Brethren of Spite

"A galaxy full of adventure awaits us boys! We'll be the greatest pirates to sail on the warps tides!"

- Cain

The Brethren of Spite are a fleet based war band of piratical Chaos Space Marines. Originally making up the core of the “Brotherhood of Man” Space Marine Chapter, the Brethren formed from secessionist splinters that remained after the Chapter collapsed in 739.M37 The Brethren are led by Cain, former Captain and a Daemon Prince of Chaos Undivided.

Notable History
Though not much is known about the Brotherhood of Man before their civil war and their rebirth as the piratical Brethren of Spite, however what is known is that the organisation of the Chapter and its tactical doctrines are relatively the same. The Brotherhood of Man extensively used its fleet as the home of the Chapter, recruiting on selected worlds across the Imperium of Man. The Brotherhood relied on typical Space Marine stratagems, acting as shock troops to other Imperial Forces, often battling with the hated Iron Warriors, the enemy of their famed ancestry.

The constant warfare that raged throughout the galaxy took it's toll on the Chapter, their casualty rates becoming unbearable, especially as the Brotherhood's fleet was further stretched across the cosmos. Eventually the Chapters manpower dwindled to just over 300 Space Marines, and the Brotherhood looked to their Command for answers, but none came. Discontent grew, and a leader would emerge.

That leader was Cain, Captain of the Second Company. He believed that the chapter needed to regain its numbers before involvement in any further major engagements, but chapter command would have none of it. Realising that without action that the chapter would be destroyed by Chapter commands incompetence, Cain rallied his brothers against the Chapters leadership and began a civil war.

Civil War and becoming the Brethren (698.M37-699.M37)
"The ranks are half of what they should be. If we are to survive, changes are to be made."

- Cain

The Brotherhood’s civil war was short but bloody, lasting less than a year but seeing the Chapter reduced to less than two hundred members. While the loyalist faction was mostly wiped out, it’s few surviving members’ ether scattering across the galaxy. The Brotherhood of Man had also seen many of its ships damaged, while other heavy equipment and numerous chapter artefacts had been lost or destroyed. The Brotherhood were left to pick up the pieces, but soon came under the eye of a number of Inquisitors, as well as other chapters of the same gene-stock, then discoveries of a degenerating gene-stock and a fatal flaw in the genetics of the Brotherhood proved too much. Having rebuilt what they could, the Brotherhood took their ships and fled into the warp.

After a few months, the entire chapter remerged in the Eastern Fringe, their power armour now free of the Aquila and the new iconography of the leering skull in its place. Proclaiming themselves to be the “Brethren of Spite, they launched a string of raids on several Imperial planets and colonies, massacring the inhabitants and looting anything deemed of value. Early Brethren raids saw great success, the strength of the Space Marine was not something a planetary militia could properly react too, especially when the Brethren were meet with such adoration by the local populations.

But while the Brethren of Spite pillaged and murdered their way through a swathe of Imperial worlds, they abducted many as slave stock for the Brethren’s Apothecaries, who worked tirelessly to heal the errors of the Brethren’s genetic code. Tens of thousands would be sacrificed to fuel the work that would see the Brethren of Spite’s gene seed returned to a stable state.

The Brethren of Spite were not yet servants of the Dark Gods, and had been fighting a number of Chaos Forces, until they began to recover the equipment and weaponry of their corrupted opponents and even harvesting their gene-seed. Slowly, the Brethren of Spite were soon swearing loyalty to both Cain and the Dark Gods. Eventually the Brethren of Spite would induct members of defeated war bands into their ranks, beginning with a small force of Iron Warriors after their Warsmith was slain.

First retreat into the Eastern Fringe (699-753.M37)
"We’re all going to die, but let’s die with smiles on our faces."

- Cain After a campaign of terror that saw the devastation of over two dozen worlds, the Brethren of Spite were driven out by a concentrated Imperial Campaign to remove their presence. Pushing them out of a number of worlds which the Brethren of Spite had fortified in hopes of establishing a small fortress system. The siege of the Brethren of Spite’s worlds saw them forced back out into the Eastern Fringe after a bloody and hard fought Campaign. The Brethren reorganised and returned to raiding from afar, but found that the spoils were not enough to continue operations off of, and that long range operations could not continue with stern Imperial resistance.

Instead, the Brethren decided that they would launch incursion into the deeper reaches of the uncharted space and raid xenos and the other Chaos war bands that had taken up residence in the Eastern Fringe. Knowing that Imperial presence would be sparse bar the fortified border, and knowing well of what lay within, the Brethren of Spite’s amassed war fleet began its incursion.

The Brethren of Spite had already decided that remaining a fleet based force was best, understanding that they could never oppose an Imperial force in a war of attrition. Instead, they hoped to regain their resources through raids on weaker forces, but quickly lost interest in a long term strategic war against the Imperium in the name of vengeance. The Brethren had cured their gene-fault and had already extracted an exceptional toll on the twenty four worlds they had depopulated, and now they sought something more. Something more than mindless killing.

As the Chaos Space Marines launched blitzkrieg after blitzkrieg through the ranks of their opponents and continued to absorb and recruit smaller groups of renegade and Chaos Space Marines, they came to enjoy the attention and infamy that accompanied their murderous activities. The Brethren craved the mention of their name on enemy wave links and transmissions, and the reputation they had garnered among both friend and foe. Understanding that they could not remain in the spotlight for long by simple genocides, the Brethren of Spite began to sell themselves as high quality soldiers of fortune to a number to rebel Governors and others in need of Space Marine support.

In 700.M37, the Brethren acted as shock troops to the crumbling Sarzon regime in their war torn system. Just under two hundred Chaos Space Marines came to the Sarzon families aid, and at great cost. Each Space Marine deployed was paid for with a small fortune in gold, technology, weaponry, and six of the Sarzon families daughters (as a personal payment to Cain). In return, they supported the exhausted Sarzon families armies and even carried their banner, many receiving prestigious awards. As well as being paid to suppress the rebels, the Brethren of Spite were also encouraged to persuade those locals of the system who had supported the rebels to return to service under the Sarzon's banner. Several cities were depopulated in the process, and within the span of a few months, a three year long war which had been against the Sarzon's from the start was ended with a crushing defeat for the rebels. Cain was even knighted and the Chaos Space Marines of the Brethren paraded through the streets. The Sarzon family was subject to Inquisitional inquiry a few months later, except for those who had been given as payment to the Brethren.

By 701.M37 the Brethren of Spite were supporting rebellions and revolutions all across the Eastern Fringe, acting as shock troops and making a name for themselves as mercenaries for hire. From the vaults and treasuries of those they helped overthrow, the Brethren of Spite took what they pleased, but the Brethren now also looked for riches and fame in other, less civilised places. Desolate worlds often bore hidden treasure or sights of interest, as well as things best left undisturbed.

Ocrillon VI would be the site of a particularly daring Brethren of Spite ‘adventure’. Supporting another rebellion, the Brethren were promised a share in whatever technology or valuables they could loot from the Ocrillon Emirates vaults and prized galleries’, as long as they could provide the rebels with the edge they needed in a war that had turned horribly against them. The Ocrillon PDF, while well trained and well-armed, had been unable to counteract the gains and advances of the rebels, but that changed with the arrival of their new allies. Silver walkers and humanoid figures in regal armour marched alongside the PDF, and with technology far superior, they swept them aside with ease.

