Editing Expanded Minor Chapters (section)

==Penitents==
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:1000px">
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
Penitents are good old DA offshoots, but for whatever reason they never got the memo about WHY the DA's are always going off and abandoning warzones to do their own thing. As such, while they keep the name, they actually have nothing whatsoever to do with the hunt for the Fallen. Instead, they've taken a policy of penitent crusades, serving alongside the dregs of humanity (abhumans, penal legions, mercenaries and so on), while also sending a truly absurd number of marines to Deathwatch. They see every flaw in their own actions, and this self-awareness makes them into some of the most sympathetic, caring, and honest marine chapters in their segmentum. It also makes them damn DEPRESSING, but you can't argue with the results of their constant drive for self-improvement. This is a chapter that never sits on its laurels talking about how great they are; they're absolutely sure they suck, so they work harder than anyone to make sure they don't.

Penitents could have a much higher recruitment age as their genetic quirk.

And they recruit from death row and long sentence denizens of the hive worlds.

Sort of the Space Marine equivalent of the Penal Legion.

They fight to earn forgiveness that they know they can never earn because there isn't enough forgiveness for the shit they have done and if there is then it's been sold short. 

All they have left is the dream of a beautiful death.

Known for their masochistic rituals, inability to back down and humility. Even going so far as to accept orders from human commanders.

Given their pauldrons and their religious implications, self flagellation must be huge for them. Spending hours on their knees in front of an icon of the emperor whipping themselves for theirs and humanities' sins

An interesting twist might be that the Penitents have a problem with their Catalepsean Node that, during their hypno-therapy, they lose memories of their mortal past. This leads to a kind of need for redemption without any real knowledge of what they did. They're constantly fighting for redemption of crimes, and its the Marine's own psychological self doubts that force them onward. Some Marines zealously drive themselves forward believing they had a roster of crimes so heinous and black that there is no real redemption for them other than in death.

They could have something similar to the Guardiens of the Covenant where they inscribe their armor and weapons with texts holy to the Arbites, including the (probably needless long) list of sins and Imperial citizen can commit

How's power flail for special chapter weapon?

Also, maybe instead of death row adults, they can use incarcerated child delinquents? Imperium's gotta do something with them
</div>
</div>