Brethren of Spite

"A galaxy full of adventure awaits us boys. We have legends to make and tales to tell, come with me and we'll be the greatest pirates to sail on the tides of the warp"

- Cain

The Brethren of Spite are a fleet based warband 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 late m.37. The Brethren are led by Cain, the former Captain of the 2nd company and now Daemon Prince. The Brethren of Spite are known to worship Chaos undivided, with some squads worshiping a specific patron.

History
"Death will not be the punishment of our foes, no, it will be much worse. When they crawl from their blackened holes, they will look up at our glorious accession into the heavens, lit by the golden light of the Emperors throne."

- Cain, Captain of the second company

Though not much is known about the Brotherhood of Man before their civil war and their rebirth as the piratical Brethren of Spite, 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 basis of its chapter and recruited on selected worlds across the Imperium, which it's forces where thinly spread across. With the constant warfare that raged throughout the galaxy, the Brotherhood found their casualty rates begin to climb. The chapters numbers began to dwindle to a mere four hundred strong as the eternal conflict of the galaxy took its toll, and soon members of the chapter began to object to chapter commands actions, and the perceived future extinction of the chapter.

The leader of the opposition was Cain, a skilled shipmaster who had served the chapter faithfully for two hundred years. 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" "The ranks are half of what they should be and with every day they dwindle further, I cannot count the number of the brothers we have lost. This cannot continue."

- Cain

While Cain possessed a large force of the Brotherhood at his disposal, Chapter command had sway over most of the specialists and old guard of the Chapter. This meant the loyalist forces possessed Veterans and Sergeants, who had many years of fighting experience, against a largely inexperienced force. The war was grueling, both sides taking heavy casualties, before Chapter command was defeated. The war had lasted 3 years, leaving the chapter at only 240 members, and deprived of most of its original leadership. A new chapter command was formed, led by Cain as its chapter master.

But the chapter faced a new hurdle. It had lost most of its specialists and along with that, almost all of the tenth company. It quickly began to recruit new members, but with few experienced Chaplin’s and Librarians to monitor the recruits, corruption began to worm its way into the chapters growing ranks. As well as this, the chapter began to withhold its gene-seed tithe, claiming it required it in order to survive. However the Inquisition looked upon the reformed and rebuilding chapter with a sense of suspicion. The murder of its specialists and original commanders could be seen as heresy, and with its numbers swelling, what if it were to suddenly turn upon the Imperium with the same abandon as its chapter command?

A small fleet of Ordo Hereticus ships were able to locate the Brotherhood’s fleet over one of their recruiting worlds, and attempted to hail the fleet, demanding that the Brotherhood man surrender and allow its members to be interrogated and scanned for heresy. Cain ordered that his ships open fire on the Inquisition fleet, before fleeing from the eventual reprisals, deep into the Eastern Fringe. As they descended further and further into the void, they also descended further into madness and anarchy. Spiralling into chaos, the chapter looted and raided dozens of worlds under Cain's command, slaughtering thousands and enslaving defeated foes as they struck at their former allies. Imperial outposts and space stations greeted the arriving Astartes, only to find themselves under attack. The Brotherhood of Man was reborn as the Brethren of Spite.

"Glory to Cain, Glory to Chaos, Glory to the Brethren!" M.37-M.41
The aftermath of the Brethren of Spites savage rampage had left them bloodied and their ranks thinned. Moving to a new extreme, the Brethren began to steal and loot gene-seed from defeated renegades and chaos servants, alongside their corrupted war gear and ships. This taint was like a virus, which spread throughout the chapter as it continued to savage it's foes. Cain and the Brethren's other war lords slew the leaders of Chaos war bands and took their beaten and subdued men as their own, expanding the Brethren of Spite into an even larger force.

"The Covenant of Sin"
"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."

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 activities found within the great crafts vaults. 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 quickly in battle. Soon the Brethren of Spite began to target the shipping lanes, and destroyed and looted numerous craft. Even well guarded convoys could not properly counter the Brethren's tactical advantage of numbers, and when the Imperium possessed any advantage, the Brethren would retreat. Hit and run attacks soon formed the core of the Brethren of Spites tactical doctrine.

But the Brethren of Spites 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 Sons of Dorn"
"Loyalist Cunts, we've been waiting for days now, days waiting to send a message to the rest of your kin."

- 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. News of the 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 Spites 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 outgunned. 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.