Even the Brethren of Spite found difficulty in battling these opponents, the machines possessing technology and weaponry that even made the Brethren question if the payment was worth it, especially as they were atomised or obliterated by arcs of green lightning. Veteran Space Marines found themselves tested by the silvery figures, whom shrugged off even heavy bolter fire or simply repaired the damage. The Brethren could also make no use of the technology they captured from their defeated opponents, finding it to ether simply disappear or to be far too advanced, even for their most experienced of scientists.

But, the Brethren pushed on, fighting through their alien opponents for glory in the Eyes of their Dark Gods. Successes on Ocrillon VI allowed a combined advance of Rebels and Brethren to encircle the capital, and by this point, the PDF were mindlessly throwing themselves at their opponents like zombies. While the Brethren and Rebels guns pounded the capital into the ground, the xenos reappeared, and in force.

Black obelisks emerged from the earth, and wormholes opened up that spewed forth a host of silver armoured warriors, accompanied by black pyramids. The Brethren of Spite and their Rebel employers were quick to realise they were outgunned and outmatched, allowing the Brethren’s fleet to launch a scathing bombardment across the xenos ranks, but to little avail. They had raised a shield, which made a mockery of the combined bombardments of the Brethren’s ships. But the Brethren did not lose heart, and with scans of the planet, they found that it was honeycombed with tunnels and caverns, none natural. Further scans revealed what appeared to be a great necropolis like city. The Brethren of Spite organised a force of almost two hundred Space Marines, led by Cain. Whatever lay beneath the earth, it was certainly going to prove interesting.

“Infiltrating” the tunnel system, the Brethren of Spite advanced through miles of crypt like tunnels, finding vast armies of awakened machine warriors. Looting what they could and laying explosives at any weak point they identified, the Brethren continued their advance towards the city, fighting through ranks of shambling xenos and battling towards it’s centre, hefting bags and cases full of valuables.

But the Brethren’s strike force was stopped in its tracks by the arrival of the alien’s leader. Clad in tattered robes and possessing a figure of regal origins. Filled with rage that the Brethren, who appeared to be meek children in its presence had desecrated its world and murdered its human slaves, launched a bitter assault upon the Brethren at the head of its praetorian guard.

The Brethren fought a fierce fight, Cain moving to combat the machines master while the Brethren engaged in smaller fire fights and skirmishes with their mechanical opponents. Finding them incredibly resilient, the Brethren were able to achieve success by the intervention of heavy weapons and armoured vehicles, whom were able to join the Brethren of Spite through the opening of more tunnel entrances. Eventually, well placed explosives would see the machines tombs leveled, though at the cost of the planet at large.

The Covenant of Sin and the Start of the Happy Times (754.M37)
"We have our ships, we have our guns, we have our armour. The galaxy is ours to plunder. Come on lads, let's get to it."

- Cain

While the Brethren marauded through the Eastern Fringe, they would happen across a great discovery. The twisted cadre of warriors where able to find an Ark Mechanicus silently drifting through the void, deep within the eastern fringe. Though scarred by laser fire and without crew, the Brethren of Spite where able to slowly but surely repair and re-crew the craft through the assistance of Dark Mechanicus 'Hereteks' who were paid through artifacts and relics found within the great craft. The ship was named the "Covenant of Sin" by Cain, who considered it a gift from the gods.

Now the Brethren of Spite possessed a sizable fleet of twenty ships and around four hundred astartes, along with numerous militia and pirate groups they had enslaved. Cain himself sought little more but to continue his trail of marauding and destruction and was happy to oblige to his corrupt lieutenants and captains own goals, in order to keep them in check.

The eastern fringe of the Imperium of man hosts numerous shipping lanes which are vital to those far out worlds under the Imperium's command, and are well guarded, however the Brethren's sizable fleet could easily overwhelm other ships in battle. The Brethren of Spite soon began to target the shipping lanes with much greater force, destroying and looting numerous craft. Even well guarded convoys found themselves at odds with the Brethren, and when the Imperium possessed any advantage, the Brethren would simply retreat. Hit and run attacks soon formed the core of the Brethren of Spite’s doctrine.

But the Brethren of Spite’s actions where not without consequence. In an attempt to tackle the rising raids and attacks, larger and better defended convoys where used instead. These small battle groups could fend off the Brethren's smaller strikes and forced them to adopt larger groups when assailing the Imperials, but this cost the Brethren of Spite resources, and could led to them being bogged down in large naval battles. This led to a lower rate of Brethren activity against the Imperium. The Brethren however refused to be pushed away from their hunting grounds. Deploying fleets of cruisers and dreadnoughts, the Brethren of Spite continued to raid and loot Imperial shipping lanes on the Eastern Fringe.

The End of the Happy Times, Second Retreat into the Eastern Fringe (755.M37)
"Loyalist Cunts! We'll heap your broken bodies in celebration, well once we've taken what we need of course."

- Cain

The knowledge a fellow successor chapter has betrayed the Imperium is not well taken, espically by the Black Templars. The news that the Brotherhood of Man had become a fleet of renegade pirates enraged the chapter, and as soon as it was possible a fleet of Black Templar ships deployed alongside the main Imperial battle fleet sent to deal with the Brethren. News of a Black Templar crusade against them quickly reached the Brethren of Spite, who realised that their piratical acts where threatened by the Loyalist arrival. Seeking to both eliminate the Black Templars and quickly secure as much loot as possible before making a retreat into the Eastern Fringe, dare the Templars be joined by other any other Sons of Dorn. The Brethren of Spite began to plot a trap.

Simple but efficient, the Brethren of Spite planned to lure the Templars into an ambush. Dispatching a number of "dummy" fleets, manned by skeleton crews, these small strike forces would launch raids on Imperial convoys. When the Black Templars launched their own assault or attempted a boarding action, the fleet would flee and return back to the assembled might of the Brethren of Spite's navy. Ultimately, the ploy worked. The Black Templars pursued the Brethren of Spite’s strike force, and found itself within the midst of the gathered Pirates fleet.

Caught in the noose of the renegades, the Black Templars were hopelessly outnumbered and out gunned. The Brethren of Spite successfully crippled most of the Templar fleet, destroying any stragglers. Launching a wave of boarding craft, the Brethren of Spite sent a massed force of GriefKommando super soldiers and other shock troopers to begin the slaughter. The Black Templars showed a fierce resistance, but it could only last for so long. Eventually, the Templar hold outs were confined to a single ship. They refused to surrender of retreat, and promised they would fight to the last man. The Brethren were happy to oblige.

Chosen and other veterans began to carve and cut their way through the thinned and weakened Black Templar ranks. Veterans of dozens of raids and bordering actions, these troops made sport of the zealous Templar defenders, hunting them down and murdering them in vicious hand to hand fighting. Corridor by corridor, room by room, the Brethren of Spite exterminated the loyalists. The Black Templars did not lose heart, and took a heavy toll on the Brethren of Spite. By the end, only the strongest of the Brethren of Spite's veterans had survived. Many of these veterans still survive to this day, their armour adorned with the bones and helmets of the Black Templars they murdered.

