Golden Legion

The Golden Legion is a Space Marine Successor Chapter created in the Second Founding. Originally created from a section of the original Imperial Fists that split into several other Chapters, the Golden Legion fights in the name of the Throne and all who serve the Throne as one of the Emperor’s finest Space Marine Chapters. Founded by Sargantanas Eligron, they in reality are a ruthless Chapter with questionable motives, although on a surface level they are a shining example of the Emperor’s finest.

Founding and Early Days
After the treachery of Horus and the Traitor Legions at the dawns of the Crusade, when the Imperial Fists split into different Chapters such as the Black Templars and the current Chapter known as the Imperial Fists, another Chapter was created from some of the finest Space Marines in the entire Imperium and Empire. Led by an influential Imperial Fist who went by the name of Sargantanas Eligron and his ambitious lieutenant Anelace Azazel, this new group of old comrades would transform from a normal Space Marine split-off in the Second Founding to one of the greatest Chapters the Imperium had ever known on a propaganda level. However, before the Golden Legion’s rise to success traces its fame to humble beginnings.

Originally, the Golden Legion was so full of prideful members that they had a hard time choosing a planet they could call their own. Two sides emerged with different planets in mind; wise Sargantanas and his supporters wanting a planet known as Nazareth, an idealistic planet reminiscent of Earth, with wide blue oceans and rolling green plains, and Sargantanas’ foremost lieutenant, the ambitious Anelace Azazel and his supporters, wanting the fortress world of Cora Doulas, with its forbidding terrain and ageless fortifications and strategic fortresses. Eventually, the Golden Legion united on taking the planet of Nazareth, on account of its being reminiscent of old Earth; a place they could all call home. Immigrating to the planet, the Golden Legion established the planet as a capital home world for their Chapter, creating several cities for civilian settlers, military bases for the Imperial Guard to establish a presence, and of course training academies and small, magnificent city for the Golden Legion, known as Athens. Dozens of officials of Administratum also appeared, doing something unheard of with other Chapters; making propaganda for the Imperium's countless billions of armies and forces.

The first few years went by without much incident on Nazareth for the Golden Legion; propaganda here, defend planet there, all in between establishing and solidifying a presence on Nazareth. However, it would become apparent that two years of establishing a presence and no combat for the Golden Legion had made them rather lax in their duty to the Imperium, and they viewed the Imperial Guard and the civilians of Nazareth with growing enmity and annoyance. Their code of conduct and honor grew lax, and as time went on evidence surfaced that the Golden Legion internally was not the propaganda Chapter that it had been made up to be by the Inquisition. The first major warzone the Golden Legion was sent to would be the dirtiest war in moral terms ever fought by any Golden Legionnaire. It was Cora Doulas, one of the original planets considered for habitation. Sent by the Empire to control the situation, the Golden Legion quickly found that the war could not be won. The Imperial Guard already stationed was being virtually overrun at every turn by hordes of endless orcs endlessly smashing the Guard’s tiny perimeter at the end of a series of fortifications, and it was obvious to the Golden Legion’s area commander Anelac Azazel with his morally ambiguous common sense and cleverness that it would be better to avoid the fight altogether, return to orbit, trick the Imperial Fleet Commander by telling him the Imperial Guard was overrun completely, and raze the planet from orbit. Telling the Imperial Commissar-Colonel on the ground that they would return from the fleet with more Space Marines to turn the tide, Azazel quickly evacuated his Space Marines after only a few weeks battle, tricked the Imperial Fleet Commander, and completely razed the planet from orbit with the numerous fleets opposite the orc fleet on orbit opposite the other side of the planet. The Imperial Guardsmen, still numbering several dozen thousand, perished as the fleet burned their entire area, along with the enemy orc brigades fighting them, as did the numerous nomad refugees seeking refuge in their former ravaged home.

This marked the beginning of a series of questionable victories for the Golden Legion, although they did actually crush enemy numbers with fighting occasionally. Morality became the least amongst Azazel’s concerns as he slowly usurped power from an aging Sargantanas, who had basically relegated his status to that of an Elder along with other senior Golden Legionnaires. As Azazel grew in power, so did the Golden Legion’s skewed morality concept, which Azazel described as “winning by any means necessary.” To the others, this meant nothing; they were Space Marines, and they followed orders to the letter. Morality’s skewed sense in the Golden Legion even became a Tenet at the behest of Azazel to his Elders, chief among them Sargantanas. The Inquisition took a blind eye to the Golden Legion’s actions, many of which the Inquisition investigated because of inconsistencies in action reports; of course, these were thrown out the window. Who would ever try to arrest Space Marines, much less one of the “Propaganda-Perfect” Chapters? No one would dare. The Golden Legion would continue its antics, all the while its own Elders oblivious to what was happening.

