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The Broken were a warband of Chaos Space Marines. They were once a Loyalist Second Founding Successor Chapter of the Ultramarines known as the Viridian Consuls. They were corrupted after entering the Eye of Terror in 321.M37 as part of the Imperial Abyssal Crusade. It is unknown what they endured during their sojourn into the Eye, but by the time they made their way back into realspace, they had become the warband of Chaos Space Marines known as The Broken. The Broken were annihilated in the late 41st Millennium by the combined forces of the Renegade troops of the Adeptus Mechanicus and the remaining Veteran Marines of the Ultramarines' 1st Company, led by Chapter Master Marneus Calgar.
Warband History
Abyssal Crusade
Following the Ecclesiarchal Purges of 321.M37, a dozen star systems were engulfed by Warp Storm Dionys, its echoes rippling along the spiral arms of the galaxy as it raged through the Empyrean. Records of mutation and Chaos Cultist activity quadrupled overnight. Worse yet, it was not only the citizens who were affected by the sudden influx of Chaos. Many of the Space Marine Chapters with homeworlds affected by the Warp Storm found that the secret imperfections in their gene-seed were writ large upon their new recruits, giving rise to a wave of disturbing manifestations both physical and psychological. The Veridian Consuls were one such Loyalist Chapter of Astartes that had been affected by these Warp Storms.
When the Ecclesiarchy heard of this sinister tum of events, Saint Basillius the Elder demanded that all those Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes whose homeworlds had been touched by the Warp Storm be rendered unto his judgement. Such was the elder's influence with the High Lords of Terra that within a standard year this had come to pass. After a series of stringent tests and prognostications, hundreds of Chapters were deemed unaffected by the Warp Storm. No less than thirty were found wanting. The Judged, as these fallen Chapters came to be known, volunteered for a redemptive Penitent Crusade. The most militant of their number demanded the right to purify their tainted flesh in the fires of battle, to make a noble end from tragic misfortune. To the surprise of his closest advisors, Saint Basillius agreed to this proposal. He saw it fitting to send the accused into the Eye of Terror, taking the fight for the Imperium's future to the Daemon Worlds inhabited by the Traitor Marines.
A representative from each of the doomed Chapters held an emergency Council of Dismay to discuss the proposed Crusade. After scant hours of debate, they acquiesced to Basillius' demands, for they believed that martyrdom was preferable to an existence of suspicion and doubt. The last few days of 321.M37 saw a solemn procession of Strike Cruisers and Battle Barges pass through the Cadian Gate into the Eye of Terror, relay systems dormant and heraldic colours obscured by black mag-plates. One by one, the Chapters of The Judged disappeared into the iridescent dust nebulae that surrounded the Eye. As the massive Space Marine flotilla entered the Eye of Terror, they were set upon by a massive Chaos warfleet. The resultant battle was so fierce that the ships of The Judged were forced to retreat and were scattered to the furthest corners of the Eye.
After centuries of fighting the Forces of Chaos, the Viridian Consuls began to lose hope and felt that they were forgotten by the Imperium they served. They left their faith in the God-Emperor and embraced the worship of Chaos Undivided, particularly that of Khorne and Nurgle. Eventually, the warband attacked the Space Hulk Fury. The Space Hulk was an experiment of the Adeptus Mechanicus, a fragment of a world they had dragged out of the Eye of Terror to unearth its secrets. The Tech-priests scoured the planet clean, and used its molten core to serve as a new geothermal power source for the Fury -- but The Broken seized control of the Space Hulk's command bridge. Since their capture of the Fury, The Broken have been engaged in constant battle across millennia with the Renegade forces of the Adeptus Mechanicus who first engaged in these unauthorised experiments.
The Fury Comes to Iax
Four thousand standard years after taking command of the Fury, the Space Hulk was detected by the Auger array of one of the many void stations guarding the Agri-world of Iax in the Realm of Ultramar. A patrol ship was sent to intercept the Space Hulk, but did not return after making contact with the Fury. Instead, a security officer of the void station received a Vox transmission which contained a single, short, High Gothic phrase: Insanista in tenebris. The security officer contacted the Ultramarines Chapter starship Rex Aeterna, commanded by Captain Galenus of the Ultramarines' 5th Company, to inform them of the rogue transmission.