Battle for Jong (759.M37)
The Battle of Jong saw the Brethren engage in a large scale global conflict against the Eldar of Saim-Hann. Having fled into the Eastern Fringe’s shipping lanes, the Brethren’s war fleet trawled through uncharted or xenos held space, eventually happening upon Jong sometime in late m.37. Scouting vessels reported the discovery of the Eldar world swiftly after its discovery, with the Brethren of Spite eager to invade as soon as possible. The Brethren of Spite did not believe that the Eldar primitives would be able to put up much of a fight, and were eager for a quick victory. Lacking traditional planetary defences or any form of defensive fleet, the Brethren of Spite were given free reign to bombard the Exodites from orbit. While psychic reprisal from the Eldar below claimed a number of Brethren fighter and bomber craft, the Brethren swiftly replied with even greater feats of fire power. This was joined by bio-weapons, the newly formed “Science Division” making use of toxins and pathogens that devastated both the Eldar and wildlife.

When the Brethren of Spite made planet fall, they did so in three large armies numbering around two hundred Chaos Space Marines each, backed by at least ten thousand human and xenos troops. They Astartes and their allies quickly occupied the largest villages and towns, meeting notable resistance from pockets of Exodites who had survived the initial bombardment. The Brethren of Spite found their opponents’ guerrilla warfare profoundly inefficient. The Exodites could not cut the Brethren’s supply lines, nor could they confront the large forces of Chaos Space Marines that roamed the land.

The Eldar would only engage the Brethren in pitch battle when the Brethren of Spite began to move into several large village communes, where the Exodites sought to stave off the Brethren of Spite through sheer will and ability, but the Brethren’s use of combined arms and sheer force saw the Exodites outflanked or bombed into the ground. Vicious close quarter’s battles ensued as Brethren shock troops engaged with Exodites dragon cavalry.

The Brethren of Spite made a great effort to capture and demolish the Eldar Webway gates they found across Jong, understanding that the Eldar might summon reinforcements and outflank their positions. Successful in destroying several gates, the Brethren were convinced of their own safety from an Eldar counter offensive on the ground, while the Brethren of Spite’s overconfidence in their fleet was exceptional.

But the Brethren’s offensives were had become bogged down by their own attempts to choke the planets inhabitants, a nuclear winter had set in and the Exodites ability to wage a war from the unseen places the Brethren had so hoped to deny them became reality. Sub-zero temperatures that affected even the Astartes power armour became common place, many of the Brethren’s lesser equipped auxiliaries were victim to it. The Brethren of Spite’s Space Marines would never admit that they were now losing their reserves, which would be vital to victory dare the Eldar retaliate in force.

But now trench lines were being dug and fortifications erected, much to the discomfort of Cain and several other Brethren commanders. The Brethren had no interest in a siege, especially with the threat of a possible Eldar counter offensive on the horizon. They moved to take as much as they could from Jong before retreating.

But the Brethren of Spite still held the advantage and did not see Jong as a battlefield but more as a fortified treasury, and while the Brethren could replenish their casualties, the Eldar simply could not. The Brethren had also cleared those major villages and towns which had proved most troublesome, and had discovered their latest objective and prize. The World Shrine. The three Brethren armies began to converge upon it, breaking through the thin lines of the Exodites, but as their successes grew the Brethren’s coherency became lax.

While the Brethren of Spite had never been a truly organised force, the Captains and Lieutenants of the Brethren of Spite enforced a sense of command through brutality or respect. However by now the Chaos Space Marines army groups had dissolved into little more than large mobs, drunk on their successes and early victories.

Now as the Brethren of Spite advanced on their final objective, they found themselves besieged from all sides by a mass of Jet Bikes and Eldar fighter craft. The Eldar of Saim-Hann had arrived, and had done so in great number. The Brethren’s wide pincer movement had already split their forces, leaving the freshly arrived Eldar with little difficulty in cut them into two pockets. The initial Eldar attack was made to simply herd the Brethren of Spite into kill zones, a second offensive launched swiftly after in hopes of crippling the Brethren of Spite as quickly as possible. A mix of hover tanks and infantry, supported by Exodite cavalry, sought to wipe out the invaders.

But the Brethren were not beaten yet, far from it, and reprised in a typical fashion. While the Exodites sallied forth and join the Saim Hann forces who sought to throttle them, the Brethren were still numerically strong and well equipped, though quickly running out of fresh reserves and air support. The Science Division, only recently formed, deployed as much of its experimental weaponry and ad-hoc forces into battle, while Brethren and Saim-Hann fighter craft battled for superiority. Still possessing their sizable fleet and excellent orbital support and coordination, the Brethren of Spite preformed a break out, the two pincers regrouping and retreating. They understood they could not reach their ships, they would simply be blown out of the air, instead moving to occupy their hastily constructed fortifications.

The Eldar pursued the Brethren of Spite, launching another series of offensives across the Chaos Space Marines lines, penetrating their defences in several locations and continuing to make rapid advances, overrunning or bypassing several units. The Eldar were stalled by a series of Brethren counter attacks and armoured support. Sporadic trench fighting between the Saim-Hann vanguard and the Brethren’s veteran shock troops became commonplace, brutal hand to hand combat and mounting casualties on both sides. After several hours and lacking results, the Eldar pulled back, while the Brethren continued to withdraw to their ships.

But the Eldar returned and in force, cutting off Cain and several other Brethren units and distancing them from the main force. Hoping to at least kill the Chaos Space Marines leader, the Eldar wiped out a significant amount of the Brethren they had entrapped. But the Saim-Hann seers had not predicted the loyalty that the Brethren held towards their commander in chief, and the Brethren of Spite’s counter attack rescued Cain and saw the Brethren’s retreat secured.

Jong had proved to be a loss for the Brethren. In exchange for a small number of captives and artefacts, the Brethren had lost much of the heavy equipment and resources committed to the battle, while they had taken significant casualties, a total of 180 Chaos Space Marines lost out of the six hundred that saw action over the two month long battle. Many of the Brethren who had been lost were officers of the old Brotherhood of Man, while 90% of the human and xenos auxiliaries that had been sent to Jong had been killed, those that remained were used as stock to replace the Brethren’s casualties, denying the auxiliary corps veterans and officers.

A Thousand Worlds to Pillage (760-61.M37)
"We've found nercomancers worshiping weapons of mass destruction, a planet were the dead where raised again and again in thrall to Khorne and a moon bathed in a sentient shadow that stalked our very movements. This is glorious. What kind of man would not desire this?"