Twenty years after the founding of the Golden Legion, Anelace Azazel formally took control of the Golden Legion in another ruse, spreading suspicion that Sargantanas and the other Elders had been tainted by the Warp. Holding so much influence, it was all too easy for Azazel, who in theory seemed almost tainted himself, to initiate a take-over underneath a surface level that claimed righteousness in the name of the Emperor to weed out traitors. His plan into effect, Azazel and his dumb-struck Space Marine followers cast out the Elders, since it was forbidden in the Tenets to kill another member, lest the punishment be death. With Sargantanas out of the picture and Sargantanas’ son firmly on a leash of stupidity and deceit, Azazel assumed complete control, installing his own young followers into the Elders Council and completely taking control of the Golden Legion. The Golden Legion was now a paradox of shades; the shining example of the Throne’s Chapters, and an underlying web of deceit and control that battled with the easiest means possible.

The Nazarene Campaign, the Second War of Cora Doulas, and Battles of Note
Sometime in M32 after the Golden Legion had consolidated itself, seers and oracles, all of them associated members of the Golden Legion, began sensing the presence of the Warp and Chaos coming. Of course, Azazel was doubtful.Nazareth had since become a military world; a tale of two cities, splitting with both the civilian areas, and the military bases and Athens, the magnificent, albeit small, city of the Golden Legion. In it's prime, Azazel saw the Golden Legion as invincible, destroyers of Chaos and Guardians of the Throne, on a par to compete with the Adeptus Custodes. Who would try to destroy and invade one of the most well protected planets in Imperial Space, much less the home world of a Space Marine Chapter and countless Imperial Guard units? The Emperor's Children, that's who. Rumors that the traitor legion were surfacing for another run at their brothers in the Imperium became legion in numbers. Of course, Azazel saw this as complete rubbish, and refused to prepare for the inevitable; the desolation and razing of his home world planet. None the less, the Emperor's Children Legion came, fresh from an inter-traitor war inside the Eye of Terror. Numerous warbands in numbers far greater than the Golden Legion came, supported by thousands of thousands of slave warriors supplied with crude daemon weapons of all sorts. The fleet above Nazareth, having been reduced to a small size because of the large amount of Space Marines away at the time, was annihilated as the Emperor's Children, led by their daemonic possessed commanders, led the massive attack on the planet, intent on the complete obliteration of their former comrades in arms.

In the first few hours, dozens of cities and Imperial Guard regiments were reduced to dust and blood, and the planet reeked of burning flesh and crushed bones. The Golden Legion, most of their brothers away on missions for the Imperium, were all but powerless to stop the numerous slave warriors and their rulers, the Emperor's Children, as they burned the planet for weeks on end. Struggling to maintain contact with the other Golden Legionnaires off planet and the few Imperial Guard units still remaining, Azazel finally consolidated his forces after suffering of his grievous mistake, regrouping them in the magnificent fortress city of Athens, with it's numerous golden buildings and silver and marble statues and foundations, all created by the Golden Legion. By this time, Nazareth had become a barren wasteland on almost fifty percent of it's surface, having been razed by the Emperor's Children. Frantically, a distress signal was sent as the Golden Legion and it's few remaining Imperial Guard units prepared for inevitable. Imperial Fleets, hundreds of light-years away, were helpless as the city of Athens became a place of siege and of death and destruction. The city's numerous magnificent structures were reduced to rubble as urban combat, which the Golden Legion excelled at, decimated the numerous slave warriors and a good number of Emperor's Children. However, it was obvious the battle was lost from the beginning. Azazel and his men, low on supplies and ammunition, eventually did a sound strategic decision, and escaped aboard their few fleet ships on the ground, abandoning the Imperial Guard and the city of Athens to it's fate, as well as the cracked earthen planet of Nazareth. Having no qualms about leaving the Imperial Guard, Azazel's heart rang out to having failed his Emperor in saving a Chapter's home world; his home world, formerly home to thousands upon thousands, and most importantly, the Golden Legion. With no place to go, Azazel led his fleet away, broken and self-degraded, gathering the dozens or so Golden Legionnaires away on missions, and headed for a new planet, one with strategy in mind: Cora Doulas, the sights of dozens of wars, a former choice for habitation, and a fortress world all the same. Seizing the planet in the middle of the war, the Space Marines assisted the Imperial forces in the area, as well as another Space Marine Chapter, in removing the Blood Pact from the planet.