"They know what we bring"
"Kill the children, strangle the mothers, burn the homes, string up the soldiers, lynch the leaders, torch the cities. Everyone knows what we bring."

Having fled the Eastern Fringe's Imperial Shipping lanes, the Brethren of Spite sought fresh victims, loot and plunder. Moving undetected through the void, the Brethren slowly but surely found a new source. An Eldar maiden world. The Brethren of Spite delighted in their discovery, and quickly set about launching raids on the planet. Although they faced stiff resistance from the worlds Exodite inhabitants, the Brethren's advantage of orbital weapons allowed them to crush their opponents from orbit, carving gouges into the world and burning their opponents to cinders.

Within a few days, the Maiden Worlds skies were choked with the ashes of the cities and settlements the Brethren of Spite had raised from orbit, while they carried off all manner of treasure and loot, but the Exodites remained stalwart to the end, costing the Brethren of Spite numerous casualties. It wasn't long however, before the Eldar struck back at the invaders in force. Lead by vaunted Autarch, Drow Thel, a war host from Saim Hann sailed forth from the webway to engage the Brethren.

The Chaos marines were already scattered, too thinly spread and already being harried severely by the natives own counter attacks faced obliteration at the hands of Saim-Hann. The Brethren of Spite took massive casualties in the days after the Eldar war hosts arrival, attempts by Cain to regain the initiative failed as the Eldar countered them over and over again. In their desperation and Cain's anger, the Brethren of Spite fled to their ships, but not without unleashing one final attack on the Maiden World.

Unleashing a massive payload of biological and atomic weaponry, the Brethren laid waste to entire continents with their orbital attack. Almost two hundred and fifty Brethren astartes had died on the Maiden World, but the Brethren of Spite were not ones to forget or forgive those who had felled them. As Cain and the Brethren fled into the darkness, they plotted to strike back at the Eldar in a vicious and cruel way, but also make an example of those who sought to oppose them.

"A thousand worlds to pillage..."
"We found nercomancers worshipping weapons of mass destruction, a planet were the dead where raised again and again in thrall to Khorne, it's glorious. We've found all sorts of strange shit out here, as well as all manner of treasure. 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 Spites 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 worshipped 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 defence 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 using great brazen daemon ships, the Brethren found themselves beset by great serpents and daemons that emerged from the red sea. 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 centre 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 Spites 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"
"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 kindapping 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. Seconds later, the Brethren of Spite found their ships disabled or crippled from pin point bright lance fire. Advanced EMP weapons silenced and shut down the guns of the Brethren's fleet. The Eldar then sent waves of fighters and boarding craft to assail the Brethren of Spites flagship Covenant of Sin, seeking to free their stolen Autarch, while the Brethren fought a desperate battle for their lives. Communications jammed or destroyed, the Brethren of Spite fought a vicious battle of attrition against the Eldar. Slowly but surely, the Brethren turned the tide.

While aboard the Covenant of Sin the Eldar rescue teams found that their beloved Autarch 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 strengh of the Brethren of Spite. Though they inflicted horrendous casulties 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 mirror world"
The Brethren's strangest of adventures would be on a planet they would name the "Mirror World". The Brethren of Spites war fleet arrived in orbit over the planet after chasing down a fleeing Imperial Cruiser, and found that they had arrived over a world of what appeared to be purely crystal. Alone among a number of dead or deserted worlds, the strange planet flared with ethereal light, and it seemed to whisper into the vox-coms and communication channels of the Brethren of Spites fleet. Soon, seeking to investigate what might lay on the world below, Cain and a number of the Brethren of Spite descended onto the planet. Crashing into glass forests and wading through rivers of blue and pink fire, the Brethren found a strange sight. Human warriors, clad in dark grey and supported by a battalion of primitive tanks fought a vicious battle with an opposing force consisting of warriors clad in brown and supported by their own primitive armour. Carrying simple rifles and auto-guns, the two sides crashed into each other with war cries about their mother and father lands. The Brethren of Spite dispatched them quickly, but soon found more strange, and often primitive soldiers. Many turned tail and ran at the site of the Chaos astartes, fleeing or breaking down in utter despair. Xaphon, sorcerer and historian of the Brethren of Spite, realised that they none of those warriors they had encountered were of their own time. Realising something had stolen these men away from their own time, the Brethren of Spite continued to search for the source of this disturbance. A being of such power must have some sort of good treasure?

