, and a Chaplain of the Reclusiam who both monitor and assist the exorcism ritual. Nine of ten of those who cannot exorcise the daemon within the time limit are executed. Of every five, however, one is bound to fail and be tasked with a solemn and terrible duty. The chapter imposes a hellish fate upon them - not out of caprice, but necessity. The “Martyris Agonitores ”, who are chosen of the fifth of those who fail the Rite of Purity that have been discovered to be incapable of exorcising the daemon within them are forced to become vessels to hold variably numerous, but always a tremendous, amount of daemons within their bodies and souls, and are used to imprison the Lesser Daemons used in the Daemonic Purification Therapeutic rituals within their flesh and mind. These cursed souls endure unimaginable physical, mental, and spiritual agony for a period of 1,000 years to the day before they are released from this duty - twisted into monstrously deformed beings with utterly blasted sanity. These damned martyrs are imprisoned in a moon with a secret name and location bearing a deeply subterranean prison known only as the Animus Solanium. The moon bears hexagrammic warding glyphs everywhere from within the thick silver and adamantium walls to the very surface of the planet itself; a fear only possible through the use of planetary mining lasers. Though their suffering is unbearable, each daemon they absorb into themselves is another that cannot corrupt or harm mankind in realspace or the warp alike for the duration of their imprisonment.

For those who can successfully physically and mentally survive the ordeal, they are drastically and permanently altered by the experience (both in terms of their behavior and even the nature of their presence within the warp in the eyes of malevolent denizens). Those who make it to become a Captain, Chapter Master, Chief Librarian, Master of Sanctity, Master of the Forge, or Chief Apothecary, however, the Rite of Purification is repeated with the presence of a Greater Daemon. Only those of adamant determination and devotion to the Emperor's Light and the good of all Mankind under the Imperium can withstand such a purging of the soul, and only with the help of a Librarian and Chaplain. Their souls appear almost nonexistent to all but the most powerful warp entities after this ordeal, and enables them to better understand the primary, corrupting foe of mankind better than almost any in the galaxy. The Conclave Ordinatorum, a Radical faction of the Ordo Malleus, acts as the sponsor of and controls the chapter to ensure its purity and success in its primary purpose - even maintaining a secret fortress-prison at the base of the chapter Fortress-Monastery, Arx Numinex. They regularly send members of the conclave or full Inquisitorial Black Ships with Ordinator fleets to act as observation or command and control.

The character of an Ordinator can be described as contemplative, studious, pious, stoic, and slow-to-anger outside of combat. Erudition in all things is highly prized, and it is often said the essence of an Ordinator's identity is the willingness to fight against base emotions and temptations in the pursuit of the betterment of the self as each fights against the enemies of purity of the human soul literally and figuratively. Scholarship, and even poetry extolling the virtues of an abstemious life of the virtues of war for the Emperor and Mankind and the virtues of the human species are highly regarded. The Each Ordinator is expected to conquer the human feelings of rage and bloodlust that come along in the heat of battle and view brutal and pitiless violence as an undeniable but necessarily evil duty. Once battle is joined, however, the Ordinators become mercilessly aggressive, slaughtering all of their foes with a pitiless, detached contempt. Each Battle-Brother of the chapter is attended by one or more serf Equerries outside of battle as a means of strengthening the ties of Astartes to their humanity, as well as reinforcing the loyalty of the serfdom in a chapter surrounded by the threat of the taint of Chaos. They carry within their hearts both a deep understanding and utter contempt of the entities of the Warp and the corruption of Chaos. They place a high value on the life of a loyal servant of the Emperor, and have a reputation for almost never abandoning wounded or isolated loyalist Imperial forces when withdrawing from combat, no matter the risk. However, when fighting against traitorous human forces acting under the influence of the Chaos Gods - whether knowingly or unknowingly - the Ordinators are known to be utterly merciless.

Their chapter cult is unique from their Exorcist forebears in that it resembles a direct offshoot of the Imperial Cult, though sharing some traits that make it akin to that of the Promethean Cult. Unlike the vast majority of Astartes' chapter cults, the adherents of the Cult Ordinatus view the Emperor as a true god since his ascension to the Golden Throne, often incorporating veneration of popular Imperial Saints into their worship while still placing tremendous value on any loyal human Imperial's life. The do not fully share the Promethean Cult's emphasis on self-reliance, though it is considered a great virtue (though not a Cardinal one), compassion for fellow man is held sacrosanct, and fire is thought of as a means of purifying the weak and wicked as well as branding (or flagellating) the skin of the worshipper as a means of penance. Occasional martyrs of great heroism and piety of the chapter are raised to sainthood within the cult, as well, though the practice is exceeding rare, with only seven to date since M38. They currently hold a special reverence for Saint Celestine since her re-emergance in the Terran Crusade and consider her authority to surpass that of the Chapter Master, Legatus Decimus Aurelian in all things, with both his Honour Guard and he himself prostrating themselves before her in their first meeting - an act unthinkable to many a proud chapter whose lineage directly extends from legions that fought directly alongside the Emperor himself. All members of the chapter, Astartes or serf are raised within the cult, and even members as humble as refectory workers are capable of rising to the ranks of Chapter Lay Preacher, ministering to both the masses of the serfdom and even the Brother-Initiates in ways only a Chaplain would be permitted to in many others. The Chaplains themselves exclusively make up the high priesthood of the cult, however, due to their nigh-proven incorruptibility and need to accompany their cohorts into battle to practice the sacred rites of violently crusading against the impurities of xenos and heresy corrupting their species, exemplifying the highest values of the Ordinators’ belligerent and insular, yet humanitarian and communitarian form of religion.