The war lasted for several years, and was bloody, tiring, and gruesome. The Golden Legion slowly became more and more tired of fighting on the planet for decades on end, never tiring to fight on for another planet they could call their own. Few Golden Legionnaires fell before the Chaos-worshiping before the horde, yet it took it's toll on the loyal Chapter. Continents were razed, Imperial Guardsmen and Blood Pact Warriors fell by the hundreds, and the Golden Legion, at the end of each day, would stand at the top of the hill, waving Power Swords and Banners, with mounds of corpses at their feet and spent ammunition casings spread around them. The Golden Legion continued to toil away at the enemy, with Imperial Guardsmen at their backs and hordes of friendly tanks and artillery. Eventually, the Golden Legion had eradicated the Blood Pact threat from Cora Doulas, with small pockets remaining. With the threat eradicated, the Golden Legion seized a new world; one not of rolling green plains and monuments to excess, but of intimidating fortresses and deadly fortifications of all types. Quickly putting their Blood Pact prisoners and the local populace sects who had supported them to work, the Golden Legion set about creating a marble-white castle, like something out of fantasy legends. However, this castle would not be anything of the like. It would be several miles longs, with bunkers, and massive walls and turrets and all sorts of fortifications. The process, taking several dozen years and costing countless prisoners their lives, would create a new fortress so spectacular in might that it would rival the former golden city of Athens. The city fortress would be named Athens, as a tribute to a Golden Legion city that had been destroyed during it's earliest days by the Alpha Legion in a different, albeit still massive surprise attack. Although Athens was made for propaganda and military purposes, Sparta became the opposite; a giant, hulking, military-minded fortress, teeming with Imperial Guardsmen and the Golden Legion's numerous Brother-Knights, Captains, Apothecaries, Chaplains, and other numerous Golden Legion affiliates and Legionnaires. The Golden Legion had repeated it's cycle; karma had come to bite it in the ass, and now it had been forced again to rise to an apex that had tirelessly been achieved before in Nazareth, in the magnificent golden city of Athens.

Some other famous Battles of Note other than these and the Black Crusades include the Genocides at Mecca. Once a beautiful city on Nazareth, Mecca was decimated when the Emperor's Children invaded. In what can be called one of the few notes of pleasure for the Golden Legion during the Nazarene Campaign, Mecca became the site of two massacres. The first was of hundreds of civilians; the second, of several hundred Emperor's Children Space Marines. Ambushing the latter in a very rare offensive moment during the campaign, the Golden Legion consider this an actual massacre rather than a battle. Ambushing the Emperor's Children as they passed through a pivotal point in the city, the Golden Legion used mass flamers, dreadnoughts, and other heavy duty equipment all in one massive attack, gambling everything to slow down the enemy. The attack worked; when the remains were stripped of their equipment, several hundred burned, tainted corpses remained, branded with an excommunicate symbol on their toasted necks. Other major attacks during the 32nd Millennium include the Siege, Cairn's Fortress, and Block Three-Oh-Four, all of which hold massive places of honor in the Golden Legion's history.

The Black Crusades and California Zero-Nine's disappearance
The Golden Legion has the distinction of fighting in every single Black Crusade with the exception of 7th and 10th Black Crusades, where both the Blood Angels and Iron Hands suffered heavy defeats during their heroic fighting, much to the dismay of the Golden Legion and all of the other Loyalist Chapters. The Golden Legion also fought during the Gothic War, or 12th Black Crusade, with distinction commended even by some of the High Lords of Terra, most likely for the Golden Legion's propaganda value, if not their skills and services in combat to the Imperium. However many enemies and Chaos Space Marines the Golden Legion killed however, was not enough to prevent the capture and destruction of the remaining known Blackstone Fortresses, which either fell prey to Abbadon's guns or to his crews. Still, the Golden Legion continued to fight on with a heavy ferocity in their will, although they knew that every time a Black Crusade took place, Space Marines were bound to die (the Golden Legion did not care for civilians or Imperial Guard).