Several solar hours later, Rex Aeterna appeared in the Iax System. Galenus had been the Captain of the 5th Company for only 18 standard years, and so chose to relay the latest Augur scans of the unknown Space Hulk to Macragge with a request for instructions from Marneus Calgar, the Ultramarines' Chapter Master. At the same time, Galenus needed to acquire more data on the nature of the threat the Space Hulk presented to the system. The 5th Company attempted a void insertion onto the Hulk, and sent a single squad to make an initial reconnaissance of the massive voidship. Despite their caution, the reconnaissance squad soon lost contact with their commander. In response, Galenus sent an additional squad aboard the Fury to track down the lost Veterans.
On Macragge, Calgar received Galenus' message and immediately made preparations to depart for the Iax System, escorted by Magos Fane of Forge World Gantz and by Inquisitor Lazarus Drake of the Ordo Hereticus. Calgar took the Ultramarines' 7th Company and led it alongside the Inquisitorial warband of Drake and the Explorator Team of Magos Fane and contacted Captain Galenus to offer their assistance once they reached the Iax System. The Chapter Master was soon informed that Sergeant Starn of the 1st Company, one of the Astartes who had gone missing during the Ultramarines' initial reconnaissance of the Fury, had been found. Calgar ordered Chief Librarian Varro Tigurius to remain behind to provide intelligence to the Ultramarines team that was about to reenter the Fury as needed.
After Starn was ministered to by Fane, he revealed that he had become lost within the Space Hulk's labyrinthine corridors and had discovered an ancient Space Marine helmet. There was no way to determine whether these mysterious Astartes were the remnants of some faithful Chapter's lost detachment, or the harbinger of something more sinister. Calgar chose to scout the Hulk with all his forces in order to discover the truth of the matter. The Ultramarines and their allies boarded the Hulk and were led by Sergeant Starn, who served as their guide as they made their way in towards the Hulk's heart.
Slowly but surely, the Imperials made their way deep into the Fury, installing Vox-relays every few Terran miles within the massive vessel's interior to keep in touch with their fleet. While exploring the Hulk, Magos Fane requested that he be allowed to lead a detachment of his Mechanicus personnel to investigate several systems they had discovered to still be operational aboard the Space Hulk. With the Chapter Master's permission, Fane left the main body of the Imperial force.
Inquisitor Drake and Calgar understood that the further they traveled within the Hulk, the harder it would be to withdraw, fearful that the enemy was observing their progress and waiting for them to travel so deeply into the Space Hulk's labyrinth that it would prove almost impossible to withdraw.
Warband Beliefs
After fighting the Forces of Chaos for many years in the Eye of Terror, the Viridian Consuls lost all hope and felt betrayed by the Imperium who they believed had sent them into the Warp rift only to die. That anger and despair ultimately drove The Broken to turn to two of the majot Chaos Gods to seek succor in their angst: Khorne and Nurgle.
The Broken accepted Khorne as the manifestation of their anger towards the Imperium that had betrayed them. Nurgle represented the sense of hopelessness that had come upon the Viridian Consuls as they fought within the Eye. Despite their veneration of the two Ruinous Powers, The Broken seem to hold Nurgle in somewhat higher regard and devote themselves to his worship more fervently. Those Astartes of the Virdian Consuls who refused to accept the Chapter's turn towards Chaos were crucified alive, Nurgle's maggots gnawing within their rotting innards while the Plague God refused to let them die.
Notable Broken
Warband Appearance
Warband Colours
The Broken warband's colours are not listed in current Imperial records.
Warband Badge
The Broken warband's badge is not listed in current Imperial records.
Sources
- Codex: Chaos Space Marines (6th Edition), pg. 19
- Calgar's Fury (Novel) by Paul Kearny