Azuran, the uninhabited ocean planet that serves as the homeworld of the Ordinators and their massive undersea Fortress-Monastery, Arx Numinex.

Following a new Marine’s passage through this Rite and a final test of their dedication to the Emperor, Ordinators must have hexagrammic wards surgically etched into their bones and tattooed onto their skin. After this painful process that protects their corporeal form from so many dangers of the warp, they must commit the Tome of 666 Verses of the Daemonhunter and the Liber Exorcismus to memory. All Battle-Brothers of the chapter are required to maintain a copy of both the Liber Exorcismus and Litanies of Ordination at all times, as each is expected to be able to fight and banish the insidious Neverborn at any moment, in any place. Special writing tools that work by burning into hard surfaces with a micro-plasma battery torch are used to draw hexagrammic wards and arcane sigils in nearly any environment, known as the calamus-luximus - A common saying amongst the chapter brethren goes, "The calamus is no less a weapon than the Bolter or Power Sword.".

Unlike their Exorcist forefathers, however, their focused specialization solely on Daemons shifts to more traditional arts of combating traitor Astartes in their training practices after their first century of service. All Ordinators are encouraged to pursue the study of the art of combating the forces of Chaos according to their individual interests and talents through study within the chapter Orison cult - membership in which are by invitation only, extended after decades of observation by the existing members in each one. Several hours a day are spent in study for any member of the chapter, from Scout-Neophyte to Brother-Captain. An emphasis on learning and writing various types of hexagrammic wards pervades the criteria of most of the various Orisons. While their exposure to daemonic threats has not been quite as prolific as the chapter which helped to establish them, they have performed with an extremely high degree of effectiveness against every daemonic threat they have encountered, as well as with the many traitorous Astra Militarum regiments or Chaos Space Marine warbands they have gone into battle against - a feat accomplished with no recorded instances of falling to Chaos among its ranks. his spiritual purity is, in part, a product of their extremely close working relationship with the Conclave Ordinatorum of the Ordo Malleus which maintains a constant presence within the deepest, most hidden part of Arx Numinex, beneath the ocean floor of Azuran.

The recent arrival of three overstrength companies of Primaris Marine replacements given to them by Lord Commander Guilliman to partially replace the chapter's recent heavy losses in the first century of M42 had led to extreme distrust by virtually all of the chapter towards the newcomers despite the commitment of most to accept the necessity of the Rite of Purification and their largely successful surviving of the process (nearly 80 either refused the therapy or failed to succeed at the self-exorcism and were executed despite the intensive pre-rite education program, however) and nearly all of the Primaris were frozen in stasis pending a period of demonstration by the small squads allowed to be formed under the Primaris Lieutenant, Optio (Senior Lieutenant) Costantine Marcus, to prove that the new brand of Astartes created not by the Divine Emperor but an Arch-Magos Dominus (an act perceived as borderline heretical even by the chapter's Radical standards) is not susceptible to corruption or prone to mutation given the nature of the chapter's primary enemy. To date, they have performed

Centurion Pollux Marcus was the first of the Primaris to prove himself spiritually pure in all trials of the chapter, and has risen to Captaincy in the years following the Cacophony - serving as a shepherd and example for Primaris integration into the highly insular and secretive chapter.

admirably, but the current ruling Council of Lords had decreed that the Primaris were never to exceed more than a full company in number until irrefutable proof of their loyalty and genetic stability can be proven beyond all doubt.

This decree was revoked following The Cacophony in 124.M42- a massacre of nearly a third of the entire chapter in transport to purge a daemon world along the Northern Cicatrix Maledictum at the hands of the Slaaneshi Knights of Laeran warband and its overwhelmingly powerful fleet and with the arrival of the Adeptus Custodes Emissary Imperatus, Darius Anamedes, who spoke in sealed conclave to the chapter's Council of Lords, convincing them entirely that it was the will of the Emperor. He departed before the majority of the chapter itself could be addressed, but a decree was left behind that proved the transition bore Imperial approval. After the successful pioneering of the surgical procedure allowing standard Astartes to transition into Primaris, the Magi Biologis of Forge World Ferunus and Apothecarium of the Ordinators led by Miseriauctor (Chief Apothecary) Amantius Chiron managed to decrease mortality rates associated with the surgery to just below 40%. The Legatus of the chapter, Decimus Aurelian, was the first to volunteer - he sought to demonstrate to his brethren that he would ask nothing of them he would not do himself. After Aurelian survived the surgery, Miseriauctor Chiron soon became even more skilled at practicing it, and, in teaching the rest of the chapter's Sanatores (Apothecaries) how to conduct it, he himself successfully underwent it. Soon after, near half the chapter (and all Scout-Neophytes) underwent the surgery - entirely by choice for the former. Over a third of those attempting to become Primaris died from complications in or after the surgery, but for those who lived, and the nearly company-sized element of Scouts in the 10^th Cohort who survived the Rite of Purification, they quickly found themselves far more effective at their dedicated task. Though many still mistrust the process and Primaris in general, the culture of the chapter is changing rapidly - thanks in no small part to Guilliman - as the son and acting regent of the God-Emperor himself - choosing to publicly give his blessing to them and the Captains and Sergeants who were permitted to personally inspect the Imperial decree delivered by the Emissary Imperatus. Though the chapter's Pontifexium Imperatorum of the Chaplaincy were the last to unanimously approve of the change, they did eventually give it - all skeptics of the decree being convinced of its genuine nature by the Master of Sanctity himself. The chapter is growing back to its old strength at a quick rate by its own standards (though still much slower than many chapters' due to the minimum 30 year spiritual preparation demanded of Scouts among the Ordinators). Within a little more than a century, the chapter will be near full strength once again.

