Dust Lords

The Dust Lords are simultaneously a renegade chapter of Space Marines and Chaos Space Marine warband. During their time serving the Emperor they were known, much like their parent chapter, for their ambush tactics and proficiency in the use of Jump Packs. Now they have been declared Excommunicate Traitoris by order of the Ordo Hereticus for reasons the Inquisition are not willing to openly disclose. Most assume they are just another chapter gone rogue, but the truth is far more complex. Sometime in the near future the Dust Lords, now traitors, entered the warp to be spat out not only before they entered (a rare but entirely possible phenomenon), but before they had even turned to Chaos. These dark counterparts now seek to orchestrate their own fall to Chaos as it was once orchestrated for them. So far they have been unsuccessful, only achieving excommunication. But whether the Dust Lords are resisting their fate, or unintentionally succumbing to it, remains to be seen.

Excommunication
The Dust Lords’ excommunication is not a matter of open Imperial record. They were a codex compliant chapter boasting a moderate degree of success in their many campaigns. Aside from following in the Raven Guard’s footsteps tactically, they were essentially a normal chapter with few idiosyncrasies. What’s more, the Dust Lords’ loyalty to the Imperium was beyond reproach. That was until a single, unfortunate event sent them spiraling out of control.

In early M41 a planetary outpost on the edge of Ultima Segmentum, near the Ghoul Stars, went dark. But not before a single message had been received by nearby Asylus: “All… is Dust”. It was assumed that a Thousand Sons warband had destroyed the outpost. Subsequently, the Dust Lords 1st, 2nd, 5thand 7th companies, all of which were participating in the war effort against Tau expansion, were tasked with tracking down and neutralizing the warband.

Upon reaching the planet they found what they were expecting: ruins and PDF corpses. However, the damage was oddly localized to means of interplanetary communication. Confused, the Dust Lords scoured the outpost. They found no trace of the elusive Thousand Sons warband. Instead, what they found were a few hundred, tightly packed, armed civilian survivors hiding in a great hall. The Dust Lords were not welcomed as saviors. The civilians frantically opened fire. Whilst the autogun fire clinked ineffectually off the hardened armour of the Dust Lords, the civilians were not so lucky. The Dust Lords, led by 5th Captain Elias Pral, assumed heresy and returned fire. Man, woman and child were massacred in minutes. It was only afterwards the Dust Lords realized their mistake. The civilians showed no clear signs of warp taint. Additionally, the control panel for the door through which the Dust Lords entered had been destroyed so it would be impossible for the civilians to leave – they had been trapped in the building. But why were they armed? Why had they opened fire? They were about to receive their answer – an answer they could not have foreseen.

At the far end of the hall within which lay the civilian corpses, a message played on repeat: “When we return, we will take away everything you hold dear, everything. You can try to fight us, but you will fail. You will fall. It is predetermined.” The voice was that of 5th Captain Elias Pral. Yet, Captain Pral had been with the Dust Lords all the way from Tau space. It was impossible for this imposter to actually be him. Captain Pral rushed to the device playing the message, which subsequently recognized him and played a second message: “Hah! These fools actually thought that the message was for them! No. It was a warning. A warning for me… sorry, I mean you. Your Imperium has abandoned you, brother. I am what you will become. It is predetermined.” The message made made little sense to Elias Pral. That is, until he realized that the device Captain Pral now held was transmitting. Soon thereafter the Imperium was made aware of their actions and the Dust Lords were declared excommunicate tratoris. Their homeworld was besieged by the Rhinos and destroyed along with what brothers they left behind.

Now renegades, the Dust Lords scour the stars for a means of defying their fall from grace. Whether they are doing so or simply spiraling out of control towards their fall, it is impossible to tell.