VOCIFERATORS
The Cry of the Storm
Chapter name: Vociferators
Homeworld: Athanasi, Selezna sector, Segmentum Tempestus
Founding: 23rd
Geneseed: Raven Guard
Colors: Black with white concentric circles on the head, forearms and lower legs
Chapter Badge: Concentric circles overlaid with a stylised red star
ORIGINS
In M36 on the information provided by his Xenos informants Rogue trader Karsim Selezna made the hazardous journey beyond the Sisters Veil nebula in search of long forgotten worlds said to still be populated by humans. The rumours proved to be true and what Karsim found both delighted and appalled him, an entire sectors worth of new worlds as yet unknown to the imperium, rich in mineral and cultural wealth, and also swarming with as yet unrecorded xenos species. Pausing long enough to name the new Selezna sector and claim it in the name of the Imperium, he returned immediately to report his discoveries, record his claim on the worlds discovered, and seek assistance from the Imperial fleet at Bakka. News of such a rich haul of populated worlds galvanised imperial high command to action and within 50 years a liberation force had been assembled to free the peoples of the new sector from xenos tyranny.
Not only was the Imperial commander of Bakka informed but also the High Lords of Terra where also appraised of the situation, and in light of the heavy infestation of undesirable life to be found in the sector they decreed Imperial forces would go into battle beside a brand new chapter, known as the Vociferators, which was almost ready for combat duty. The crusade would be the perfect test for the new chapter, eliminating the Xenos threat and securely anchoring the sector in the Imperium of Man would be proof of their abilities and that they deserved the honour of being counted amongst the Emperors finest . However it would be a further 25 years after the invasion before the Vociferator Chapter was ready for combat, by this time imperial forces had secured the core worlds of the sector and established a naval base around the newly crowned sector capitol of Rhuad. The Vociferators were dispatched immediately upon arrival to the outer fringes of Imperial controlled space within the sector to the Iskon system and their new homeworld Athanasi.
The eventual goal, to grind the xenos threats between the fleet and the Vociferators as each force increased its strength and secured the conquered territories.
Homeworld
Athanasi, a barren, scorched and scarred world of bare rock, located close to its parent red dwarf star and bathed in a constant wash of deadly solar radiation. Such close proximity to the star meant that Athanasi has become tidally locked, with one face constantly exposed to the burning orb of its star and the other perpetually shrouded in frozen darkness. The day side is a scorching death zone mostly covered in a crust of melted silica known as the Sea of Glass and jagged spurs of rock, the night side is dominated by the massive Tychor impact crater with its sea of frozen water at its bottom. Tychor is the largest impact crater in the Sector, and it is around its rim the Vociferators fortress monastery is constructed, its great ring know as the hollowed bastion incorporates an inquisitorial and astropathic enclave known respectively as the lonely Tower and Star caller, and the vast majority of the planets defence capabilities. The Bastion protects the water, fuel, and power supply to the Mine cities, without which they would slowly die and from a strategic view point would be the first target of an enemy invasion.
Athanasi is now the capitol world of the Athanas subsector and also the heavily defended hub of the imperial advance against the xenos races located in that region of the Sector. However before the Vociferators arrived things were very different. Athanasi was just one out the number of worlds which comprise the sub sector who were plagued by Moraugh culling. The Moraugh were a cruel and hideous race, who would migrate from their homeworld on the great cull every 2-3 hundred years, looking for food and sport amongst their herds. They would strike suddenly, killing any who stood against them, weeding out the old and infirm as well as those to young to escape them. These kills were for food, the real sport began when packs of Moraugh would separate and begin to hunt down the able bodied males who had survived the first strike. Often only one human would be tracked by each pack, the goal was pleasure not wholesale slaughter of their prey, after all if they killed every one there would be fewer humans to kill during the next cull.
Geneseed
Thought to be of pure Raven Guard stock, or at least one of the later Raven Guard foundings, the Geneseed of the Vociferators has over time proven to be somewhat unstable, quite possibly as a result of the mutability of its Raven guard constituents, however it is unclear as the the exact cause and may simply be that the genetic structure of the Athanasians themselves have produced the abnormalities. However due to one mutation in particular this theory is unlikely to ever be tested, it seems that the exclusive use of aspirants taken from Athanasi in the early years of the chapter has caused the geneseed when implanted into non Athanasians to fail spectacularly. The Vociferators are now limited exclusively to taking recruits from the Athanasian population.
Other Mutations include a certain level of gigantism, quite possibly caused by a combination of a slightly overactive Biscopea and the Athanasians already dense bone and musculature, a result of the high G environment. This has meant, as the risk of this mutation increases with age, that veteran squads have had to re-organised into 8 man teams so as to fit into their transport vehicles. A change in the Lymans ear so that even the tiniest vibration
in the air can be detected, they can almost see vibrations so sensitve has it become. The increase in hearing has been drastically balanced by the onset of congenital blindness and a total faliur of the Occulobe in all marines over a certain age, a problem which has to be countered without exception with bionic implants.
Combat Doctrine
The lack of long range ordinance in the chapters early days has meant an emphasis was placed on close combat and the tactics best suited to increase the effectiveness of such a doctrine. However as new equipment arrived to replace what was lost the chapter reverted to a more balanced approached to warfare.
Unlike other legions the Vociferetors do not use standard support weapons such as plasma guns, melta guns and flamers, instead they rely on the sonic weapons developed to replace the equipment they lost in their very first battle. Special squads known as Thunderers use sonic weapons exclusively as replacements for more conventional support weapons, and are often attached to assault squads who are the ideal troops to mop up enemies hit by the weapons. Standard tactical and devastator squads are limited to heavy bolters and missile launchers.
Organisation
The bulky nature of the marines has meant that for a squad to be effective there only 8 marines per tactical or devastator squad, any more and they wouldnt fit into the Rhinos. Though the chapter maintains ten companies with 100 marines each, the remaining 20 marines in a company comprise of 2 ten man assault squads, meaning that each company actually has 12 squads not 10. apart from this the Vociferators are pretty much a standard codex chapter
Beliefs
Like most chapters the Vociferators do not view the Emperor as a god but an ideal, the epitome of human evolution, a goal each Vociferator aspires to reach. As a result of the radical philosophies of the Raptors chosen to lead the chapter and guide it through its infancy the Vociferators hold the somewhat unorthodox view that Mankind has been tainted by the varied and often hypocritical doctrines and dogma of the Ecclesiarchy and the Mechanicus and view both institutions with disdain.
Battle cry
None as such, their vox amplifiers simply broadcast a wordless roar as they charge into combat.