Blasting their way through a massive forest of glass and fighting through hundreds more of the out of time warriors, the Brethren of Spite found themselves faced by a series of ever shifting fortresses that hung in the sky above a sea of emerald fire. The Chaos marines began their attack, scaling the great walls and length of the largest fortress, all the while fitting off a host of Tzeentch daemons that had emerged from the fiery ocean below them. Breaking through the silver walls of the floating castles, the Brethren of Spite soon found themselves alone, lost among what appeared to be some sort of impossible maze. The Brethren found themselves confronted by all manner of strange creatures and visions. Those who survived hosts of ghastly spirits and beings of shifting souls found themselves face to face with both past and future incarnations of themselves, something few survived. By the end, only Cain, Drow and a few others remained. All where changed from their experience, but they soon turned their attention to the creature at the center of the world.

The sorcerer creature, a strange being made of shifting light, glass, silver and pink fire took form and welcomed the Brethren of Spite into it's inner sanctum. Asking the Brethren why it had disrupted it's playthings in their eternal maddening struggle, it spoke with disappointment and upset, but claimed that it would be happy for those of the Brethren who survived to replace what they had destroyed. The Brethren opened fire, but it was quick to claim a number of their lives with a gout of warp light. Before the creature could finish those who remained, Drow Thel leapt upon it and thrust her wailing Daemon sword into it's "face". Had the blade been a normal weapon, the sorcerer creature would have shrugged off such a wound like it was nothing, but the Daemon sword proved it's weakness. The creature screamed in agony, but the corrupt Eldar only continued to cut it apart till it was nothing but strands of stray flame. With it's death, the world around it seemed to recoil in horror. Those few Brethren of Spite who remained fled the collapsing fortress, and found that the flaming seas were gone while the crystal and glass forests had shattered.

"Cain ascendant"
"We turned their crown jewel into a daemon world and reduced the populace to a red paste. The Dark Gods must have got a good laugh out of that one, I sure did."

During late m.40 the Brethren of Spite allied with the Night Lords warband known as the Hell-Screamers and their leader Acherius Erinyes in order to conduct an invasion of an Imperial Shrine world known as Perta. Cain sought to finally ascend to Daemonhood by massacring the planets population and turning world into a massive shrine to his own glory, while the Hell-Screamers were promised valiant the valiant Imperial warriors known as the Sisters of Battle for entertainment, alongside artefacts from the vaults of the Covenant of Sin. While the Hell-Screamers made planet fall and infiltrated the Shrine World unseen and undetected, the Brethren of Spite slowly but surely made their approach, hidden from prying eyes. The Night Lords set to work, preparing themselves for the arrival of the renegades by launching a hidden campaign of sabotage and terror. The Night Lords strung up the skinned bodies of religious leaders from lamp posts and chapel spires, while Imperial defence systems were infiltrated and sabotaged. In the last few days leading up the Brethren of Spites own attack, the Night Lords revealed themselves to the Sortia defenders in a series of vicious strikes. While the Imperial defenders desperately sought to deal with the veteran Night Lords, who mocked the slow and sluggish Imperial counter-attacks by simply slipping away into the shadows, the Brethren of Spite burst into orbit.

The Imperial defence systems collapsed into chaos as the Night Lords sprung their trap, the Imperial fleet that hung over the world found itself under fire from the world they were supposed to be defending. Caught between the Brethren of Spites massive battle fleet and the Night Lords trickery, the Imperial fleet collapsed in hours while the Brethren began to land on the Shrine world. Planted by the Hell-Screamers, homing beacons allowed the Brethren's ships to unleash orbital strikes with pin-point accuracy, alongside massive carpet bombings which reduced many of the defensive fortifications to rubble. Other beacons allowed the Brethren to safely teleport or land within close proximity of their targets. The Sisters of Battle defending Perta found themselves out-gunned and overextending massively, while the Brethren of Spite and Night Lords were free to roam the world and slaughter it's defenders at will. The population was trapped between the Chaos space marines and their own orbital defences, evacuation transports were sliced open by precision laser fire, while the Brethren and Night Lords delighted in their acts of savagery and violence.