The 13^th Special Assault Demi-Cohort - the de facto special operations detachment of the chapter established originally as a place to sequester all Primaris, has become a Codex-divergent formation consisting of all the Reivers of the chapter as well as supporting Inceptors and several Aggressors to allow for a rapidly deployable deep striking force from overhead Thunderhawk Assault Gunships performing high altitude infiltration drops and Thunderhawk Transporter infiltration of Repulsor Transports to carry the Aggressor component and act as fire support themselves to increase the intensity of available combat capability as any engagement progresses once the element of surprise is lost. It has proven wildly successful in various endeavors, and may prove to be worthy of being retained as a permanent formation. It's former Optio was the first Primaris to be created by Belisarius Cawl in the first generation of Primaris to be raised to Captaincy. Since then, Primaris Astartes have come to make up nearly 70% of the chapter - roughly 60% of that figure being existing members of the chapter from before the integration of Primaris upon the introduction of Cawl's "Primarization" surgery for standard Astartes.

Even after the transition had been completed for most of the chapter who would voluntarily accept the surgery, however, much bitter sentiment remained. The chapter had divided into two philosophical schools with strong opinions about the issue: the "Pragmates", who believe in the necessity of Primaris numbers and advantages for the good of their purpose to spiritually cleanse and safeguard the Imperium to keep their sacred oaths and that the decree of the Adeptus Custodes were genuine, and the "Purites", who believe that accepting gene-seed organs designed by any except the Emperor Himself to be sinful who doubt whether the Imperial decree was some elaborate stratagem by Tzeentch. The Pragmates have come to be the dominant school since the entire ruling Council of Lords have undergone the transformational surgery, though the Purites still retain a strong voice. The first and only instance of intrachapter violence occurred in 129.M42 when a group of 31 Purites extremists cornered the Legatus of the chapter and attempted to kill him. With the aid of his Praetorian Lictor Honour Guard and several nearby loyal Brother-Initiates, he managed to survive - most of the insurgents being slain in the process. Those who survived were forced to perform autoimpalare, the chapter's infrequently practiced suicide ritual. Following this, a group of some 32 Battle-Brothers fled the chapter in a Gladius-class frigate. They were hunted down within a year and butchered almost to a man and the ship retaken- though one of their number, a former Centurio known as Nicatorius Draco (now known as "The Proditor" to the chapter's leadership), managed to escape and begin a campaign of sabotage against the chapter and any who he perceives as betraying the intent of the Emperor in creating the Adeptus Astartes. A purge of sympathizers followed, and the chapter's entire membership - both Astartes and serf - has undergone several waves of psychoanalytical batteries to attempt to identify any vestigial remnants of terroristic intent, though none who remain have shown signs of harboring such sentiment. It remains to be seen whether Purites extremists will take up the mantle of the "Dishonored", as the Pragmates have taken to calling them. The hunt for "Draco the Proditor" has only just begun, and every Captain and member of the Council of Lords has sworn blood oaths to punish him brutally for this unprecedented treachery. Many have compared him to the reviled "Swords of Epiphany" Chaos Warband spawned from and destroyed by the Exorcists in their early history, though the Dishonored deny they would ever further the cause of Chaos. It is whispered among the elders of the chapter that they do, in fact, serve the purpose of a fifth, weaker Chaos god whose sole purpose is to cause destruction to his fellow pantheon members - a poorly understood and poorly documented figure known only as "Malal", though others outright deny his existence.

Dramatic changes to the structure of the 3 Scout Cohorts have been implemented by the Legatus Aurelian. All Neophytes fight in carapace armour with sniper rifles, shotguns, and bolters in the 12th before ascending to the smaller 11^th and 10^th to server as Eliminators or Infiltrators under the tactical and spiritual tutelage of veteran mentors seconded to the Vanguard/Scout companies according to their skills. Those who survive long enough and prove themselves are inducted to the chapter fully after successfully completing the Rite of Purification, and may either stay in the Vanguard Companies or proceed to the Fire Support or Battleline Companies according to their skills.

Chapter Battle Doctrine

Like their Exorcist progenitors, one the core Ordinators' battle doctrine's primary characteristics is its very high degree of tactical flexibility. However, in recent decades, they have adapted to focus on both heavy fortification of Imperial worlds against both physical and warp-based threats, as well as how to demolish fortifications and starbases with links to Chaos in the Imperium's frenzied attempt to both defend and attack against the newly resurgent forces of Chaos. Chapter commanders and officers are trained in how to rapidly shift tactics on the ground in the midst of an ongoing battle where many chapters would simply keep pressing the attack according to their primary strengths. It is not uncommon for chapter commanders to switch tactics several times in any given battle in order to throw enemy forces off-guard as they alternate back and forth between different styles of attack and defense in order to maintain pressure on an opponent's flanks and rear as the frontage of the two forces is continually reformed. Maneuverability is of great importance to the Ordinators, and to this end, a great many types of vehicles and aircraft are maintained by the chapter, with even demi-company-sized elements rarely deploying into combat without the capability to fight any conceivable threat - mortal or daemonic.