While Cain moulded his next champion, the Brethren of Spite marched deeper into the Eastern Fringe. Just like the Imperial worlds they had raided before, the Brethren set fire to xenos systems and worlds in the same fashion. The Brethren of Spite’s greed for treasure and love of war pushed them on through even the most weary of conflicts. Often, the fleets of the Brethren of Spite would carve great runes and sigils into the worlds they had raided, great icons of the Chaos Gods. The Brethren encountered stalwart resistance from many of the foes they faced. Alien armies and hosts brought strange weapons and war-machines against the traitor astartes, but the Brethren of Spite fought on none the less. As the Brethren delved deeper and deeper into the uncharted void of space, they found themselves fighting beings that challenged the Chaos astartes own Daemonic allies in terms of strangeness. On a dead world, mass graves and great dusty tombs were home to cults of warring necromancers and sorcerers, who worshiped ancient long dead gods

Summoning legions of skeletal warriors and constructs to battle, they warred to defend their massive libraries of knowledge, and what little resources the world had left. The Brethren of Spite bombarded the Necromancers fortresses and descended, finding the vaguely human cabals to worship them as gods or flee from them as devils. Those who attempted to defy the Chaos marines summoned massive armies of the undead, ranging from vast hosts of ghouls and skeletons to great drakes and space wyrms that breathed emerald flames. The necromancers did make what could be a valiant defense in the name of their goods, never surrendering or retreating, fighting to the end in the name of their dead god. Crushing the primitives in a fortnight, the Brethren of Spite raided the Necromancers libraries and vaults for whatever they could find of worth. Going through the old temples and lairs of the sorcerers, the Brethren found colossal shrines to the Necromancers "dead god". A massive stockpile of nuclear and atomic weaponry, which the Brethren looted eagerly.

But the Brethren encountered more than just aliens. Finding an abandoned Imperial outpost, the Brethren discovered that an exploration team had uncovered a webway portal and damaged it. From the portal, creatures from a variety of strange dimensions lurked forth, and had slaughtered or stolen away the colonists and explorers. The Brethren of Spite soon realised that the creatures they faced were Mandrakes, and that they had brought with them some sort of artificial darkness that blotted out the sun and allowed them to emerge from every corner and inch of the Imperial base. As the Brethren fought bitterly against the Mandrakes, the twisted Dark Eldar summoned more of their kin as well as other dark things from the depths of the web-way. Already nigh-invisible, the Mandrakes cut a bloody swathe through the Brethren's ranks. Only when chief sorcerer Kremlin and his cabal summon a great pillar of blinding light were the shadow creatures pushed back. The Brethren, intent on looting whatever the Mandrakes hid within their shadowy lairs, pursued them into the webway gate.

They were quick to retreat, finding that the gate was connected to the destroyed city of Shaa-Dom. Fleeing, the Brethren of Spite unleashed a monstrous barrage upon the worlds surface as the Dark Eldar began to spill out on greater numbers, dragging several of the Chaos marines into the webway. Worse still, the Brethren had managed to bring a number of the Mandrakes back with them as they departed. The Covenant of Sin held host to almost half a dozen of the shadowy creatures, before they were exterminated by Cain and his praetorian guard in a vicious series of hunts which lasted almost two weeks. The Brethren of Spite had managed to recover the mostly untouched resources of the slaughtered colonists, untouched by the Dark Eldar.

Far out on the edge of the galaxy, the Brethren discovered a strange world. It's surface red, the planet was marked by vast mountain ranges and great brazen temples. Upon landing, they found the world played host to thousands of warriors, eternally battling for some sort of daemonic sword. As the Brethren hacked and gunned their way to the sword themselves, they found that the dead re-knit and rose again, their armour and weapons repaired by some outside force. The Brethren of Spite discovered that some of the warriors who fought on the world were from the times before the Great Crusade. Among the massive free for all, the Brethren of Spite found the blades location. A colossal temple of bone, brass, iron and flesh, it was surrounded by a boiling sea of blood. Crossing it a great brass and bone bridge, the Brethren found themselves beset by great serpents and daemons that emerged from the crimson. It soon became apparent any warrior killed on the world and raised fell under the thrall of Khorne, effectively puppets to the swords will. Cain and the Brethren resorted to obliterating the bodies of their opponents, desperate to delay their resurrection. Finally landing upon the island where the sword was located, they found it was effectively a colossal fortress, manned by hundreds of Khorne daemons. The Brethren of Spite battled through the red sand beaches and pressed deep into the fortress, fighting past it's red skinned guards, they finally broke through into it's nexus.

It's walls and floors marble red, the Brethren of Spite found at it's center the daemon blade sat upon a pedestal. A great-sword of some form, it burned with power, an aura of power surrounded it. It spoke to the Brethren, demanding that they release it from it's prison, raging at them and demanding it's release. Cain approached the blade, and placed his hands upon it. The Brethren of Spite watched as their lord was sent into a comatose state, watching him go silently as he spoke with the sword. With a sudden thrust, Cain tore the blade from it's mount, and threw it too the floor. Cain demanded his sorcerers encase the blade in some sort of protective field, and make sure it was secure. Soon the world began to rip itself apart, the resurrected warriors became dust, the red seas dried up the great fortress that had housed the sword began to collapse. Barely escaping with their lives, the Brethren now looked upon their latest trophy. Cain congratulated those who had survived the trials of the red world, and thanked them for their contribution to his and the Brethren's cause.

Tales of the Brethren's deeds spread quickly, and soon aspiring renegades, heretics and other pirates began to flock the Brethren's banner. Some were aliens, others human, and some renegade astartes. A few even hailed from the dread traitor legions, offering their services to Cain and the Brethren. The stories of the Brethren of Spite’s raids and adventures allowed them to almost double their numbers. They brought with them their own skills and abilities, and were valued among the Brethren of Spite for such reason. In return, they sought a share of the loot, glory and booty the Brethren had made themselves known for.

"Your kin is ours now" (761.M37)
"We hear you weep and rage Eldar at our acts, we hear you curse us for our 'horrid crime', and how you shall exterminate us for it. Your kin is ours now, and now we come to reap a tally for our fallen. Worry not, we shall not make prisoners of you. She, she was an exception."

Almost a year after the kidnapping of Drow Thel, the Brethren found themselves beset by an Eldar strike force from the Craftworld of Saim-Hann. Across their vox-comns and through their minds using the psychic powers of their seers, the Eldar broadcast a message of doom to the Chaos space marines. The Brethren of Spite found their ships disabled or crippled from pin point bright lance fire. The Eldar then sent waves of fighters and boarding craft to assail the Brethren of Spite’s flagship Covenant of Sin, seeking to free their stolen kin, while the Brethren fought a desperate battle for their lives.

While aboard the Covenant of Sin the Eldar rescue teams found that their lost sister had been lost to the rage of Khorne and joined the Chaos pirates, the Brethren had begun to repair their weapon systems and begin their counter attack. Awoken, the lumbering might of the Brethren's war fleet turned upon the panicking Eldar and caught them in a tight noose. While the Eldar tried to flee into the web way from the vengeful Chaos marines, several of their ships had been caught in the heavy weapons fire of the Brethren, and now hung in the void. Evacuating as many of their kin as they could, the Eldar retreated back too their Craftworld, swearing to return and exterminate the Brethren of Spite. Those few Eldar ships that remained soon found themselves beset by the Brethren of Spite.

Crashing into the wraith bone halls of the Eldar craft, the Brethren of Spite began their massacre. While the Eldar fought back viciously, the Brethren delighted in the close confines of a space crafts halls. Drawing blades and bayonets, the Chaos marines crashed into the dazed Eldar ranks. For all their speed and agility, the Eldar found themselves cornered and outmatched by the brute strength of the Brethren of Spite. Though they inflicted horrendous casualties and wounded scores of others, those of the Saim-Hann strike force who had been left behind faced a vile fate. Those not cut to pieces, found themselves made sport of by those Brethren who had pledged themselves to Slaanesh or on the slabs of the Brethren's science division.