In hectic street battles the traitor astartes and Sisters of Battle clashed amidst the ash and rubble, where the Sortias called upon their faith in the Emperor to assist them in battle, the Brethren of Spite tore rifts in reality and summoned forth daemons. The walls between the warp and real space began too thin as the Chaos marines piled up more and more corpses. The Brethren of Spites sorcerers led great summoning rites and rituals, while in orbit the Brethren's fleet carved great runes into the planets surface. Soon the Sisters of Battle faced not only the Brethren of Spite and the Night Lords, but a host of soul hungry daemons. Quickly Perta's cities were beset by all manner of nightmarish things, while the Hell-Screamers tortured and exterminated the civilian populace, the Brethren looted the Imperial shrines and temples for any valuables they could scavenge. In less than a week, the Deaths-head symbol of the Brethren hung over most of the Shrine worlds destroyed cities.

But the Brethren had a much darker plan in mind for the Shrine World. Cain sought to turn the planet into a Daemon World, and since their landing the sorcerers of the Brethren of Spite had begun rites and rituals to bring down the walls between reality and the immaterial. While the traitor astartes rampaged across the planet, looting and stealing anything they could find, masses of slaves and psykers constructed colossal icons of summoning and massive soul furnaces among the ruin and conquered cities. Feeding the dead and wounded alike into these great soul furnaces, the sorcerers cabal watched as the first rifts in reality opened up. While the daemons that had stalked the world had been lesser creatures and few in number, what stepped forth now was a terrible site. Four legions from each of the Dark Gods spilled out into reality, while a warp storm began to form.

The Imperial defenders and those civilians who had not been massacred or sacrificed in the initial invasion now fled to the fortified capital of Perta, which acted as the last bastion for the worlds populace. Battered day and night by the encroaching Chaos armies and the space fleet from above, those who survived had no way too escape their fate. The Sortias who remained sought a glorified end in martyrdom, the Brethren and Night Lords refused to indulge the Imperials in any such way. The Night Lords began the attack, the Hell-Screamers launching a vicious assault from the air, a terrible screeching filling the air. While the Hell-Screamers descended on the refugees and Sortias, the Brethren, led by Cain attacked the city from the ground. A massive strike force formed of Berzerkers and Terminators, led by the Chaos Lord broke through the already weakened Imperial defences. While Cain and his praetorian guard began to gun and cut down anything in their path, daemons materialized within the city. Soon the Imperial front had splintered and collapsed into nothing but desperate street fighting and last stands. As the Brethren made their way towards the city centre, the warping influence of Chaos began to take hold. Structures fused with flesh and bone, while the roads became rivers of burning blood and fire. Corned with nowhere to go, those civilians who remained became slaves and fodder for the Brethren and Hell-Screamers gruesome wishes. By the end of two days, nothing remained alive in the city, anything that had survived the Brethren of Spite and Night Lords assault had met a number of terrible fates.

However before the Brethren and their Night Lord allies could claim their ultimate victory, another obstacle emerged. A small strike force of Grey Knight's had arrived, numbering fifty, they sought to kill Cain before he could ascend to Daemonhood as well as kill the premature daemon world. Teleporting into what had become known as Cain's inner sanctum, the strike team cut their way through much of Cain's vaunted praetorian guard and many of the "GriefKommando" before coming face to face with the Chaos lord and his inner circle. A terrible battle ensured between the silver armoured warriors and the Brethren of Spite, much of the Brethren's high command took part in the fight while more swarmed into it from the rest of the levelled city. The Grey Knights took a terrible toll on the Chaos space marines with their psy-bolts and force weapons, but they had severely underestimated the Brethren's numbers or ability, most likely due to a general lack of information of the Brethren that the Inquisition possessed. Whatever of the Grey Knight force teleported away, escaping the world after Cain viciously throttled and blinded their Brother Captain. With this act, Cain was lifted up by a pillar of black light and was remade.

The Brethren re-swore their oaths of loyalty to the Daemon Prince Cain, their steel god of ash and fire. Cain and the Brethren departed Perta victorious, Cain now an immortal demi-god, and the Brethren's treasuries filled by stolen artefacts and other loot from the now warp tainted Perta.

Organisation and tactical doctrine
"A galaxy full of loot, treasure, women, glory and adventure, what else could a man possibly ask for?"

- Anonymous Brethren.