The Ordinators' ability to rapidly switch between lightning assault or stalwart defense - and their supernatural resistance to Chaos and warp plagues - made them an ideal enemy to the Death Guard who fought against the Imperial Regent and Lord Commander Guilliman during the Plague Wars - cementing their reputation among more and more chapters and validating their focus on rapid adaptation and perfection of hexagrammic warding.

Despite this emphasis on balance in fighting and deployment styles, the Ordinators do display an inclination towards fluid means of deployment revolving around simultaneous airborne insertion of vehicles, Hammerfall Bunkers, Firestrike Servo Turrets, and drop pod assaults, under the overwatch of a significant number of gunships overhead. The chapter is well known by its foes to always focus on attaining air superiority (or supremacy) before the rest of its forces make planetfall; allowing the Ordinators to maneuver and redeploy its strength in the midst of battle in relative safety. Void and air superiority is all-important to the success of Ordinators operations, if not total void and air supremacy. During planetary assaults, enemy airfields and terrestrial voidports are generally seized in the first hours of the battle by massed drop pod assaults landing company or demi-company sized units to take control of the foe's ability to match Ordinator air power and destroy any aircraft on the ground when possible.

Scouts who show talent for irregular warfare are often assigned semi- or totally permanently back to the Vanguard forces of the chapter, and the chapter has developed a reliance on their infiltration and asymmetric warfare forces to an irregular extent - though the bulk of their infantry strength lies in their Intercessors, Hellblasters, and Inceptors. Even so, the many Infiltrator, Incursor, Eliminator, and Reivers of the chapter are often deployed in ways atypical of most chapters - being used to destabilize entire planetary regimes in some cases as a forward element before the main body of the force comes streaking from orbit in Decessor- and Firestorm-class Drop Pods as well as Thunderhawks to tear the enemy apart. Hand-in-hand with their Inquisitorial minders, spies are often cultivated and many taken back to Azuran itself to become serfs. Some marry and bear children who go on to become Ordinators themselves, allowing their parents a far more comfortable life than most throughout the Imperium.

Ordinators ground forces are known to almost never move without their deployment fleet moving in sync with them high above in low orbit for easy reinforcement and exfiltration of units to tailor the attacking or defending force to its optimal composition. They do not generally adopt defensive positions without orbital deployment of bunkers and turrets. Uniquely among most chapters, the Ordinators maintain approximately 48 Xiphon Interceptors - found in the Space Hulk of a Great Crusade-era loyalist fleet that had translated to realspace near Azuran before returning to the warp - modified into the “Sunhawk-subpattern” by the chapter’s nearby allies of Forge World Ferunus - around 12 are retained per Battle Barge and 6 per Strike Cruiser - giving the chapter unique void and air-supremacy capability not characteristic of Space Marine fleets. Thunderhawks are relied upon heavily as void and atmospheric strike craft, with the Xiphons acting as escorts and hunter-killer craft in a typical Ordinator void battle.

On the defense, the chapter tends to rely on its many Devastators and Centurion Devastator Warsuits, as well as orbitally-inserted Tarantula turrets, to establish well-protected firebases while Tactical and Intercessor form up a center line with Hellblaster, Assault, and Sternguard squads typically deployed along the attackers' flanks - a formation that can rapidly be shifted into an aggressive flanking advance while still firmly protecting occupied ground. Tracked vehicles are generally positioned behind hard cover and concealment to act as emplaced guns if needed, or as disruptive elements if a proactive defense is the best approach.

The chapter is known to place a high emphasis relative to others on bolter drills during daily training, while flamers and incendiary missile launchers are preferred special weapons due in part to their chapter cult's belief that fire acts as a purifying force upon the daemon, xeno, and heretic. Each Brother-Initiate will carry at least one full magazine of Mk. II Purgator Bolt ammunition with them at all times. Those going into battle against warp-based threats are issued them exclusively. The honour of melee combat is considered by the Ordinators to be better suited to experienced veterans, and as such, the majority of the chapter companies are filled more with Tactical and Devastator squads than Assault squads, though the prestige of being assigned to assault detachments makes the available Assault slots highly-sought after. It is known among some scholars of the Adeptus Astartes and Inquistion that the mark of a blade made for an Ordinator contains a pair of silver filaments running along either side of a monomolecular adamantium edge or chain teeth, its tang engraved with hidden warding glyphs with a single pair on either side just over the hilt depending on its intended usage. These blades are crafted with extreme care in the orbital forge-fane of Chalybeium and, when rarely given as gifts, are generally given to Inquisitors or other devoted servants of the Imperium who fight the darkness within and without the Imperium and are considered priceless.

Since the introduction of Primaris Marines, Interecessors have taken to being the staple infantry of the chapter, with Aggressors and Inceptors considered roughly equally important. Somewhat frequent usage of Devastators and Assault Marines still occurs, however, these roles are gradually being adopted by the Vanguard forces of the chapter. Incursors, Infiltrators, and Reivers (for whom, instead of distorted vox war-crys, white noise static containing embedded repetitions of subliminal wording in strange and dark languages are replayed over and over to cause a psychic dread in their targets in accordance with the Ordinators' rejection of roars and battlecrys) are frequently used in night or other low-light environment attacks to maximize opposing force disorientation. These forces are generally all deployed to the battlefield through Thunderhawk Assault Gunship or Overlord Dropship, but orbital insertion remains a mainstay of the chapter's tactical doctrine.