The Sorcerers Hold
"You cannot win here. My library will be your tomb."

- O'kar, the Sorcerer lord

The Brethren of Spite had undertaken many dangerous adventures throughout their fierce history, though very few have comparison with those battles that occurred on a planet the Piratical Chaos marines came to know as the Mirror world. A Daemon world located far out in the Eastern Fringe, the planet was discovered by the Brethren of Spite in late m.38. Located in a desolate system, far from even the most remote Imperial outpost, the Brethren of Spite gazed down from their ships on the strange planet with a mix of hunger and delight. They had not come here at random, they had learned of it from a captured renegade Inquisitor, who had sold of the knowledge of the world in exchange for his life. The man had told the Brethren of Spite of a far flung world in the fold of Tzeentch, that bore host to a vast museum and library controlled by a venerated Sorcerer. Within it's pink and blue crystal halls, built in emulation of Tzeentch's own sprawling nether realm lay fabled tomes of sorcery, weapons ranging from the times before Eldar Empire to the days of the Dark Age, and other treasures only fabled to exist. The Brethren of Spite, given it's location, quickly sped to their new prize, ready for what would be the adventure of a lifetime.

None of the Brethren were fooled, they knew what awaited them would not be acquired easily. While they had never raided a target of such scale or fame, the Brethren of Spite had looted a number of other similar places. Hidden libraries and archives scattered across the galaxy had been broken into and stolen from by the Brethren, though the Chaos marines had learned there was much to fear when the guardians of such placed turned on them. Magical wards, Daemons, Thrall Wizards and Rubricane Space marines often acted as wardens. Many possessed unnatural defences as well, some were not even located in reality, while others were the lairs of much worse things. They knew that to be successful here would require the sacrifice of many of their comrades, but few of the Pirates were truly concerned about this.

Instantly upon arriving over the world, the Brethren of Spite’s war-fleet was greeted by an unnerving site. A colossal ring of broken and shattered ship wreckage orbited the planet, their hulls scorched and blackened. Blasting their way through the ship graveyard, the Brethren of Spite began to scour the world with orbital scans, but found it was impossible the map the planet. Some sort of warp field distorted their instruments, while across the fleet, Chaos Sorcerers and other psykers in the Brethren of Spite’s service experienced strange visions. Poltergeist activity blossomed, while Possessed Chaos space marines told of their kin hungering for their mortal coil belong.

But the Brethren of Spite are not easy to dismay or scare. If the universe had taught them something, the more dangerous a place was, the greater chances that it possessed loot worth the risk. Arming themselves to the hilt the first of the Chaos Space Marine strike forces made planet-fall, headed by Cain himself to secure a landing zone..

The first of the Brethren of Spite's forces crashed through the canopy of a forest of glass trees, and quickly were swiftly assailed by a host of Daemons of Tzeentch. Spiting pink and blue fire at the pale armoured Chaos space marines, the Daemons were brought down by volleys of bolt gun fire. Advancing under the cover of the glass forest, the Brethren of Spite swiftly worked their way through the forest, gunning and cutting down dozens of daemons. By the time the Brethren had reached the edge of the forest, the piratical Chaos space marines were assailed by a silent mass of Rubricane and another host of Tzeentch daemons.

Under fire from the blue armoured and pink fleshed daemons, who spat out vicious bolts of purple and regal blue warp fire that set alight flesh and metal with the same effect. A number of the Chaos space marines were incinerated by concentrated warp fire, or set alight. Those who survived the magical barrage closed fast with the Tzeentchian Daemons and Astartes, and a fierce close combat began. The pirates cut and blasted apart clumsy masses of gangly limbs, who divided apart into smaller creatures, forcing the Brethren into a drawn our melee with howling Lesser Daemons of Tzeentch, but they lacked skill and proved irritating to destroy.

The Rubricane were slow and once their psyker master had been murdered, they fell into a docile state, easy to destroy and outwit. The servants of Tzeentch were pushed back, battle after battle, and the Brethren of Spite had began their long march. Those who had survived the initial assault placed the first beacons, and soon the rest of the Chaos Space Marines began to land.

However silently the world itself vomited out further reinforcements for it's inhabitants as the Brethren of Spite began to carve and gun through scores Tzeentch Daemons and Rubricane. The servants of the God of Change took their toll, but the Pirates longed for a fight, thrust into a terrible hunger and frenzy as they launched into the clumsy and organized ranks of Daemons and astartes. Soon Daemon Engines joined both sides, fighting across rivers of silver.

But the Brethren of Spite broke through, further orbital support meant that their advance was difficult to oppose, with even the greatest creature of magic brought down by extensive fire from above. The Brethren of Spite's own sorcerers cabal joined the fray, and helped gain the edge in numerous skirmishes.

But the master of the world took notice of those who had desecrated his land, and swiftly set about dealing with the invaders. The Brethren of Spite soon found themselves surrounded by a mass of crystal walls, entrapping and separating them as a living fortress came to life around them. The Sorcerer Lord of the world however, much to his surprise, found the Brethren welcome the change with open arms. The Brethren dived into the newly formed fortress with abandon, certain that more riches awaited them in the depths of the arcane vault.

The K'rr massacres (450.M38)
In late M450.38 Craftworld Nazrihai sought to deliver a crippling blow to the Brethren of Spite for its crimes against the Eldar race. Having discovered the Brethren of Spite had hidden themselves on a mining world named K’rr. K’rr had been an old world from the times of the Dark Age of Technology, but was filled by factories and mining facilities, still in working condition and ready to begin operating again. Seeking to harvest the valuable materials and resources that still resided on K’rr, the Brethren established a base and under the direction of head researcher Orion Strasse began to reactive the old machinery and begin a process of repair and reconstruction across the Brethren of Spite’s armoury and fleet. Nazrihai believed in this state of weakness, the Brethren of Spite could be swept away in a single sweep, or at least a massacre of it’s leadership leaving the remnants to scatter to the wind. The Brethren of Spite would be an example to others who sought to harm the Eldar, a chilling and powerful example to both it’s rivals and allies throughout the Imperium’s Eastern Fringe.

K’rr itself was a rocky, mountains, barren world, marked by long abandoned foundries, factories, munitoriums, mines and warehouses. The Brethren of Spite had established their headquarters within the planet's largest mine, a cavernous and inhospitable place. Considered easy to defend and an excellent hiding place, the mine was also outfitted with numerous bunkers and even bore a massive fortress. However, despite these defenses, the Brethren of Spite where not prepared for defensive warfare. K’rr was simply a refuge, a hiding place. A skilled foe could easily exploit or bypass it’s weak defenses. The Brethren relied mainly upon not being found, or simply scaring off any attacker or trespasser with their assembled fleet.

But Nazrihai’s war host had been weakened. An invasion of the Craftworld by an army of Slaanesh devotees and daemons had almost crippled the Nazrihai warhost, and left it deprived of adequate manpower. Despite this, Nazirhai’s Seer Council predicted a victory for the Eldar, and a slaughter of their hated enemy, but they had failed to factor in something of great importance. Drow Thel, the fallen Autarch.

