Spider Knights

The Spider Knights are a very secretive Chapter that are believed to be of Raven Guard linage. Though their numbers are a closely kept secret they are believed to be above standard Codex regulated numbers, though to what extent is unknown even to the Inquisitors the Chapter often works with. They are very indipendant from the rest of the Imperium even through they are based within the Segmentum Solar. They specialize in covert operations and surgical strikes, eliminating entire cells of enemy forces as subtly as possible. When on the front lines, they hit the enemy where it is weakest and exploit every chance they get to strike when and where they have the advantage.

Marines of this Chapter can be seen in virtually every corner of the Imperium, albeit in small numbers, and are often seen hunting down heretic cells and dealing with xenos incursions before the greater Imperium is even aware of it. This Chapter has developed a habit of showing up where and when they are least expected and often to destroy a threat the people of the system or planet were blissfully unaware of. How they do this is a total mystery but most say that the Chapter either uses arcane sorcery, or has a truly massive and quite efficient intelligence gathering arm. Nether of these theories have been proven but it is known that the Spider Knights Librarians (known as Weavers) are capable of very accurate precognition.

The Spider Knights are very weary of Chaos corruption and thus never form close bonds outside of the Chapter, always prepared to strike down their allies at the slightest sign of taint. They are held by many to be paranoid, misanthropic, and ruthless. However this may simply be due to the Chapters chosen profession, as few agents of espionage live long without developing a cautious disposition.

Founding
The Spider Knights are believed to be of the 13th "Dark" Founding and thus carry a very sinister reputation as bad omens and the fact that they are often seen assisting Inquisitors or follow in the wake of Imperial Assassins dose nothing but bolster this image. In general most of their fellow Space Marines would not trust them as far as they could throw them but cannot help but admit few Space Marines can quell the natural urge for glory and battle to do what they do. It is believed that the Chapter was created specifically to hunt down and eliminate the thrice damned Traitor Legion, the Alpha Legion, as the Chapters tactics are perfect for the role and the frequency of engagements against Alpha Legion are many. As many Spider Knights are fond of saying "There is no such thing as coincidence."

Weapons/Tatics
The Spider Knights are a mysterious Chapter to say the least, showing up where they are least expected and eliminating threats to the Imperium that were invisible to all others. Their Astartes almost always insert via drop pod and are extensively briefed with all sorts of obscure and what seems to be both relevant and irreverent data on their area of operations. How the Chapter accesses such stores of information and process it in a manner that not even the Inquisition could is unnerving to most Inquisitors to say the least. The Spider Knights often prefer subtle methods to achieve their goals, making use of suppressors on nearly all of their bolters regardless of configuration. They also have a tendency to use simple, yet finely crafted, blades lacking any form of power field that would give away the Marines position, this means that the Spider Knights are extensively trained to take advantage of weaknesses in the enemies armor and stance in hand to hand combat. The Spider Knights also make frequent use of flash grenades and smoke grenades due to the nature of their missions where collateral damage is best avoided.

Spider Knights often fight in small "Spider Squads" miles behind enemy lines or at the very heart of the enemies forces, dismantling them piece by piece for extended periods. They also specialize in rooting out hidden groups that would subvert the Emperors will and thus have become the bane of Gene-Stealer cults and Alpha Legion, as well as other more secretive agents of Chaos. The Chapter can also be found on various "search and destroy" missions, hunting down Renegade Chapters and Xenos filth that try to hide beyond the Imperiums borders.

When tracking a target through space it should be known that the Spider Knights are second to none, as every ship that bears their insignia is equipped with some of the best stealth technologies the Imperium has at its disposal, from Vox jammers that allow them to overtake enemy ships without fear of any interruption to psychic shields that make them undetectable to even the most powerful psyker. Thus they can stalk the enemy through the void for Terran months and be unseen by their prey. They make heavy use of some form of unknown beam weaponry that the Mechanicus swear is some arcane archotech that the Chapter must have a large stockpile of or the ability to produce, as it disables most systems on the targeted vessel save for life support and other basic functions. This strange technology is only good at considerably close range (or what would count for close in a ship to ship engagements) and thus the Spider Knights must be certain that the foe is unawares.

The Spider Knights try to be as covert as possible in the exictuion of their missions and avoid collateral damage as best as the situation permits. They are quick and clean and try to be as professional as possible in their interactions with both allies and their targets, showing no zeal or passion in even the thickest fighting or against the most hated foe, they prefer to keep themselves rational and almost business like, replying to sorid battlecries with silenced bolter fire and nothing more.