A unique feature observed of the Exorcists and Ordinators both, during combat with daemons, is a kind of hyper-aggressive battle trance they appear to have been conditioned into entering automatically upon exposure to the presence of malevolent warp entities. Chanting in various languages typically accompanies this state. Little is known of how this trance state is achieved, maintained, or broken otherwise. Strange runes and glyphs are often carved into their equipment, much like their progenitors. These attacks occur in synchronicity with air and long range fire support, even those within this trance knowing to perform careful fire-and-advancement movements despite their detachment from the pain and fear and chaos of the battlefield.

Chapter Gene-Seed

While the chapter's genetic purity has remained stronger than some, within the past millenium, several mutations have emerged. Despite sharing nearly all of the spiritual gifts of the Exorcist mutation of Dorn's gene-seed, the Omophagea implant has ceased to function normally in fully mature Ordinators. While the physical implant is still surgically grafted into the chapter's neophytes, it is noticeably weaker than many chapters when it comes to gathering genetic memory from DNA and RNA of the blood and flesh of creatures and xenos eaten to remember the fallen prey's recollection of events prior to their death. In recent years, its use has been looked down upon as an excess of savagery by many of the elders in the chapter and its use is usually most frequent among Scout-Neophytes who make use of it for reconnaissance purposes before it begins to degrade and they are eventually taught to cease relying on it as its function degrades over time after the implanted nerve bundles become less and less reactive in transmitting the Remembrancer's function between the organ and the Astartes' amygdala. The chapter's gene-seed has also been observed to grant variously longer life spans than many Astartes' gene-lines grant, though not to the degree that the Blood Angels' do. Unfortunately, it has been noted that gene-seed rejection is more likely than with an average Astartes gene-seed - making the need for intaking new recruits higher than most chapters, as the great majority (approximately 67%) reject it. With such a low acceptance rate, and the brutal training and conditioning methods to prepare aspirants for the Rite of Purification, the death rate of new recruits is phenomenally high within the first decade - making an additional two Scout companies necessary. While classified for millennia, it has recently been circulated among their Radical patrons at the Inquisition that Rogal Dorn is now strongly suspected to be their gene-father.

Ordinators must wear their MkVIIb, IIXb, or Xb Shadowsight variant helmets at nearly all times in combat to be able to fight with the proper visual acuity due to their hypersensitivity to light.

At the same time, the chapter Apothecarium has observed faster inter-synaptic neurotransmission times between neurons within the Black Carapace interface points than the average Astartes experiences, allowing Ordinators to move somewhat quicker and with greater ease in their bulky power armor. The Occulobe is also more sensitive to shades of bright red and green than the standard Astartes, and is prone to developing small, lesions formed of clustered, clotted blood vessels and a strange protein plaque. It is speculated that these mysterious tumors may play a role in making natural light more prone to blinding Ordinators without the aid of specialized photolenses. Because of this, most Ordinators prefer to wear modified helmets at nearly all times to ensure their vision is maintained to the superior degree expected of an Adeptus Astartes; a practice encouraged by the heavy use of retinal focus-point-slaved optical targeting networks within squads and teams of all sizes that allow each member of a small unit to see what the target of their Decanus or other officers are visually focused on in the midst of combat while wearing the chapter's standard Mk VIIb, Mk IIXb, or Mk Xb Shadowsight variant helmets mass produced by the chapter's Armorium and the Chalybeium Orbital Forge over Azuran run by the Adeptus Mechanicus. Those who do not rely on these specialized photolenses tend to only do so at night and with the aid of other forms of optics to maintain vid-feed to their unit and commanders.

Because of this mutation, melanin content within the eyes is often low and the standard iris colors of Ordinators range from ice-blue to green-grey or even ghostly white. Melanochrome skin melanin content is somewhat unaffected by this mutation, changing to a degree in shade from environment to environment, though the members of the chapter spend much time in artificial and somewhat dim lighting of the chapter's fleet and Fortress-Monastery of Arx Numinex and are known for a ghostly pale pallor when seen outside of their armor most of the time. The hair of new recruits greys within 1-3 years and eventually turns white.

No Cult of the Primarch or widespread veneration of Dorn is undertaken by the chapter for several reasons; though the primary is that no member of the chapter is allowed to know of their Primarch until they have been promoted to the Praetorian Evocatii 1st Company. While no special ties exist between them and the Imperial Fists, Black Templars, or any other Sons of Dorn besides the Exorcists due to the secretive and lonely nature of their mandate.Traditions such as the use of the pain glove and education in Dorn's fortification strategies is studied among the most experienced veterans privvy to the knowledge of their Primarch. While they share his appearance and model themselves after his stalwart dedication, their method of combat is often said to be more reflective of that of the Ultramarines they have fought alongside far more often.