Nazrihai had never known of Drow Thel’s corruption, and believed that the Saim-Hann Autarch had perished in a failed rescue mission, slain by a Khornate champion. Now the lead military commander bar the Pirate Lord Cain of the Brethren of Spite, Drow had risen to a position of power through martial strength and Cain’s favour. Helping to organize the Brethren of Spite into an efficient military force through her skills as an Autarch, Drow had quickly become a notable Champion of the Blood God. Nazrihai would not know of Drow’s existence until it was too late.

Gathering for the conflict, Nazirhai’s warhost would slip into real space on the outskirts of K’rr and would strike at the docked Brethren war fleet in a series of bombings, quickly retreating and denying the Chaos space marines a reprisal. Swiftly the Eldar would make planet-fall, striking at the Brethren of Spite’s weakest points in a quicksilver raid that crippled the renegade astartes defensive line and positions. Hundreds of the human and alien auxiliaries that served alongside the Brethren of Spite died as a fleet of Eldar vehicles penetrated or bypassed the weak defenses of the traitor space marines. Even the actual Chaos space marine corps of the Brethren was beginning to suffer notable casualties. Another issue now faced the Brethren. The Eldar forces were far too mobile to be accurately targeted by the Brethren of Spite’s orbiting fleet,. Their defenses bypassed, their forces weakened and on the retreat, and with their human auxiliaries scattered and beaten, the Brethren of Spite where on a road to defeat.

However the Eldar, as the battle went on, began to find their stratagem and tactics failing as the Brethren counter attacked with great resolve and strength. Soon the Nazrihai war host was suffering notable casualties, while the Brethren of Spite began to re-group. Meanwhile, the Eldar fleet had been thrown back by the strength of the Brethren’s naval power, unable to break or beat back the massed host of warships and cruisers that skulked and hunted the planets skies. Soon the Nazrihai found their attacks intercepted, some seemingly predicted or expected by the Brethren of Spite. The Eldar had no idea of what force now directed the Chaos space marines in such a fashion.

With their fleet driven away, and their reinforcements lacking, the Eldar warhost sought to deliver a killing blow to the Brethren of Spite’s leader, Cain. Having discovered the Chaos Champions location, the Eldar believed that they could launch a surprise attack, ambush Cain and kill him quickly and quietly, before fleeing back into the web-way.

The Eldar struck at Cain’s headquarters, infiltrating the cavernous mines and darkened depths, silently passing or killing the patrols they encountered as they made their way deeper and deeper into the fortress. Soon, they struck. While the Eldar strike teams made their attempt to slay Cain, a massive raid was launched upon the walls of the fortress to distract the Brethren of Spite defenders. While the strike teams made their way through the mine, killing any Brethren Chaos marines or auxiliaries they came upon, but soon realised something was horribly wrong. The Brethren of Spite had anticipated the attack. The massed flak and anti-aircraft batteries that lined the fortress walls had laid ruin to the Eldar strike force, leaving the scattered survivors to be descended on by a whole new threat. Drow Thel, the fallen Banshee.

Realising in horror who had directed the Brethren of Spite against them, the Eldar recoiled at the sight of their fallen kin. Those that could fled, but most of the Strike Force had been caught in a tight noose. Those that did not die or flee would be left for the Brethren of Spite to take as captives. A few weeks later, the Brethren of Spite would leave K’rr, never to return to the barren world again.

The Bonope Wars (90.M39)
In 90.M39 the Brethren of Spite launched an all out assault on the Knight World of Bonope, in hopes of securing it's vast riches, valuable resources and relics for their own means. Bonope itself was a hardy, frozen wasteland of a planet, marked by a number of heavily industrialized city states, which paid tribute to the Knight Nobles that ruled over the world. Bonope's population lived in relative luxury, a wealthy planet that held good relations with the nearby Forge World of Mostea, providing Bonope with an excellent pantheon of technological goods. Bonope, while appearing desolate from it's frozen, broken exterior, hosted massive underground mines, able to harvest the valuable minerals and resources needed by Mostea. Bonope, alongside it's vaunted Knight House, hosted a well equipped, funded and trained Planetary Defence force, as well as producing a number of equally skilled Imperial Guard Regiments. Further supplementing Bonope was the worlds defensive fleet, likewise well supplied and equipped.

Under most normal circumstances, the Brethren of Spite would avoid such well defended targets, unwilling to engage in long drawn out wars, especially against targets with supple and well defended supply lines which the Brethren could not rely on being broken. Instead what drew the Chaos space marines attention was the emergence of a civil war on the Forge World of Mostea. A Dark Mechanicus cult had spawned from a conflict over a recently discovered STC, and the dispute had turned into an all out Chaos incursion upon the Forge World. Rushing to their allies defense, Bonope's armies and Knight Houses found their loyalties tested when they found the utter chaos that had overtaken the Forge World. Turning into a stalemate as a number of regiments and Knights joined with the rebelling Mechanicus forces, the war left Mostea a scared, irradiated wasteland within a few months as the conflict ranged on.

As the war dragged on, Mostea itself suffered from internal conflict. Nobles and aristocracy began to bicker over the situation, and soon the seed of another Chaos incursion was set. Small cults became militias, while army units launched their own open rebellions. While these were, swiftly crushed, cracks were appearing in Bonope's defenses. The Brethren of Spite prying eyes found a new target, and with great speed their fleet gathered. At the time, the Brethren of Spite consisted of around seven hundred Chaos space marines, backed by a force of around eight to nine thousand human and xenos auxiliary troopers. Lacking much armour, the Chaos marines could only deploy less than one thousand vehicles, a mix of battle tanks and mobile artillery. The Brethren of Spite had a basic plan of attack. They would deploy en masse on Bonope when as many of the planets defense and army regiments where drawn to fight on the Mostea front, as well as pushed to fight off the increasing rate of rebelling army units, which now required the support of the Knight Nobles to properly deal with. The Chaos space marines goal was to first take, or at least plunder and destroy the capital Brora. Cain and his lead advisers believed in a swift and sudden strike, which would allow the Brethren of Spite to take the city quickly.

When the massive Brethren of Spite’s war-fleet tore into real-space, they discovered they were not the only force attempting to take advantage of Bonope's increasingly hostile scenario. A fleet of Bad Moon Ork's had already arrived, and was in the process of engaging the Bonope defensive fleet. The Brethren of Spite swiftly cut a path through both the Imperials and Xenos, with a number of Chaos space marine captives breaking off from the main assault with their wolf pack splinter fleets.

However, due to an error in the Brethren of Spite's vox security, Bonope's defenders were alerted to the largest of the warbands planned landing sites. Scrambling any regiments or units that could be gathered, the Imperial troops were able to ambush a force of almost two hundred and fifty Chaos space marines on the outskirts of Brora. Assailing the Brethren of Spite as they began to land and deploy their heavy equipment, Imperial flak and anti-air positions were successful in cutting off the Brethren from much of their vehicles and assault guns. Seeing the greatest concentration (and thus, the greatest threat) of the renegade force weakened, as many troops and Knight Nobles were sent to exterminate the Chaos space marines. Many were drawn away from units combating the growing Ork threat.