In the year 999.M41, Abbadon the Despoiler had again reunited the forces of Chaos for another run at the Cadian Gate, the area of peace and calm before the Eye of Terror. At around the time that Abbadon began his crazed attack, the Golden Legion had been consolidating. Of course, news of the attack on Cadian space reached the Golden Legion just as the combat began. With other Space Marine Chapters, the majority of the Golden Legion, almost fifteen companies, left with Admiral Quarren's traveling fleet, leaving two companies behind to maintain the undermanned fortress city of Sparta. At the onset of the battle, the Golden Legion was amongst the first on the ground, along with numerous Imperial Guard Regiments and other Chapters. What devastation the Golden Legion came upon could not be any worse. The situation on Cadia was one of despair, although in space and air, the Imperium had dominated the battlefield. The same, however, could not be said in useless bravado for the ground situation. Legion in number, the forces of Chaos under Abbadon the Despoiler ravaged the planet, nearly seizing 75% of it's surface and ravaging much more with their careless evil. Immediately deployed to the battle field, the Golden Legion fought alongside numerous Chapters, such as the Grey Knights and Dark Angels, in attempting to fight a losing battle. However, it could not be helped. Outnumbered by the thousands, the Golden Legion was forced back time and time again after killing and maiming thousands of enemies, often going through large amounts of ammunition and losing a few Brothers at each battle from the Chaso Traitor Space Marines who fought in Legions against them.

Eventually, the tides had turned for the Imperium's favor. Countless Chaos fleet ships wavered and fell under the increased pressure of both Battle Group Solar and Battle Group Gothic, and support in the form of new reinforcements, tanks, artillery, and supplies aided the Golden Legion greatly. Taking the lead amongst the numerous Loyalist Chapters, the Golden Legion began to move on the offensive, although having suffered heart-wrenching losses at the hands of Abbadon and his Black Legionnaires, the opposites of the Golden Legionnaires and all they stood for. The fighting vicious, the bloodshed gruesome; it made no difference to the Golden Legion. Led by the Emperor's guiding hand, the Golden Legion continued to smash away, crushing all opposition before finally stopping when the line had become too thin. How the tables had turned; with Abbadon's army cornered and their fleet destroyed, the Golden Legion began to put into action the most crazed offensive ever devised by a Space Marine Chapter, although large parts of Cadia remained under Chaos control. With continual reinforcements flowing, half of the Golden Legion's deployed companies on Cadia withdrew to help with other situations in Imperial space, leaving some of their Brothers to continue serving with distinction.

Around the same time as the 13th Black Crusade, the Gold Rush unit, known as California Zero-Nine was sent over Nazareth with several other fleet ships to stop a new Chaos attempt at seizing the burned and cracked world. As the fleet reached the relatively few Chaos ships, it became known that these bore the markings of the Emperor's Children, sworn enemies and rivals of the Golden Legion. Their Chaplain giving the order, California Zero-Nine pursued one of the remaining ships in the relatively short battle as they fled through Imperial Space, entering the Eye of Terror. The band of eleven, now known as the Lost, entered after them; most likely, this was a trap. Although they would resurface later on, this particular unit of Californians would not be the same as they had been when they disappeared. Their minds would return tainted by chaos, and with the Chaos Gods blessing, they would return, their feral nature gone, their bodies enhanced, and their hunger for their former comrades and the Emperor increased with a ferocity and zeal unknown in any Chaos Space Marine.

Currently
Several years after Azazel had disposed of the Elders Council and created the puppet rulers cadre in its place, he was killed in action on one of many numerous campaigns to liberate the fortress world of Jago from the Blood Pact. Having groomed a successor out of his many followers’ gene seeds, a line of Azazel’s corrupt, “righteous” Space Marines have ruled ever since his and his subsequent successor’s death. The corrupt virtues that Azazel instilled in a once noble Chapter have guided the Golden Legion ever since his seizure of the Elders Council, although there are some with quiet doubts of the so-called Tenets of the Space Marine Chapter. The Golden Legion is currently split into several groups on different planetary warzones, their skewed moral tactics guiding them to victory no matter what the cost. The current leader is a Space Marine known as Astaran Ironhide, the current High Elder, complete with a skewed version of his code and morality. The Golden Legion still has it's headquarters at Cora Doulas, and about half of it's Space Marines are still fighting the ongoing 13th Black Crusade ground war at Cadia, having support from other Chapters and Admiral Quarren's fleet. The other half have split to either Cora Doulas and home-ward or to other parts of Imperial space to help with the eternal fight.

Tenets and Creeds
1. All shall obey the Elders Council. The Elders Council is the supreme authority on Nazareth and in the Golden Legion, and none shall dis-obey its commands and orders, lest they commit treason against the Emperor’s favored. The Elders Council speaks for the Emperor on Nazareth and in the Golden Legion, and as such commands nobility and respect from every civilian, Imperial Guardsman, Planetary Defense Force Soldier, and Golden Legionnaire.