Chapter Culture
The Spider Knights are not ones for glory or churning fields of war, they are often quiet and soft spoken individuals, but will not hesitate to prove their point at the business end of their blades. This Chapter has dedicated itself to destroying the unseen foes of the Emperor, the secret cults and Alpha Legions cells that threaten the Imperium within its very own borders. They are all surprisingly stealthy and agile for eight foot warriors and can outmaneuver most other Space Marines due to years of training. They often spend their time off the field delving into ancient tomes of knowledge and honing their already razor sharp skills.

This thirst for knowledge has led them into conflict with the Mechanicus and Inquisition, who often guard dark secrets and powerful facts jealously, however that has never seemed to stop this Chapter. Often, veteran Inquisitors who have worked with the Spider Knights knows that once they set their minds to obtaining some obscure tome or file, they will find it with or without the Inquisitions approval. Thus this Chapter has gathered a vast library of relics and data files that would take eons upon eons to even skim the contents of it. The Spider Knights also read various tactical doctrines and tomes from other Chapters, such as the Codex Astartes as standard but also the Imperial Fists Five Spheres and Dread Lords Book of Judgement.

Often Battle-Brothers of this Chapter have a favored text or scripture they use as a personal motto or battle cry and these can range from religious litanies to war poetry. (these are never shouted at the foe before battle but instead part of the Spiders "routine" for battle) Thus they have quite the "bookish" feel about them and often more volatile and zealous Chapters, like the Space Wolves and Black Templars, have difficulty operating with them.

When they must work with other bodies such as fellow Space Marine Chapters or Imperial Guard, Spider Knights tend to keep their distance, often appearing very introverted. However, it should be known that no action or word escapes them and they have become privy to many dark secrets surrounding many Chapters simply from one tour of duty by their sides. Often the Spider Knights assist the Inquisition in keeping tabs on Space Marine Chapters who's loyalty or purity are suspect, and many of their battle brothers have put an end to Chaos taint before it infects whole Chapters.

The Spider Knights take their job as humanities unsung protectors very seriously and each has no care for personal glory or gain but to do their job and complete any mission set before them for the Emperor and His Imperium.

The Marines of the Spider Knights are very weary of Chaos, and consider any person outside the Chapter as if they were already under investigation for centuries of cleansing the Imperium of unseen evils has taught them that anyone, from the lowliest criminal to the mightiest Chapter Master, is susceptible to Chaos. Even when they fought alongside of the Grey Knights (who's exsistance the Chapter had known for centuries prior to the encounter) were not exempt from the Spider Knights careful prodding. Each Spider Knight is a living lie detector, having trained themselves from their first days as Fangs to detect the most subtle changes that happen when one speaks falsely, thus Inquisitors find them extremely useful during interrogations.

Though the Chapter often works closely with the Inquisition, they are certainly not ones to be bound to it, often they consider working with Inquisitors the best place to root out any traitors within their midst. (something they feel the Inquisition desperately needs)

Naming within the Chapter is very simple indeed, when they are first recruited, aspeirants are given a simple seven didget number and one preceding letter to identify themselves (such as B-5572347), should they revert to personal names they are punished. After becoming a Battle Brother the Marine is free to chose whatever name he wishes, often taking on the first letter and two numbers of his code. (e.x. Bee-Fifty Five) Battle Brothers are also known to use personal nicknames as well such as Bolt, Saint, or Blade to name a few.

Initiation
After aspirants are discreetly kidnapped from one of the Chapters one-hundred recruiting worlds, they are put together with a squad of other aspirants and put through brutal training that weeds out any weak links, though the aspirants are told to keep their number alive as well as they can those who are not fit will inevitably parish.

After the initial training has hardened them and bonded them as a unit, the would be Astartes are dropped into the jungles of Arachni VI and tasked with slaying a Spider Wolf with nothing but whatever rudimentary tools they can fashion from the elements around them. This is a difficult task for even the most experienced Space Marine alone and to expect a squad of (albeit rigorously trained over a period of many years) adolescents to achieve it seems like madness.

Very few squads manage to get their bearings before their quarry hunts them all down one by one but every so often a squad rises to the challenge and emerges victorious. Often it is a pair of aspirants or a group of three that succeeds or in rare cases only one survives. Those who succeeded in the hunt are made into Spiderlings and will fight at each others sides until they become true Battle Brothers of perish.