Encircled and surrounded, the cut off Brethren of Spire took up meager defensive positions, outgunned and under heavy bombardment from numerous artillery batteries and already under attack from recently arrived Knights, the so called Brora Pocket seemed fated for a quick demise as the winter weather set in. The Imperial forces however found the pirates noticeably stalwart in their defense, and quickly the Chaos space marines and their allies proved a resilient force. While the Bonope forces took a steady toll on the outnumbered Renegades, the Brethren were all but happy to return the favour. Looting any anti-tank equipment they could, the Brethren within the Brora pocket where even able to down a number of the Knight Nobles, but the Chaos marines knew they could not hold for long. Casualties were mounting and resources dwindled, while the flak positions of the Bonope defensive force proved too difficult for the air forces of Brethren of Spite to break through.

However Bonope's defenders soon found themselves thinly spread, fighting both the Bad Moonz and Brethren of Spite, with few reserves and now limited resources. Fighting on numerous fronts, and with the Brethren of Spite ether avoiding or even redirecting the now gathering Orkish horde into the Bonope armies, the Imperial morale began to wither. Even with the support of the Knight Nobles, the attempt to crush the Chaos space marine host on the outskirts of Brora was proving disastrous. While the Brora pocket had seen scores of Chaos space marines and hundreds of auxiliaries killed, the city was now facing assault by a pair of Orkish armies. With units being drawn to defend the city from the Green skins, the surrounded Chaos space marines saw a chance to break the encirclement. Assisted by the 1st Orion Strasse tank division, broke through the Imperial lines as the Bonope army collapsed under the strain of a fresh Brethren counter attack. Weakened from repeated Brethren air strikes, and with supplies and reserves non-existent, the Brora pocket was able, just under two months after landing where able to complete their original task. While they had been whittled down to only one hundred and eighty by the Imperial ambush, and having lost most, if not all of their auxiliary troops, the Brethren and their reinforcements quickly breached the city and were met by poorly equipped divisions that included in their ranks old men and children. While a number of Knights and elite units remained within Brora, the heavy damage it had suffered, as well as the collapse of any form of reserves, left the city poorly defended.

The assault was led by Drow Thel, who had commanded the forces within the Brora pocket, and sought vengeance for having to endure a bitter and sluggish battle. Now supported by the heavy armour and weapons of the 1st Orion Strasse division, the assault was quick and vicious. Supported by a mass of air strikes that leveled much of the outer city, the Chaos space marine's attack left any defenders within the cities outer reaches dead or wounded. Turning the labyrinth of broken stone and structure to their advantage, the Chaos marines ambushed and flanked any enemy armour they came into contact with, though any remaining Knights took a noticeable toll on the traitor Astartes, they were unable to do much more than stall their advance. Within five days the Chaos space marines had made off with their loot, and left whatever remained to the arriving Orkish armies. Rapidly, the Chaos space marine forces began to the desert the devastated planet one by one, retreat to their ships.

Organisation and Doctrine
"Our war? Our war is built from iron, and lighting and fire. Nothing will scavenge from the places we raid. There will be nothing left to take."

- Anonymous Brethren.

As a military force Brethren of Spite have always been fleet based, and have never strayed from such an organisation. Deploring the concept of a stationary base of operations, the Brethren of Spite have built their entire military structure around their love for their craft. Standing at around eight hundred Chaos Space Marines alongside several thousand xenon and human mercenary troopers and a large war fleet believed to number over a hundred vessels, the Brethren of Spite are more than capable of overrunning a world or crushing an Imperial fleet. However the Brethren of Spite often operate within "wolf pack" fleets for their operations.

The core of the Brethren of Spite are Astartes force. These operate as units of well equipped, well trained and experienced soldiers. Hardened in close quarters combat and veterans of dozens raids, boarding actions, massacres and invasions against Imperial and alien targets. While at least half of the Brethren of Spite are believed to come from the original Brotherhood of Man's gene-stock (while only around 15-20% are believed to be the original traitors from chapter) the Brethren of Spite can bring a varied array of skills into battle, though it is almost inertly geared towards the Brethren of Spite’s sudden, swift and crippling attacks.

Often the Brethren of Spite will travel by Rhino or Drop pod in order to bypass defenses and gain momentum. Universally the Brethren despise the concept of a fight against a strong opponent, and employ all manner of methods to weaken them beforehand, ranging from orbital support, bio-weapons and infiltrators. The Brethren of Spite's reliance on orbital support has proved a weakness in the past, something which the Chaos Space Marines have failed to remedy and is often exploited by experienced enemy field commanders.

Fighting alongside the Space Marine are various groups of Humans and Xenos, ether in search of adventure or loot, while some are simply mercenaries under extended stay. Like their Chaos Space Marine masters, many of these soldiers are well trained and equipped for their tasks, though are often regulated to fire support duties. Most of these soldiers often operate artillery, vehicles or on occasion as mechanized grenadiers. Staying in reserve until needed, auxiliary grenadiers will ether be called up to exploit gaps in the enemy’s lines or plug those in the Brethren's. However, the Astartes of the Brethren have little qualm with using these units as fire screens or distractions, even though they can prove a dangerous force in their own right.

Another task for these auxiliaries is to act as artillery and anti-air craft teams, tasks seen as menial by the Astartes of the Brethren of Spite. Ether acting as part of Orion Strasse’s armoured division or being deployed separately, these relatively small but vital units are often headed by at least one Astartes officer or NCO, ether as punishment or due to injury. A loathed task, few Brethren Space Marines enjoy being bogged down by their lesser servants.

In typical boarding actions, the Brethren will disable key systems of enemy vessels before launching the actual assault. The Brethren of Spite will then proceed to take the engine room, preventing the crew of the craft from scuttling it. Once securing the engines, and ensuring the ship cannot be detonated by the crew, the Brethren will attempt to take control of the ships other vital systems manually. The Brethren of Spite will then begin to sweep the ship, opting to clear out any resistance as quickly as possible before fully taking control of the craft. There are numerous instances of the Brethren jettisoning the crew, or disabling the power of certain areas of a vessel, denying the enemy oxygen and access to their own equipment.

The Last Kommando
Made up of fifty of the original Brethren of Spite organised into five units numbering ten men each, the Last Kommando are Cain's chosen. All veterans of the Chapter’s now distant civil war, the Last Kommando are all hardened and experienced soldiers, having fought at Cain's side against all manner of opponents and lived to tell the tale. However, the Last Kommando are not only veteran Astartes, but also products of Orion Strasse and Xaphon's collective genius. Physically enhanced with cybernetics, and bound to mentally broken Chaos Daemons, the Last Kommando are a marvel of a terrible science.

The 1st (and only) "Orion Strasse" Armoured Division of the Brethren of Spite
Originally made up of what remained of the Brethren of Spite’s battle-tanks and armoured vehicles after its civil war, alongside any other captured or looted vehicles that the Brethren of Spite have repaired and pressed into active service, the 1st Armoured Division acts as the Brethren of Spite’s only tank force due to the war bands nature. Trained to act in support of the mobile infantry of the Brethren, or deal with enemy heavy armour which can prove troublesome to the lighter Brethren of Spite troopers. A majority of the unit’s vehicles have been modified to move at faster speeds, or have been rearmed and equipped to better serve their role in the Brethren of Spite's blitzkrieg tactics.