2. All Golden Legionnaires shall use any means necessary at their disposal in view of morality to fight for the Emperor’s will. His word immobile be done, whether it be by the deaths of ten-thousand Guardsmen or Orks, lest treason be committed. His will be done. Long Live the Throne, no matter what the cost!

3. Let the enemies of the Imperium hear our golden blades and our blood thirsty rifles! Let them cower in fear at the sight of the golden banners flying in the midst, of the endless roars and blood-lusting screams of defiance! Let them know the Emperor’s Hand is outstretched to them, and that it is by no means defiable! Let them tremble at the sight of the giant they walk against! Let them see our crests and know that they fight against the finest; we are the Golden Legion!

Important Members

 * Sargantanas Eligron was a former Imperial Fist Space Marine who became the founding father of the Golden Legion Space Marine Chapter. He was the original Space Marine who conscripted the many former Imperial Fists into the Golden Legion in it's earliest days. A wise Space Marine of many battles in the Crusade, Sargantanas fought against Horus in the war against the Traitor Legions, then as stated subsequently created the Golden Legion. In his oldest days as the Golden Legion's High Elder, Sargantanas was an old coot, a shell of his former self, oblivious to everything around him as Anelace Azazel, his former young apprentice, took control of the entire Chapter. Sargantanas was percieved as tainted by the Warp, and he and the old council were cast out from Nazareth, with Azazel, his former men-tee installing a new councill with himself as High Elder of the Chapter.


 * Anelace Azazel was the former apprentice and men-tee of Sargantanas. A former young Imperial Fist newly inducted at the time of the Horus Heresy, Azazel was one of the lucky few newer Space Marines to be inducted into Sargantanas' new Chapter, just one of many. Very ambitious for his age, Azazel became Sargantanas' right-hand man, doing all of his missions on the front lines, such as the morally skewed mission at Cora Doulas, the fortress world that had originally been considered as an adopted home world. Very ambitious and clever, Azazel created suspicions that Sargantanas and his council had been tainted by the Warp. Forcefully casting them out, Azazel created a new council, amended the Tenets to make it so that any means necessary could be used in the name of the Throne, and set up his gene-seed as the line of successors for future generations along with his installed council members.


 * Astaran Ironhide is the current Chapter Master and High Elder of the Golden Legion. A hardline believer in his predecessors' politics, Astaran believes in the Tenets and the Throne as if he were a Company Chaplain. His skewed morality tells him that winning no matter the cost is always worth it, so long as it does not involve the deliberate taking of an Imperial Space Marine's life. Astaran is a headstrong, bold Space Marine who rules the Golden Legion with an iron fist that can only come from the authority of the Emperor's Hand itself. Astaran, having witnessed the destruction of numerous worlds at the hands of the Warp and Chaos, is committed fully and completely to the Imperium and fighting and destroying it's enemies. His devotion and loyalty cannot afford otherwise, and if need be, he would give his life and those of all the Golden Legion a thousand times ten over again just to see the Emperor live in the material world once again and address his faithful warriors.


 * Ferox Baldur is a grizzled, scarred Golden Legionnaire. One of the oldest since it's creation, Ferox has been around since who knows how long. Ferox has seem so much combat that he has reached his final stages of mental awareness; any older, and he may break from mental decay, although by normal human standards he is still fairly intelligent. Ferox has watched the various wars against Chaos come and go, as with the Elders switching out and the repeated process of watching Brothers die in combat. Ferox just considers himself one of the lucky ones. He wasn't trying to be a hero or survive, for that matter; his purpose was to fight, and he considers himself cursed for having lived this long. Ferox is a senior Elder on the Council with heavy influence, but still does active field duty, having served with mild distinction in the Black Crusades and the Gothic War. Ferox isn't some crazed former hotshot with exceptional combat skills; he's just a washed up Space Marine with a Power Sword on a mission from the Emperor.


 * Kaldrin is the newest addition to the Golden Legion. Just fresh from augmentation and basic training, Kaldrin is a fresh young Space Marine who plans to enjoy prolonged life and deadly combat to the fullest. He looks towards Ferox as his mentor, almost as Azazel felt towards Sargantanas before his secret espionage. Kaldrin serves as Ferox's aide on the field, and as a member of Ferox's personal body-guard unit, Gold Two, so Ferox can groom the boy as a successor so that when he does finally die, Kaldrin will be well-groomed as a chosen heir to his position and well-suited to take his place. Kaldrin is light-hearted and humorous, much to the dismay of the Chapter Master and High Elder, Astaran Ironhide. Kaldrin is a bit naive, and Ferox has had to save him in battle more than once because of his foolish bravado.

