Star Krakens

Star Krakens

Battle Cry	"In Darkness Dwells!"
Founding	Late M39
Successors of	Raven Guard
Successor Chapters	None
Chapter Master	Duties shared
Primarch	Corvus Corax
Homeworld	Fleet-based (Mobius/ The Lighthouse)
Strength	800.
Allegiance	Imperium
Colours	Sea green, black shoulders and copper/bronze trim

So far a decent /tg/ custom Chapter, the Star Krakens are a Raven Guard successor chapter with a heavy emphasis on deep sea mythology, viking influence (but not THAT Viking influence) and ship-to-ship combat. They inhabit a region of space featuring the Deep, a dark nebula which obfuscates almost all attempts at scanning it. Though the details of their fluff are still very much under construction, they've produced a surprising amount of writefaggotry and art, proving that people really do want a Viking themed Chapter (instead of a wolf themed chapter.)

Summary

Founded in M39 upon the request of the Administratum, the Star Kraken have accumulated much tragedy in their short, violent history. First sent to cleanse the distant Phorcius sector of the Imperium of a growing xenos threat, the marines found themselves outmatched by a surprisingly tenacious entrenched enemy, and took heavy losses as they fought an increasingly desperate ground war upon the alien homeworld. After being refused reinforcement - the aliens were only xenos minoris, after all - their Chapter-Master, a naive yet devout young man named Achab, decided, against the advice of his peers, to exceed the precepts of the codex astartes. He had his apothecaries bring more recruits into the chapter, dispensing with Scout initiation, and threw them onto the frontline of the conflict, using his shock troops like mere Guardsmen in his desperate attempt to cleanse this 'minor' threat.

Finally successful after decades of war, the Chapter withdrew from the alien world, only to find themselves harried by opportunistic pirates and raiders. They waged a brief and brutal war with these disparate fleets, but succeeded in nothing more but driving them into an unholy alliance. They struck at the Star Kraken's homeworld, and rendered it uninhabitable.

Banishing their Chapter-Master from their ranks, the remaining Captain's turned their attention inwards, seeking a refuge wherein they might resupply and regroup. They found such a bastion in the murky nebula which so dominated the sector and had hidden the alien worlds for so long, a nebula known colloquially as "The Deep." Contained within was an ancient sensor array, known as the Lighthouse, which allowed voidships whom would otherwise be lost to find a frame of reference. The Star Kraken fell into the role of guardian, protecting this place for the rotations of Mechanicus priests who studied it, and protecting Imperial citizens who sought to use the channel as a passage through the dark nebula.

Codex Divergence

Early in their history the Chapter flirted with the strictures of the codex, indeed at times treading a fine line between loyalist and renegade, but now their divergences are far more mundane. Due to the nature of their Chapter - ten companies of eighty astartes, aboard ten strike cruisers - each company has learned to operate as a separate entity to the others. Every company maintains a single scout unit, two assault units, four tactical units and a devastator unit.

They employ these units in a variety of ways depending on the situation at hand. The majority of their battles take place in space, boarding actions against renegades, pirates and more insidious threats, during these engagements the marines launch their full force in combat squads aboard boarding torpedoes, hitting the vessel in sixteen places at once, sowing as much confusion as possible whilst devastators armed with multi-melta make a beeline for the engine room and gunnery deck. Once its wings are clipped and its teeth are pulled, the marines focus on shutting down the enemy ship one section at a time.

When making a ground assault it is rare for a single company to work alone, however alone or in small fleets the Star Kraken follow a standard approach, deviating only in their exclusive use of the Razorback (for they lack completely any heavy armour) and reliance on orbital bombardment.

Special Equipment and Tactics

The Star Kraken are a young chapter without access to many advanced weapons, including a notable dearth of power weapons. They have taken it upon themselves to stockpile multi-melta for their devastator squads, to the exclusion of other heavy weapons, and have benefited from a cache of Heresy-era breaching shields which were found aboard the ancient Lighthouse. Every unit in the company trains extensively with these shields, and their value during boarding actions has proven itself time and again.

Often, when boarding an enemy vessel, the marines make use of Tempest bolts. The high density spread and low range make for excellent shipboard actions.

