The March Wardens are a 25th Founding chapter of the Adeptus Astartes that are descended from the Imperial Fists. They are a chapter who has had a mixed history of terrible downfalls and profound blessings. Their homeworld is Jogorran Prime and their current Chapter Master is Aximond the Unyielding. The chapter's insignia is a black fist on a golden shield. The colors of the March Wardens are black with gold trim. Their battlecry is "We are the Wardens of Humanity! March Wardens! To the Attack!"
History[]
The March Wardens were born in the 25th Founding of the Adeptus Astartes as a response to an increased amount of xenos, traitor, and heretic activity on the fringes of the Imperium. A particular sector of space was designated to the Chapter as it was of particular importance to the Imperium: the resource-rich Scoran Sector. The sector was capable of producing massive quantities of materiel for the Imperium's ever-hungry war machine, and its planets could muster untold billions of men for the Imperial Guard. However, the Scoran Sector was far from peaceful. Eldar raids, Chaos Incursions, and Ork Invasions plagued the sector at every turn. As they were on the outskirts of the Imperium, the people of the Scoran Sector began to feel abandoned by the Imperium, and thus the seeds of heresy were planted. It was decided that only the steadfast sons of Rogal Dorn could handle these multitudes of foes, so the High Lords of Terra called upon the Imperial Fists and their successor chapters to prepare a new chapter of warriors to bring battle to the Emperor's foes. An Imperial Fist veteran sergeant named Agora came to came with a vision from the Emperor that he was to lead this new chapter, and was tested and affirmed by the High Chaplains of every Imperial Fists successor chapter. A dour-handed warrior and a skilled tactician, Agora was an ideal leader for the new chapter.
So began the crusade of the March Wardens!
Due to the multitudes of threats they faced, no expense was overlooked in preparing the Chapter for war. Three different Forge Worlds worked night and day for over a century to construct, consecrate, and deploy their warfleet. Arms and armour of all models and variants were either created or gifted by fellow Chapters, and the first of the Chapter's leaders were extensively trained in the manner of waging war with a thousand elite warriors at their command. Several potential recruiting worlds were earmarked for the Chapter's use, but to keep the March Wardens mobile, Agora opted not to construct a Fortress-Monastery. Two and a half centuries after the order for their founding, the March Wardens were finally ready. Before their Chapter went to war, however, their progenitors had one final gift.
The day before the March Wardens began their journey to the Scoran Sector, the mobile Fortress-Monastery of the Imperial Fists, the Phalanx, arrived in-system and requested that all March Wardens come aboard. A thousand March Wardens in black and gold stood in perfect attention as the Chapter Master of the Imperial Fists presented Chapter Master Agora with a relic of no compare. It was a Paragon Blade named Allaurum that had belonged to the Captain of the Imperial Fists Second Company during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy. The same captain's progenoids were implanted into Agora when he first became an Astartes of the Imperial Fists, and had always felt destined to wield the blade once more for the glory of Dorn and the Emperor. It was a magnificent weapon, the blade was forged of pattern-welded adamantium and gilded so that it appeared to shine with an inner light. An onyx black fist was set into the pommel and along the blade in the runic language of Inwit was the motto "I Serve." As Agora accepted the blade and held it high for all of his Brothers to see, a nimbus of golden light seemed to come from the blade and the Chapter Master. Truly these sons of Rogal Dorn were favored by the Primarch and the Emperor.
Crusading Years of the March Wardens[]
The arrival of the March Wardens to the Scoran Sector was not a peaceful one. Like a spear hurled from the hand of Dorn they emerged from the warp in their sector to find xenos, heretics, and traitors at every turn. Ever the pragmatic sons of the Unyielding Primarch, the March Wardens deployed planet-by-planet and destroyed every enemy they faced with impunity. Imperial forces would quickly consolidate the gains of the March Wardens, and the Astartes would be off to the next warzone. Their tactical prowess, unyielding nature, and ferocity kept their casualties minimal despite odds that would have given even other Chapters of Space Marines pause. Planet-by-planet, city-by-city, street-by-street the Scoran Sector was returned to the Imperial fold. Agora was at the front of every battle, Allaurum cleaving through any foe he faced with remarkable ease. Rumors began to spread of the blade and the warrior among the Imperial Guard and the Citizenry of the Imperium that he was a Primarch, long forgotten to the Imperium, a rumor which Agora humbly denied every time he heard it. He was an Astartes, and a proud son of Rogal Dorn. The Crusade of the March Wardens ground on for thirty years, and soon they found themselves at the gates of their greatest triumph, but also their greatest challenge: The Citadel of Horus.
Siege of the Citadel[]
The Citadel of Horus was a stronghold built by a chaos warband of the Black Legion who called themselves the Vengeful Sons on the world of Dakarr Tertius. As Agora studied the Citadel, even he had to admit that the chaos dregs knew the craft of siege fortifications well, and that no less than the entire strength of the chapter would be required. Agora requisitioned millions of Imperial Guardsmen to fight alongside the March Wardens, and soon the skies over Dakarr Tertius were filled with warships. Bulk landers, Valkyries, and Thunderhawks descended upon the once-fertile Agri-World and a great siege began.
With the March Wardens spearheading the construction of the Imperial siege works, a spiderweb of trenches, bunkers, and artillery batteries slowly crept towards the Chaos bastion. The Vengeful Sons, true to their own Primarch, attacked and delayed the besiegers whenever they could, but always the March Wardens were able to throw them back. Ever onwards, the Imperials encroached upon the black fortress, before finally their artillery was in place to bombard the foul keep's void-A hundred thousand heavy artillery pieces let their voices cry out in anger and vengeance, and the sky fell upon the traitors with a vengeance of millions of high explosive and armor piercing shells. The shields, while strong, could not withstand a constant bombardment for long.