Disgraced Members

 * Sargantanas Eligron and the original Elders Council were cast out after after Anelace Azazel ceased control. Spreading suspicion to the various Legionnaires that the council had been tainted by the Warp and the Chaos gods, Azazel continued to spread doubt until he finally rose up in open mutiny, seizing control in a ruse that claimed Sargantanas and the Council to be corrupted. Although the Council was in truth completely fine, they were unable to convince the Golden Legion, and were cast out of the Chapter, whilst Azazel installed himself and a new Council to rule the Golden Legion. Sargantanas and the Council were subsequently exiled to another unknown world, where it is presumed they have remained since until their deaths.

Organization
The Golden Legion is organized into fifteen "Golden Companies," another example of disruption against the Codex Astartes laid out by Roboute Guilliman, Primarch of the Ultramarines. Each Golden Company has an oversized number of Space Marines; about 550 Golden Legionnaires for each Golden Company. All of the Golden Companies have a respective number designation, semblance of the Golden Legion's militarily minded, corrupt society. At any given time, only ten of these Golden Companies may be in active service at any time; the other five are either on Cora Doulas or aboard ships in the Golden Legion's Fleet, above the planet, keeping watch amongst the Imperial crews and living aboard the ships. These Companies are constantly switching roles and positions.

At the top of each Golden Company is a Captain, who takes the place of a commander in the Golden Legion. He leads the Golden Legion in a rigid, military life-style filled with constant training, combat and prayer that fall into a strict schedule. Underneath these Captains are Guardians, a fancy term for Company Champions who serve at the Captain's side. Underneath these are yet again more specialized roles such as the various Librarians, Apothecaries, and Techmarines, although their ranks are superseded by squad commanders. Underneath this are yet the rank and file Golden Legionnaires, who serve in twenty-two man squads that add up to twenty-five man squads in each Company. Generally, there are nine combat-ready Golden Companies at any time, with four Reserve Companies and another Golden Company comprised of Scouts, which tries to follow the Codex Astartes layout in some form. There is not any major diversifying in ranks besides the renaming of Company Champions to Guardians, and some other minor title changes.



Ranks


 * High Elder/ Chapter Master: The High Elder basically assumes the role of Chapter Master. He is the leader of the Elders Council, as well as the commander of the Golden Legion. He rules every aspect of the Golden Legion, from it's members to it's missions, and answers only to the High Lords of Terra. Tradition has passed down from the former High Elder to the next and so forth for several millennia that the High Elder shall never accept an order except from the High Lords, a Primarch (impossible), or the Emperor himself.


 * Elder: These five Elders are the ruling body that assists in running the Golden Legion and seeing that it reaches it's full potential. Each Elder is responsible for three companies, and issues direct orders to them. This effectively breaks up the Chapter into separate units, although each Company maintains their own designation number and call name. If the High Elder is akin to the Emperor, the Elders are the High Elder's Primarchs, although less in number.


 * Captain: The Commanders of each Golden Company. They command with an fearsome prowess in battle and with respectable statutes off the field. Each Captain commands his troops as if they were his sons, and he is responsible for their success or failure, as well as their lives. He is hand-picked by the Elders Council, and generally is egotistical in nature because of the way the Golden Legion shows itself; in this case, as the Emperor's Finest.


 * Guardian: The various Champions of the Golden Companies, these men are the Golden Legion's finest; they represent the best the Golden Legion has to offer in service to his Emperor. They are typically armed with stylized, heavily modified personal equipment, and are extremely skilled warriors, being veterans of many wars over the courses of their lives. They sometimes act as drill instructors or speakers to the Initiates going through basic training and indoctrination.


 * Golden Legionnaire: The rank and file Space Marines of the Golden Legion. They are the finest the Imperium has to offer; years of training and years of battle have honed their skills. Deadly and efficient, these men are deployed all across Imperial space to fight for the Emperor against the forces of Chaos and other threats. They fight with a variety of weapons, and their skills and numbers are endless. They fight with a ferocity unmatched in other Chapters and send fear spiraling into the hearts of their enemies. They are the Golden Legion.

Special Ranks


 * Gold Rusher: Gold Rushers are members of California Zero-Nine, the unit that holds the few in number Golden Legionnaires who have been afflicted with Gold Rush, a special, rare mutation in the Golden Legion. These men are treated with honor and respect before being sent to their deaths on the most dangerous of missions, which spell suicide in their descriptions. These men hope to die before they go completely feral; otherwise, they will be exiled from the Golden Legion into the Warp.