The Deep

The Deep is a nebula stretching across most of the Phorcius Sector and trailing off into territories outside of the Astronomicon's light. It is made up of a so far unidentified compound with many curious effects; as well as severely limiting physical visibility, it renders conventional auger arrays totally inoperable and dampens communications systems, severely limiting their range. To look out of a vessel and into the deep is like looking at a black canvas, totally bereft of any detail, with even the light of the stars themselves being lost in the mire of the nebula clouds. Long exposure to this sightless, unreadable traverse can have unusual psychological consequences for those caught within, noted for inspiring an almost immediate sense of claustrophobic panic in the average man, and going so far as to eventually drive higher order Mechanicus priests temporarily mad.

Mobius/Huginn

Mobius is a collection of asteroids caught in the Lagrange point between the Phothom Sinkhole and the Icacian Eye, a black hole and a supermassive star respectively. During the withdrawal following the destruction of their homeworld the Star Kraken created a new Fortress Monastery upon the largest of these asteroids, extensively constructed around the now inoperable remains of the heavily damaged vessel Huginn, the companies only Battle Barge. From here the Star Kraken resupply their Strike Cruisers, and the old vessel itself has become something of a waystation for Imperial vessels attempting to traverse the dark nebula.

The Phorcius Sector

Power in the Phorcius Sector is split three ways, and each has its interests in the archeotech device within the Deep.

The first is the sector capital and the political seat of power in the sector, the shrine world of Marius. Were it not for the safe passage provided by the Lighthouse, the Ecclesiarchy and the Administratum would have great difficulty spreading their people, and collecting their tithe, from the systems scattered throughout the rest of the sector.

The second is the military seat of power, the Forge World of Fetillus Svel. During the great crusade to reclaim the sector a great portion of the Navy disappeared in the dark nebula, becoming disorientated and lost before the discovery of the Lighthouse. Amongst these losses was the flagship of the fleet, a great Apocalypse-class Battleship. Recovering it would be a great boon to the Navy in this distant sector, and the relatively simply task of a centuries work combing the deep, if only they had unfettered access to the Lighthouse.

The third is the economic seat of power on the garden world of Primrose. This world belongs to the Rogue Trading house of Wentworth, and successive generations of Wentworth's have built upon the previous to acquire more ships, more facilities, more resources and more thrones. The modern iteration of the family - Allary Wentworth the Fourth - rules over the sector economy with an iron first, and his cabal of traders and industrial megagiants exert a staggering influence on many of the surrounding sectors to boot. If he managed to shut down the Lighthouse, completely cutting off Marius from the rest of the sector, his cabal would have free run of the sector, and could use this power base to project their influence even further afield.

Relations

Each Other

Although there are no recorded instances of two Kraken vessels ever coming to blows, many Brother-Captain's have long, tumultuous relationships with one another. Rivalries between certain ships, their crews and marine complements, are sometimes perceived as healthy, with each attempting to 'one-up' the other in their attempts to bring glory to both the Imperium of Man and the Star Kraken in particular. Every Strike Cruiser maintains a rich verbal history of its deeds, and in many cases the Captain has his acolytes carve murals of notable events onto the inner walls of the vessels meeting places, known as Great Halls, as well as making trophies of vanquished foes hull. These serve not just as morale boosters to the marines aboard, but also establish certain bragging rights amongst visiting Captain's - it's almost assured that one Captain, jealous of the chitinous plating of a fallen Tyranid vessel holding the place of honour in his rival's hall, will throw himself into the next battle with fervor so that he, too, might hold such a trophy.

The Varangian Guard and the Imperium

Although the majority of Star Kraken operations are concerned with patrolling and protecting the worlds surrounding the Deep - as well as cleansing the Deep of its own internal terrors - the chapter is careful not to neglect its duty to the Imperium at large. To that end the Varangian Guard, a special company of Kraken veterans, serving aboard the Strike Cruiser Holdfast, are on permanent detachment to the Segmentum Ultima. The Holdfast itself is forbidden to enter the Deep, and instead spends time every three years on its fringes, allowing veterans from any of the ten companies to join freely - or to leave freely, if they so desire. This creates an unofficial 'Eleventh Company' of veterans, sometimes only numbering a few combat squads, other times nearing a full one hundred marines, whom serve on foreign battlefields. Only the Captain and his guard are a permanent fixture, men descended from the chapters initial migration into the Deep.

The Varangian Guard have served with distinction in many of the famous theaters of war across the sector, earning the Star Krakens an outstanding reputation for honour and ferocity, and so glorifying the Holdfast that the Captain has begun etching his victories onto the outer hull, due to a scarcity of space within the vessel's great halls.

