Grey Skull Chapter[/u]
Homewrold:
Was: Choraden (destroyed M39.354).
Now: Yladren Battle Fortress (spaceborne).
Gene Seed: Ultramarines.
Chapter Icon: Boltgun Grey skull with a shattered crown area on a field of stars.
Colors: Boltgun Grey helmets with Chaos Black armour and Mithril Silver highlights for Tactical, HQ, Devastator, and Scout squads. Boltgun Grey armour with Chaos Black helmets and highlights for Sergeants and Commanders. Veteran squads are the same as Tactical squads, with the exception of Bone White highlights instead of Mithril Silver. Mithril Silver armour with Chaos Black Helmets and Ultramarine Blue highlights for Terminator squads.
Chapter Trait: Courageous.
Advantage: Trust Your Battle Brothers
Minor Drawback: We Stand Alone
History:
The Grey Skulls were one of the Ultramarines' second-founding chapters, founded in M33.583. They took with them few of the chapter's precious Tactical Dreadnought Armour suits or Jump Packs. Therefore, they learned to fight at a distance, specializing in their Bolters and long-ranged heavy weapons. Lacking the heavy machinery to create new armour or heavy support in the matter of vehicles, they became a troop-oriented unit.
For the first few centuries of the chapter's existance, their primary foes were the Orks of Rigerius. The Orkish empire waxed and waned over the years, and several Waaagh!s were launched out of the dreaded system. However, the Grey Skulls lacked the sheer numbers to completely destroy the Orks, so they bided their time and gathered their strength. Over this time, the chapter began training their Tactical squads in the neccessary hand-to-hand combat techniques to give them a chance against the close combat that Orks favour. The ability to use the holy Bolter and another close-combat weapon at once dates back to this time.
In M39.336, Lucianus Goranus, the Chapter Master of the Skulls, declared a crusade against the Orks of Rigerius. He had been advised by Librarian Geraius that the Orks were at their weakest, and that the hammer blow that the chapter could bring might be able to leave them unable to ever attack Choraden again. Unfortunately for the chapter, they were unaware of the Orks' new worship of the Ruinous Powers.
The Orks were completely aware of the chapter's intentions to attack, for they had found a ship that had languished in the Warp since the Dark Age of Technology. Led to the ship by their new worship of Tzeentch, the Orks took the ship, larger even than the largest battle-barge, and set out for Choraden. They arrived too late to attack the chapter, for all but Company IX had already left for Rigerius.
The Orks laid seige to the planet, taking the major hives of the world and then moving on to attack the Grey Skulls' fortress-monastery. Company IX put up one of the fiercest battles ever recorded in the Libram Gallericus, but were brought to the brink of defeat. The Captain of the company, Heladon Chais, lead his men in a fierce counterattack to hold the Orks at bay until the last Assault squad left to him managed to overload the geothermal heat sinks that provided power to the monestary. When the sinks blew, they took the entire mountain range that the monestary occupied.
Upon seeing his prize disintegrate in a ball of flame and outpourings of lava, the Ork warlord decided that no one could have the planet. He trained the ancient ship's weaponry on the planet and opened fire. For a week, the ship rained death down upon the defenseless few citizens that had survived the invasion. Upon the eighth day, the weapons ceased, with nothing but a cloud of debris and dust in their wake.
By this time, the crusade had reached the Ork homeworld of Rigerius and discovered that the world was deserted. Realizing what this meant, Lucianus ordered the entire fleet back to Choraden with all speed. They arrived within twelve hours of the world's destruction and fell on the Orks with all their righteous fury. Company I's Terminators boarded the ancient ship and held a beach head for the rest of the companies to come aboard.
The chapter scythed through the enemies' ranks, finally reaching the bridge of the ancient vessel. There, Lucianus engaged the Ork Warboss in single combat. The fight lasted a day and halfway through the night, with the combatants surviving wounds that would kill a normal man a dozen times over. Finally, Lucianus hewed the Ork's head off with a mighty sweep of his power sword and declared the ship for the Grey Skulls.
At this time, the Skulls adopted their symbol of a shattered skull, changing from the whole skull that they had used. As a symbol of their loss and the bravery of the ninth company, they still wear the shattered skull to this day. Holding a particular hatred for any and all servants of the Chaos Gods as well as Orks, the chapter is constantly on crusade. Where they will fight next is only known to the eldritch abilities of their Librarians and the strategic planning of their Chapter Master...