 * Cleric: These are essentially the Chaplains of the Golden Legion. However, there are a few noticeable differences in appearance. Clerics have their Skull-shaped helmets made of golden metal, and their armor, rather than black, is a steel color with golden patches throughout in an organized pattern. Clerics often go into battle directly. leading units alongside the Captains of each Company with a zealous attitude.

Distinguished Units and Other Units

 * Gold Two is the personal company and unit of Ferox Baldur, the senior Elder on the council that rules the Golden Legion. They are all seasoned veterans, although some of them have been replaced by others that had just joined the ranks of the Space Marines. This unit was all but wiped out when the Imperial Palace was attacked, although they fought valiantly in the fifty-five day siege of the Palace. Gold Two, although not named as such at the time, was an Imperial Fist unit, and was among the Space Marines teleported to Horus' war-barge to fight in the Emperor's name and take the initiative. Gold Two also took part in the Great Scouring, fighting on worlds such as Isstvan V, the sight of a heroic, yet tragic Space Marine massacre. Gold Two has all resources they can ever need at their disposal; this includes Mk8 Errant-pattern Power Armor, although many still the Mk7 Aquila-pattern, with the older veterans still even using their heavily modified Mk4 Maximus-pattern Power Armor from the age of Horus. Gold Forty-One is adjoined to Gold Two. In Chapter organization, Gold Two takes the place of First Company.


 * Gold Forty-One is a standard Chapter Company, as well as the largest. It is adjoined with Gold Two as a joint-strike offensive force, and is the most ruthless of all the Companies. It's members have no regard for human-life other than Space Marines and superior officers and officials, and they border on a deadly efficiency only known in the Traitor Legions that have aligned themselves with Chaos and the Eye of Terror. Gold Forty-One's command structure is adjoined with that of Gold Two; this means that Ferox commands both Companies, as well as power on a par to rival the Chapter Master and High Elder, Astaran Ironhide. Gold Forty-One is fiercely loyal to Ferox Baldur, just as Gold Two is. Both companies' Space Marines would jump off a mile high bridge if Ferox said it would please him. Gold Forty-One is the only Company besides Gold Two to be mobilized at all times, at the behest of the Elders, who wish not to see a repeat of Nazareth. In Chapter organization, Gold Forty-One takes the place of Second Company, although it is technically commanded by the same officers of Gold Two.


 * Gold Three-Seventy-Five w/ The Order of Nazareth is a special unit inside Sparta that maintains the fortress as it's protectors and guardians. This unit of Space Marines is also directly responsible for protecting the Elders Council and the Chapter Master/ High Elder, Astaran Ironhide. This unit comprises some of the most elite Space Marines in the entire Golden Legion outside of Gold Two and Gold Forty-One, and it is the only static Company; it rarely, if ever foes on missions outside of Cora Doulas besides putting down rebellions and warring with Chaos remnants on the Golden Legion's home world. Gold Three-Seventy-Five is comprised of only the most fanatical and zealous Space Marines in the Golden Legion. Amongst Gold Three-Seventy-Five are the Order of Nazareth, members of the Golden Legion who fought at Nazareth when it was razed by the Emperor's Children and their disgusting daemon spawn legions. The Order of Nazareth stand ever vigilant at Sparta's walls, their vigil a common reminder that foolishness no longer has a place in the Golden Legion. In Chapter organization, Gold Three-Seventy-Five takes the place of Third Company, and is under the personal control of the Chapter Master/ High Elder and Elders Council.


 * Gold Fifty-Seven is the mechanized branch of the Golden Legion. Complete with it's own non-combat support staff, the members of Gold Fifty-Seven are extremely proficient with all transports and vehicles currently in use by the Imperium. Although this can be said for every Golden Legionnaire, these men have been especially selected for excelling in vehicular combat and duty or during basic training and indoctrination. They generally use Land Raider Redeemers and Terminus Ultras, Razorbacks, and various Dreadnoughts and walkers of all types. Being one of the picture poster units that double as veteran strike forces, these Golden Legionnaires get access to top grade equipment just like their infantry counterparts. Gold Fifty-Seven has appeared in several propaganda posters using Land Raider Terminus Ultras, a testament to their importance to the Imperium as part of the Golden Legion.