Notable Ordinators

• Legatus Augustus Heliodorus - Founding Chapter Master of the Ordinators Chapter and Auditorii Imperator
• Legatus Ozydorax Pharseus - Former Chapter Master and one of the of the founding members of the Pact of the Sword of Fire.
• Legatus Decimus Aurelian - Current Chapter Master of the Ordinators. A legendary swordsman, pilot, and commander - he rose to leadership of the chapter not from a captaincy, but from a position as a Praetorian Lictor Honour Guard Champion. Devout in the extreme, he has a reputation for both ferocity and compassion towards enemies and friends, respectively. He has become one of the most well-known Legates of the Ordinators for his prolific alliance-building and extremely successful crusading campaigns.
• Centurio-Praetor Ferox Marius - Current First Captain of the Ordinators 1^st Praetorian Evocatii Cohort and longest-living Ordinator outside of a Dreadnought frame at 779 years of age as of 034.M42, though rare indeed, he has begun to venture out into the crusades of the Chapter once more wielding a relic shield carrying the bones of his former, faithful serf-squire, devoted attendant, and personal preacher, Orsemius, as well as the greatsword born by his predecessor, the Tongue of Fire.
• Aeditor Sidonius Octavian - Current Reclusiarch & High Chaplain of the Ordinators
• Centurio Scipio Valerius - Current Captain of the 2^nd Battleline Company of the Ordinators & Master of Crusades
• Centurio Iovianus Ulixes - Current Captain of the 8^th Close Assault Company of the Ordinators & Master of Justice
• Centurio Pollux Marcus - Current Captain of the 4^th Battleline Company, Master of Rites, and the former Senior Lieutenant and the first commander of the only Primaris formation allowed to exist within the Ordinators chapter. After the massive losses of the Cacophony, it was then-Lieutenant's faith and devotion to the tenets of the chapter cult that helped convince the Council of Lords that Primaris replacements could and should finally be accepted to restore the chapter to fighting strength (though there would be no compromise in the length of their spiritual conditoning) and he, in no small part, is responsible for preventing the chapter from dwindling into the annals of Imperial history as a valiant holdout of a once-glorious chapter.

Veteran-Decanus Aulus Caelius, of the 4^th Acesian Cohort, currently seconded to the Long Vigil with the xenos-hunting Deathwatch.

• Veteran Decanus Aulus Caelius - A dishonored 1^st Praetorian Company Sternguard Sergeant, Aulus Caelius was seconded to Deathwatch and the Ordo Xenos as a penitentiary sentence for his costly failure in a battle against a raiding fleet led by the Dark Eldar Kabal of the Screaming Heart in a raid on an Imperial Chartist Convoy carrying pilgrims and wounded patients to the Azuran Sector Ecclesiarchial Hospital and Shrine world of Encendion while fleeing unrest in the Southwestern Segmentum Pacificus that was deemed to have resulted in the death of his Inmintanii (Veteran Ranged-Combat Specialists) Squad, six other Ordinators, over 400 serf crew, and nearly 60,000 Imperial pilgrims and voidsmen.

Chapter Fleet

The Ordinators operate three battle barges of modified construction built in either the shipyards of the Forge Worlds of Mars, or more commonly, Ferunus - the Paladin, Azuraia_, and the chapter flagship, Fire of Sol. They possess four strike cruisers - the Purifier, Herald of the Sacred Light, Angel of

Wrath, and the Saint Dolan’s Fury. Five Rudense-class Insertion Vessels have recently been added to the fleet as well. The two Battle Barges belong to the planetary-assault oriented Sol-class or the boarding/void combat oriented Azuraia classes, each named after a star considered holy to the chapter. The Purifier-class Strike Cruiser is designed to be able to destroy planetary defense networks and attacking craft as they deploy a full Cohort to the ground, and is often used to provide massive dorsal firepower to a fleet deploying the chapter's strength onto the surface of a world.

They possess nine frigates and two destroyers which are used as escorts for the primary ships of the line. Each ship's interior bulkheads are carved with colossal repeating patterns of arcane protective wards to defend against creatures of the warp both in and out of realspace. The primary exterminatus weapon of the chapter is the two-stage cyclonic torpedo, with a lesser inventory of atmospheric incinerator torpedoes and virus bombs. Two Modalis-class Missiles are kept in stasis within the Fortress-Monastery of Arx Numinex, gifted from the Inquisition for the most dire of needs. To date, none have opened the vault, but every "Armorius"; the Master of the Forge, of the chapter, must learn how to utilize them upon ascension to the office.