The Grendel

The Grendel are a minor species of xenos once inhabiting a tiny band of worlds on the far fringe of the Segmentum Ultima. In the late 39th millennium they took to raiding nearby Imperial worlds; stealing weapons, crops and taking imperial citizens to serve as slaves on their bastion homeworlds. Local naval patrols were confounded in their efforts to track or pursue these raiding fleets due to a local phenomena: a dense black nebula which obfuscates all attempts to scan it. The Grendel would skim the surface of this nebula, obscuring their ships from pursuit, only to emerge and strike another world once the navy had retreated.

An individual Grendel stands at nearly seven foot, has natural claws that can rend into ceramite and is capable of great feats of natural strength. They wield unusual weapons which combine traditional firearms with cybernetic and biological components, and each firearm seems to have a different ammunition profile: from a standard metal slug, biological components such as teeth, or even an organic cocktail of nano-particles which render the victim hallucinogenic, disorientated or even diseased. This has a devastating effect on enemy forces, making it impossible for combat medics to predict just what kind of injuries they'll see after a skirmish.

Important Figures

The Ten-Flag Council: After they were so lead astray by a single man in the past, no single man would ever lead them astray again. The Ten-Flag Council is formed by the Captain of each of the ten companies, who are recalled to vote on important issues, an event called a 'Convocation' - a vote must be unanimous to pass, as it was the night the original council voted to banish their previous master, with the inevitable hung votes being decided based on the cryptic words of the Ancient Mariner, a former Captain turned Oracle, who mans a single vessel which flits about the Deep at random, dipping into and out of the warp, completely lost to the Star Kraken. Were the Inquisition to catch wind that the chapter placed such reverence in the words of such an obvious warp taint a purge would quickly follow.

Mokoyll the Destroyer: Canute Mokoyll is amongst the oldest of the veterans of the Star Krakens, having inherited captaincy from Sweyn Frok two centuries ago. He sits as the First Company's representative on the Ten-Flag Council. Mokoyll is a leviathan of a man, tall even for a space marine, and minor modifications have been made neccesary for him to wear the tactical dreadnought armor. His right eye is a mutli-optical bionic replacement, made on his request to better aid him in the dark and lightless space-hulks he frequents.

His trademark equipment includes the relic hammer which he has dubbed Alffinnur, which he retrieved from the wreckage of a world under his first command, as well as his heavily customised tactical dreadnought armour. He has adorned his armour with additional ablative ceramite plating from the numerous ships he has breached with his company, along with decorations using the bio-luminescent markings common among the chapter's decorations.

Siewurd of Nine Nails: Siewurd is the feared High Chaplain of the Star Krakens. A cold and haughty figure, he speaks with a hoarse voice and grinds on the metal teeth of his cybernetic jaw. The High Chaplain is known for his harsh expectations of faith from his fellow brothers. Siewurd's title comes from the nine runic nails he pierced into his right arm in penance for a sin he committed early in his command. He wields the mighty relic Dagonssultr, a chainfist that incorporates a Crozius Arcanum into it.

Captain Olaus The Mangled: Surtr Olaus is a deeply superstitious and cynical man, known for his mistrust of his fellow Astartes. He received his name due to extensive injuries he received at the ill-fated Revolt of Zjoldus during his time in the Deathwatch. Half of his face, his left arm, his right forearm, most of his chest, and both of his legs have been destroyed and replaced with cybernetic prosthetics. He commands the strike cruiser Balmung, and in battle he wields the mighty power-sword Levateinn.

Quotes

Gallery

Earliest design, found in OP for second thread. Shows mild indications of heretical designs (horns, overly organic looking ornamentation)
More drawfagging
Master and Commander, anyone?
HOLD THE LINE
"What's that dripping sound?"
Another potential logo design
Provisional armor design #1
Provisional armor design #2
Provisional armor design #3
Provisional armor design #4
Provisional Veteran/Varangian armor
Legacy logo design from thread #3.
A proper Star Kraken, note the hazard stripe chainsword and general air of badassdom.
Provisional Terminator armor design #1
Half Star Kraken, Half Knight of the Cross, Half AWESOME
Senior Tactical Marine, Third Company, Star Krakens.
The Ancient Mariner, bowed by the weight of crimes.
If the Deep were Cheers, then everybody would know these guys names.
Some of the nasty proto-biotic weaponry employed by the Grendel. Do they grow it? Do they breed it? Fuck knows, but it sure is heretical.