The Brethren as a loyalist chapter where a fleet based chapter, and have continued this tradition. This makes the Brethren exceptionally mobile, a majority of their operations based in their flagship, the Covenant of Sin which serves as the nexus of all Brethren of Spite operations. The Brethren's favouritism of ship to ship warfare has influenced the rest of their tactics, and has made them exceptionally hesitant to engage in long drawn out wars or battles, anything that restricts their ability to strike fast is despised and avoided at all costs. Rarely will the Brethren of Spite attempt to battle targets of their own strength, nor will they fight foes that may be able to mount a significant resistance. Most attacks are preceded by en mass orbital bombardments, mass carpet bombing leaving shell shocked targets easy prey for Brethren of Spite death squads and terror troops.

The Brethren of Spites love quick, vicious fast paced raids has led to their war-host consisting of all manner of assault troops. Raptors, terminators, bikers, possessed and Khornate Bezerkers are a common sight among the Brethren of Spite strike teams. While they despise on the ground warfare, the Brethren have mastered the tactic of breaking battle lines, shattering the defenders will to fight and sapping their moral through brutal displays of strength and ruthlessness. The Brethren of Spite also make use of auxiliary units of human and xenos fighters, mostly armed with looted weaponry of several variates. These troops commonly make use of grav-chutes to allow them to drop in from low flying drop ships, meaning they can 'keep up' with their Astartes masters. Some infiltrate their target worlds weeks before the main attack, lying patiently in wait. Most are however used as fire screens or distractions by the Brethren of Spite, filtering out the weak from their ranks.

Notable members and divisions
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 Admiral" of the Brethren of Spite, Cain was once the leader of the Chapters second company, and continues to lead it as a Daemon Prince. Having lead numerous raids against the Imperium, Cain is venerated in both ground and naval battles since his corruption.

Drow Thel
Former Eldar Autarch 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 splintered assault company into battle and acts 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 spells, 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 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, obsessed with it and strives for perfection in whatever he creates. Be it super soldier or daemon engine.

The 1st (and only) "Orion Strasse" Armored Division of the Brethren of Spite
Made up of what remained of the Brethren of Spites battle-tanks and armoured vehicles, alongside any other captured or looted vehicles, the 1st Armored Division acts as the Brethren of Spites only such force. Trained mostly to act in support of the mobile infantry of the Brethren or deal with enemy heavy armour, most of the vehicles have been modified to move at faster speeds, or have been rearmed and equipped to better serve their role.

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 Spites use. Super soldiers, daemon engines and weapons, and all manner of other forbidden technology to be unleashed upon the foes of the Brethren from their hidden forges and laboratories. All manner of dark things lurch forth from the bio-forges and soul furnaces of the science divisions blackened laboratories, super soldiers, daemon engines and armour vessels all come to answer the Brethren's call to war.

Fleet
The Brethren's of Spites fleet 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 Spites 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 Spites 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
"There's nothing here to loot, and the crew aren't worth the effort. Just flush them out the gods dammed air-lock already..."

- Recording of an Brethren of Spite member aboard a boarded Imperial freighter

The Brethren of Spite are a mix of rogues, murderers and theives. Bound by a shared love for adventure, glory, women and loot, the Brethren of Spite are a greedy warband of traitor marines. As a whole, the Brethren seek a legacy. They understand that the universe is uncaring, but they know they can still make a mark on it. To commit some horrific atrocity, to have their name whispered in fear and cursed for horrid deeds is something they all wish for. The Brethren love adventure, to delve into the unknown blackness of the universe, sabre and bolter in hand is something they do a daily basis. The Brethren of Spite delight in their raids, their cruelty and greed, for they know in the end they will be remembered not just for what they have destroyed, but what they have created.

Livery
The Brethren of Spites 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 power. The 'icon' of the Brethren of Spite is most commonly a cracked skull, sometimes sporting a nest of serpents for hair or spilling from it's eye sockets.

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 varied 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. However, other methods of creation have been observed. Psycho surgery and psychic brain washing on captured astartes can create entirely new personalities, ready for combat alongside their new brothers. The theft of Space marine recruits have also occurred, and has led to several chapters swearing vendetta's on the Brethren of Spite for their heresy. During their early days as pirates, the Brethren recruited all manner of rogue and corrupted space marines into their ranks, inevitably corrupting the chapter with their influence and tainted gene-seed. This mass recruitment also led to the induction of individuals like Sorcerers, Dark Apostles and other specialists into their ranks, who inevitably have passed on their knowledge and teachings to their 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, alongside a Nurgle 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

By
"Rape the churches, poison the women and burn the water! Wait, yeah that's actually 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!"