Reliquary of the Ordinators

• Suncleaver - A relatively freshly forged Adamantium "hyper-power" broadsword forged by a conclave of Ordinator Mechanitors and Tech-Priests from a newly re-discovered STC as a gift for the newly ascended Legate of the chapter which allegedly took 30 days and 31 nights to forge to perfection. Its blade burns with a techno-arcane fire when the incredibly powerful disruptor field is activated, and it reflects sunlight with a special intensity when inactive, making the form of the blade appear to be flickering between adamantium and pure sunlight when drawn. A line of an alloy of silver and an unknown material alloy taken from shavings from carvings from the Eternity Gate in Terra channel a field of psychic noise consisting of the prayers of faithful Imperials worshipping the God-Emperor and a sense of dread enters the mind of the unfaithful in its presence through some unknown arcanotech means. It is the same sword with which Legatus Decimus Aurelian slew Iconus the Black Augur, Daemon Prince of Tzeentch, upon which many within the Chapter Cult say that the God-Emperor himself blessed the weapon with righteous power making it capable of slaying even mighty daemon engines when wielded with the skill of Legatus Aurelian.
• Aegis Lux - The holy Adamantine shield borne into a thousand battles by the founding Legatus of the Ordinators; Heliodorus Augustus, the interior being covered in arcane warding glyphs as well as several potent types of archeotech shield generators. His soul is still said to linger on as part of the machine spirit of the relic - serving his sacred duty to the chapter and God-Emperor even in death. Though the plate itself has undergone numerous repairs and modifications, the combination psychic-archaeotech void shield generator has remained unchanged for millennia. When viewed by witchsight, the shield shines with the blinding, holy light of Sol against the barely-visible signature of the Ordinator commander wielding it.
• Sunwrath - This titanic bladed mace - so large and heavy it can only be borne by a Battle Brother wielding Terminator Armour - was the weapon borne into battle by the first Legatus, Heliodorus Augustus until the day of his death. Originally a gift from the Exorcists to their new progeny, the weapon is a pure-adamantium masterwork of archaeotech smithing which generates a flaming disruptor field so powerful it can be used to annihilate battle tanks and mighty daemons alike with a pair of blows. By ancient tradition, it can only ever be wielded by the Centurio-Praetor of the 1^st Praetorian Evocatii Cohort himself after the First of the Centurio-Praetors took up the fallen weapon from the hands of the First Legatus as he slaughtered his killers, still drenched in the Legate's blood. To this day, it is considered the badge of office of the Centurio-Praetor and Warden of Azuran, though some have chosen to keep the holy weapon aside as a relic too holy to be risked.
• Bulwark of Orsemius
• Extinctor - A powerful yet incredibly light power sword traditionally wielded by the Master of Crusades of the Chapter, its current owner, Centurio Scipio Valerius has become a legend within the ranks of the Ordinators Scouts, Brothers, and Serfs alike for his skill in landing perfect decapitation blows upon enemies of the God-Emperor. Unknown to most, this is due in large part to its machine-spirit which automatically seeks out the neck joints of various species when swung, subtly guiding the hand of its wielder to deal a lethal blow with alarming alacrity.
• Damnatior - A massive, two-handed, half adamantium/half alloy of an unknown metal found on a strange planet along the outer rim of the galaxy greatsword that requires two hands to swing even for an Astartes, this is the weapon forged for former IIXth Cohort Centurion, Iovianus Ulixes - now the chapter's official executioner and a member of the Pontifexium as a Chaplain, though one sworn to silence. He chooses to speak with this massive blade, instead - its imposing frame perfect in every way save its lack of a piercing tip. Its arcano-technologically charges blade was a gift from the Tech-Priests of Forge World Ferunus for the purging of their Aetherium facility's daemonic invaders during a breach in their protective webway tunnel used to conduct their research in. Wielded by the now Pontiex-Interfector Ulixes, it is said he has never failed to decapitate an enemy with it in any combat ever fought, and its massive size and surprising speed have not impeded his unbroken winning streak in single combat, though it primarily sees use in meting out capital punishments administered by the chapter.
• Helm of Sanctity - A psychic hood worn by the Auspexus (Chief Librarian) of the Ordinators engraved with extremely powerful hexagrammic warding. Claimed among some of the chapter's Orisons to have been brought before the Eternity Gate of the Imperial Palace on Terra where it was blessed by a conclave of Cardinals before being engraved by Paladins of the Grey Knights of Titan. Whether this origin story is true or not, it is doubtless it was painstakingly crafted for the head of the Librarius of a chapter which encounters the warp constantly and must be guarded against its predations - it unequivocally provides the wearer with incredibly powerful defence against warp energies when worn.

Chapter Appearance and Heraldry

Chapter Colours

The Ordinators Chapter primarily wears black coloured power armour. Royal purple is the colour of all banners, tabards, and cloaks worn by NCOs and officers of the chapter, as well as in its "prayer ropes" bound from the hair of faithful martyrs and dyed before being used to hold up scrolls or reliquary boxes. Blood red stripes are sometimes worn around the thigh by those who have lost a particularly close brother in battle and made the Sacred Oath of Justice to slay the killer of their beloved battle-brother or a hundred of his kind. The insets of the shoulder pauldrons as well as the Aquila or Imperialis on the chest guard and the right poleyn (knee guard) are dark gray in colour. The Chapter's livery is proudly displayed on the left shoulder pauldron, while the white coloured squad specialty symbol is displayed on the right shoulder pauldron. This symbol designates an individual battle-brother's role (Tactical, Assault, Devastator and Veteran). A black coloured Roman numeral on the squad specialty symbol indicates squad number. A white coloured Roman numeral on the right polelyn indicates company number. White helms are utilized by non-officer Cohors I Praatorian (First Company) veterans.

Chapter Badge

The Ordinators Chapter badge is a large, stylized black coloured skull surrounded by a laurel wreath placed upon the chapter badge after their role in defeating multiple critical forces and daemon god-engines of the traitorous Heretic Astartes Black Legion and Iron Warriors. A white circlet with a hexagrammic ward of protection is centered on the forehead of the skull.

Chapter Relations

Allies

The Conclave Ordinatorum of the Radical faction consisting of Ordo Malleus (as well as one well-connected Ordo Hereticus) Inquisitors constitutes the primary sponsor and protector of the chapter, having founded it and protected its secrets alongside that of the Exoricsts' patron Inquisitorial representatives in the Senatorum Imperialis. The chapter maintains strong bonds with the Order of the Keepers of the Sacred Fire, certain factions of both Puritan and Radicals in the Ordos Xenos and Hereticus, respectively, as well as the Astra Militarum Arothi Storm Guard, the Exorcists chapter, and possesses a certain degree of knowledge and collaboration with the Grey Knights. Additionally, Forge World Ferunus is the Ordinators' primary supplier and their most crucial partner in the Azuran sector, making them one of their most critical allies of all.