Organisation
The Chapter is led by an individual known as the Overcaptain, his word is law and his identity is often unknown to outsiders. Only fully fledged Battle Brothers know of their Overmasters name and proud history of unmentioned deeds in the name of the Imperium. The Overcaptain is the most experienced and skilled Marine of the whole Chapter and is an embodiment of the Spider Knights ways, a cunning warrior who can ensnare any foe no matter how elusive, a mighty hero who can slay the greatest of foes weather he stands before them or behind them, and a true leader of both man and Astartes.

Beneath the Overcaptian there are the many Captains of the Spider Knights, as the not even the Inquisition has no clue to the number of Space Marine that makes up the Chapter they can only assume from what they have seen that the usual Company of Spider Knights is around one hundred strong, give or take a few extra squads.

After the Captains who as Codex Captains command whole Companies, there are the Lieutenants, who take the role of a Codex Sargent.

Spider Knights rarely make squads of one specific type of Marine, often a Spider Squad will have three Fang Marines, two Widowmakers, one Jumper, and one Apothecary. (Though various variants of this have been seen depending on the Spider Squads mission statement)

Fangs
Fang Marines are the same in overall opperation as the Codex Tatical Marine, though Fangs are trained to be much more subtle and stealthy than the usual Space Marine, they also make use of Supressed Bolters and Supressed Bolt Pistols and the all important combat knife and sword. Fangs are trained to do "kinfe work" quickly and with as little noise as possible and some become so skilled in their craft that a two of them can wipe out a whole Tatical Squad without a sound if they get the drop on them. Fangs are the backbone of the Chapter and some of the most proficent killers in the Galaxy, quick, clean, and utterly remorseless.

Widowmakers
Widowmakers are the Chapters heavy weapons specialists and often see the foe through the scope of his Equius-Pattern Oblivion Rifle (curtiousy of the Equalizers whom may dislike this Chapters closeness with the Inquisition but respects the proficenty of their craft) than down the sights of a Heavy Bolter. None the less Widowmakers are proficent with all manner of heavy weapons in the Imperial arsenal and are experts in their use. Often Widowmakers are the hammer of a Spider Squad, to focus the foes attention or to provide fire support should the Fangs cover be blown, thus they are consdiered as the kind of Marines you want behind you when "it all hits the fan".

Jumpers
Jumpers are the Spider Knights equvilant to Assault Marines, the only difference is that they are trained to eleminate the enemy, not in a flashy and gory display, but to ambush them quickly and quietly and to use their momentum to keep the enemy off balance. Jumpers make use of highly advanced anti-gravity jump packs, which allow the Jumper to reach the same hights as an Assault Marine but without the bright, flaming trail and roar of jet engines, instead the anti-grav pack only emits a goastly blue glow that is barely noticable against the backdrop of a midnight sky. Jumpers can even hover over a given spot for hours at a time with this device, all the better to scout out the position and give real time intel to their battle brothers on the ground. The intensity of the anti-grav pack can also be altered, meaining that it can launch the Jumper at breakneck speeds, or simply make it easier to scale a wall or building. Jumpers are very good a what they do and have been extensively trained in unarmed combat so as to kill their enemy as swiftly as possible at the moment of impact. They are also use flashbang and smoke grenades to great effect.

Homeworld
Arachni VI is a massive Feral world that is one of many habitable planets that orbit the binary stars of the system. Arachni VI is covered in lush and perilous jungle that is only broken up by shallow seas. Arachni VI's dominant lifeform and apex preaditor is the Spider Wolf, a ferocuous and cunning arachnid, this beast far outmaches most beasts the Galaxy has to offer and can kill whole squads of Space Marines with ease. They are highly territorial creatures and each individual patrols vast streaches of land often near a spring or other source of water that prey items have no choice but to frequent. These cunning beasts often lay traps for their prey in the form of webs and pit traps, showing a rudimentary intelegence, though indeed fearsome combatants, the Spider Wolf prefers stealth and ambush to a face to face conforntation, only emerging from the shadows to deliver the killing blow with its venomous fangs and stinger and cart its victem off to its lair to eat at its leasure.

The Chapter takes its name from the Spider Wolf and it plays many important roles in the Chapters culture and pratices, they attempt to emulate the beast in their style of battle and on rare occasions one of the Chapters Weavers will tame one of these beasts and use them as weapons of war.