8th Assault Company
Having long lost any real structure, the 8th assault company of the Brethren of Spite is a collection of Khorne Bezerkers Raptors, and Warp Talons as well as a mass of human and Xenos jump troops. The Eighth acts as the tip of the spear, veterans of the role as the vanguard. Infamous for it's low orbit grav jumps and air borne assaults the Assault Company has carved out a noticeable reputation for brutality. Often see as the apex of the Brethren of Spite’s raider nature, the 8th Company is exclusively commanded by Drow Thel who has led the group since her early induction to the Brethren of Spite.

Science Division
"A resilient specimen, we'll do great things with you. Now, up! Up! Onto to the slab!"

The Brethren of Spite hosts an extensive "Science Division", made up of numerous tech-hereteks, renegade tech-Marines, apothecaries and other rouge scientists who have been enlisted into the Brethren's ranks through the offer of support in the form of resources and access to the ancient vaults of the Covenant of Sin. The Science Division is a well-protected asset, held securely on the Covenant of Sin's depths to produce and maintain all matter of dark technology and weaponry for the Brethren of Spite. Super Soldiers, Daemon Engines and other weapons, and all manner of other forbidden technology to be unleashed upon the foes of the Brethren of Spite. In battle, the sizable host of mechanical and biological monstrosities that the Science Division command are put to use, and can work as a capable force in its own right.

Notable members of the Brethren of Spite
The Brethren of Spite is a large and varied organisation, and is home to a number of unique squads, units and characters that form the core of the piratical war band.

Cain
Leader and self proclaimed Grand High Imperial Admiral of the Brethren of Spite, Cain was originally the Captain of the Chapters second company, before becoming it's Chapter Master. Cain would later ascend to Daemonhood after years of genocide and mass murder, and continues to lead the Brethren to this day. Protagonist of hundreds of raids against the Imperium of Man, Xenos and other Chaos space marines, Cain is venerated commander and warrior, respected and feared among his host of renegades.

Drow Thel
Former Eldar Banshee of Saim-Hann, Drow was captured and corrupted by the Brethren of Spite. Now a fully fledged member of the Brethren, Drow now leads the remains of the Brethren's Khorne worshiping Assault Company into battle, as well as acting as one of Cain's chief advisers in military matters.

Xaphon
Chief sorcerer and archivist of the Brethren, Xaphon acts as Cain's chief adviser on arcane and daemonic matters. Despite his incompetence and occasional failure to properly preform psychic rites, Xaphon remains one of Cain's most favoured and trusted servants. He took this position after the death of his predecessor Kremlin, who was killed by Drow Thel.

Orion Strasse
Leading researcher and tank ace of the Brethren of Spite's Science Division, Orion Strasse is a gifted and exceptionally skilled scientist in both the mechanical and biological. Orion loves his work and craft, utterly obsessed, Strasse strives for perfection in whatever he creates, be it super soldier or daemon engine.

Fleet
The Brethren's of Spite’s navy contains a varied array of ships, though several have been noted in their regularity in raids and attacks;
 * The Covenant of Sin: The Covenant acts as the flagship and home base for the Brethren of Spite’s war-fleet. An Ancient Ark Mechanicus, the Covenant of Sin is a vast vessel of colossal proportions, dwarfing most other ships. The ship has been modified to host almost half the Brethren of Spite’s number, while it can carry smaller battle ships in it's "belly", as well as hundreds (if not thousands) of fighter craft and drop ships.

Culture and beliefs
"We march in the enemies land. We go forward and we hum the devils song. We fight for riches, we fight for women, we fight for glory!"

- Brethren of Spite marching song

The Brethren of Spite is a collection of rogues, murderers and thieves bound only by a shared love for adventure, glory, women and greed. While in their early days the Brethren of Spite had directed themselves against the Imperium in a long and grinding campaign of spite and despair, they have long relinquished such ideals. Instead the Brethren of Spite now seek to establish a legacy for themselves. They understand that the universe is uncaring and terrible place, but they know they can still make a mark on it, no matter what it takes. To commit some horrific atrocity, to have their name whispered in fear and cursed for horrid deeds is something the Brethren universally and desperately seek out. The idea of delving into the unknown, saber and bolter is loved by the Brethren of Spite, and it is what they do a day to day basis. The Brethren of Spite know that in the end they will be remembered for what they have destroyed, as well as what they have created.

Livery


The Brethren of Spite’s uniform is a bleached bone colour, marked by patches of black and a silver trim. Many Brethren carve or paint runes and icons of Chaos onto their armour, and many replace the patches of black with a hue more fitting of their Chaos patron. Common Brethren of Spite iconography depicts a cracked skull bearing a rictus grin, often flanked by sabers or axes

Geneseed and recruitment
"All matter of traitors and rouges have come under his banner. They are a varied lot the Brethren, which makes them all the more dangerous."

The Brethren of Spite are descended from the Imperial Fists, and were part of the 13th founding. What is odd though, is that while the 13th founding is shrouded in mystery and with many chapters formed from it ignorant of their heritage, the Brethren are fully aware of their origins. Being descended from means the Brethren lack of Betcher gland and Sus-an Membrane, however due to their recruitment of various renegades and traitors, alongside the theft of gene-seed leaves the mutations and alterations within the Brethren mixed and unusual.

Like all Chaos and renegade war bands, the Brethren rely on slaves and cultists as their main source of recruits for new Astartes warriors. The Brethren of Spite's Science Division posses extensive gene-labs and factories within the bowels of the Covenant of Sin, producing the materials required to create new Space Marines. The Brethren of Spite have also kidnapped recruits from other Space Marines, earning them the ire of their victims.

During their early days as pirates the Brethren recruited all manner of rogue and corrupted space marines into their ranks, corrupting the chapter with their influence and tainted gene-seed. This means Chaos Sorcerers, Dark Apostles and other specialists have been inducted into their ranks, who have inevitably passed on their knowledge and teachings to own acolytes within the Brethren of Spite. It's known that the Brethren were able to acquire the services of at least one Berzerker surgeon, as well as a Nurglelite Sorcerer capable of bestowing loyal servants of Nurgle with the gifts of the Plague Marines.

Relations
If you want to add anything ask me about it first

Erranigos Vindicta Cohort
A standing Enemy hunting the Brethren of Spite, the Erranigos and their Automata despise the Brethren of Spite. The Erranigos have routinely engaged the Brethren at first opprotunity as to further bring their oaths closer to fulfillment and to bring further damage to the traitor and the Dark Mechanicus.

About
"Heretic, surrender your weapons and prepare to be cleansed in the name of the Omnissiah. Your fleet shall offer you no escape, your gods no protection. Your death was a inevitable, determined by the moment of your treason."

- Repeated message transmitted through Erranigos Vindicta Cohort automoa in battle to the warriors of the Brethren of Spite.

By
"Rape the churches, poison the women, burn the water! Wait, no actually, that's right"

"We'll take anything not bolted down, flush the crew out the airlock, find more women and drink their alcohol. Any questions about the battle plan? Good, lets get going!"