They currently most commonly cooperate with the Astral Leviathans and Ashimar Nova Guard in the ongoing suppression of the hundreds of heretical rebellions in the Segmentum Pacificus, as well as in many other endeavors involving the putting down of any and all revolts against the Holy Imperium of Man.

Enemies

The Host of the Unending Tower, the Black Legion, Red Corsairs, the Kabal of the Screaming Heart, and various other Chaos cults within inhabited sectors of the Segmentum Pacificus with ties to the Night of a Thousand Rebellions currently serve as the primary enemies of the various companies of the chapter. Naval incursions into the edges of the Western reaches of the Halo Stars have also led to recent confrontations with the Rak'Gol in increasing frequency as the chapter expands a search for something in the region.

Beginning in 124.M42, the Knights of Laeran had become perhaps the most bitterly hated enemy of the chapter for the massacre of nearly a third of its entire strength. Blood Oaths of Justice have been sworn by several of the Ordinators' greatest leaders, and they have begun preparing for a devastating counterattack to neutralize or severely lessen the threat posed by the Slaaneshi warband.

Notable Quotes

By the Ordinators

"Though the humans of the Adeptus Astartes are the mightiest incarnation of mankind, this does not place the value of an unaltered human any lower than our own. To treat those we are charged to protect as an unworthy burden, rather than our sworn wards, is to defy the will of the Emperor of Mankind."

— Legatus Augusut Heliodorus, Auditorii Imperator

"To cleanse the soul; prayer. To cleanse the body; pain."

—-From the Litanies of Ordination

"An Asartes who is hesitant to die for any of his Battle-Brothers is no true Astartes at all. He is lower than a beast, for he has become a traitor."

—-From the Litanies of Ordination

"To truly vanquish the daemon, one must understand the nature and will of the daemon."

— From the 'Litanies of Ordination'

About the Ordinators

"They call themselves experts in the Warp, yet they think restraint will save them from the influence of the Dark Gods?! Hilarious! All they're doing is sealing it with a pressure valve. When it finally bursts, the Warp will flood into them so quickly they'll make us look like Grey Knights. Just give it time, you'll see."

— Dark Apostle Faustus, Master of Devotion for the Knights of Laeran

Assessment: Group, Subgroup; Adeptus Astartes Chapter

Subject: Ordinators

Begin Log Commentary: Subject - "Ordinators"

Macro-assessment indicates threat level Delta-1. Ordinators Chapter have proven a highly effective, efficient, and versatile fighting force capable of destroying enemies in range from threat level Omicron-4 to Alpha-3, including daemon worlds within Immaterial space. Ordinators chapter excels at eliminating warp-tainted servants of Chaos and other hostile entities of the Immaterium with extreme prejudice not seen outside of Chapters of the "Exorcists" and "[INFORMATION REDACTED BY INQUISITORIAL DIRECTIVE]".

Furthermore, chapter has proven to be a significant asset in destroying many xenos populations and worlds, allowing for Explorator Cohorts to recover data, which can be used both to further the Omega Dagger Directive in the case of warp-sensitive species, and facilitate our efforts to enhance Ordinators efficiency and effectiveness in countering various threats to minimize force committal by the Skitarii Macroclades of Ferunus. The chapter provide high mobile security capable of moving and fighting quicker and with greater precision than Legio Omega or Clipeus [notation: analyze file, combat efficiency; a-12894bc099 for Ferunum improvement possibilities learned from the chapter], as well as a testing ground for various new marks and submarks of equipment.

Importance to Imperium and Adeptus Mechanicus assessed as extreme.

- Arch-Magos Dominus Nikes Galanos, Commander and Data-Compositor Alpha of Macroclade Psi.
Adeptus of Forge World Ferunus

[Source]

Gallery

Chapter Standard of the Ordinators. Gifted to the chapter by the Exoricsts upon the end of the Hellpurge campaign.

The Legatus Decimus Aurelian, Chapter Master of the Ordinators, Slayer of the 11 Daemon Princes of the Unending Tower, and Lord of the Legatium

An Ordinators Veteran Marine of the elite I^st Praetorian Cohort 5^th Veteran Contubernium.

Brother-Praetorian Trajanus of the 1^st Praetorian Bladeguard Contibernum.

Ordinator Sternguard Veteran Sergeant Malum Cado of the elite I^st Praetorian Cohort.

An Ordinators Firstborn Battle-Brother of the 4^th Cohort, 2^nd Battleline Contubernium.

Veteran-Decanus Aulus Caelius, of the 4^th Acesian Cohort, currently seconded to the Long Vigil with the xenos-hunting Deathwatch.

Ordinators Primaris Incursor assigned to the 3^rd Cohort, 9^th Vanguard Contubernium.

Ordinators fighting Khornate Bloodletters in the Indomitus Crusade.

An Ordinator Tactical Squad Veteran Decanus holds the head of a newly-slain Traitor Astartes aloft.

Ordinators fighting Iron Warriors forces in intense urban combat on a world along the Great Rift during Perturabo's Great Siege

Optio Evander of the 13^th Special Demi-Cohort, second of the Primaris Ordinators to be trusted as worthy of leadership, proving himself in combat against the Death Guard in his early days in the Chapter.

An Ordinator Hellblaster of Cohors III destroying Neverborn on an accursed daemonworld.

An Ordinators Thunderhawk Gunship.

Videos

Homebrew Of The Week - Episode 117 - Ordinators