 * California Zero-Nine is the small unit that, much like the Blood Angel's Death Company, has been afflicted with an incurable Chapter mutation; in this case, "Gold Rush." While their sanity remains, these men are sent as Shock Troops on suicidal missions. They are held in the highest esteem that one can be respected with in the Golden Legion. For California Zero-Nine and the rest of the Chapter, it is imperative that these men die in battle, for it goes against the Tenets that they be killed by their own Brothers. California Zero-Nine is a very small unit, since the mutation only affects one in every one-hundred Golden Legionnaires. California Zero-Nine has become comprised of many different Brothers throughout the centuries and millenia. Their names are held in the records in honor of their sacrifices and in recognition of their fates. Their deeds are also recorded, as if their lives, unlike standard Golden Legionnaires. All the members of California Zero-Nine are indoctrinated as soon as their symptoms become apparent, and they usually die within the first few weeks of their draftment into California Zero-Nine. The most recent unit that has gone under the name disappeared after pursuing a Chaos Space Marine ship into the Eye of Terror during a space battle over Nazareth, the Golden Legion's former home world. Eventually, they would re-surface, but not as the Golden Legion had remembered them.



Disgraced Units

 * The Lost were a Gold Rush afflicted group of Golden Legionnaires that pursued a Chaos Space Marine ship into the Eye of Terror at the behest of their Chaplain, knowing it to be a suicide mission. Disappearing for almost a decade, this particular California Zero-Nine unit came back... as Chaos Space Marines serving Khorne in the form of a warband. Their Chaplain missing, it was obvious that they had betrayed the Golden Legion, tainted by Chaos and the Warp. Their feral symptoms gone and their mutations enhanced, the small warband comprised of giants by Space Marine standards terrorized planets in the name of Khorne until they were finally brought down by mutiny, with an addition of pressure by the Golden Legion. The warband self-destructed, and all information in the Golden Legion's archives on these Space Marines were erased at the behest of the High Lords of Terran, speaking for the Emperor himself. With the removal of their records, the only rememberance that the Lost received is amongst the Space Marines who once served with them, the forces of Chaos and the High Lords of Terra. It is rumored that maybe one of the Lost survived their last battle, but this has been dismissed by the Legionnaires as speculation.

Distinct Mutations
As with all Space Marine Chapters, the Golden Legion has developed a few distinct mutations only found in it's gene-seed. These are very strange mutations, as with all other mutations known amongst the Space Marine Chapters loyal to the Imperium. However, the Golden Legion is one of the most mutation-diverse Chapters in the Space Marine Legions, boasting several minor mutations. Generally, Golden Legionnaires are not just golden in their armor color. Their skin has become a tainted golden hew, light in color and shining with direct contact in the sun of any system. Golden Legionnaires also have slight golden brown eyes, another testament to their skin deformation. A Golden Legionnaire's skin also contains increased amounts of melanin and is highly resistant to UV Photons, although preventing sunburn or not having a lot of sunlight absorption isn't a major advantage or weakness respectively on the battlefield. The Golden Legion's Space Marines also generally have brown hair conversion once the gene-seed has taken place in new recruits. As such, it seems that, except for a select few cases, almost every Golden Legionnaire has brown hair, and apart from their faces, could be mistaken for a clone. Others simply opt for different styles of hair, or go for the "Bald is beautiful" look. However, since the buzz and crew cut is popular, it is hard to mistake Brother from Brother. Another object of note is that the Golden Legion, like it's mother Legion and Chapter, the Imperial Fists, has the lost the ability to spit corrosive acid.

The Golden Legion, besides these mutations, also has one major mutation. Much like other Chapters, the Golden Legion has a very rare condition that affects very few of it's members. Called "Gold Rush," it affects one in every one-hundred Golden Legionnaires. The condition causes the Legionnaire to become feral, losing all sanity. His ability to speak slowly disappears, and his mind goes down the flusher eventually. However, the affected Legionnaire's muscles grow in size and strength, and his skeleton becomes as hard as adamantium. His face becomes gaunt, the skin wrapping around his face and shaping in the exact form of his skull, giving him an appearance akin to a Pharaoh's golden casket, except in the shape of a skull. In this way, these Space Marines become golden mummies, essentially, appearing as hulking, undead forms of themselves. Their pain unbearable, these Space Marines, much like the Death Company of the Blood Angels, are formed into a single unit, albeit much smaller than the size of the Death Company. This group, known as California Zero-Nine, is sent into battle repeatedly as shock troopers, hoping that they may die in service to the Imperium while they can still think coherent thoughts. Symptoms of Gold Rush include nausia, increased golden pigmentation, blackened hair and crisp golden eyes, and inability to create or speak intelligently.

Planets and Systems under Golden Legion Control
The Golden Legion, much likes the Ultramarines, controls several planets in a region of space, known collectively as "Bespin," in the Eastern Fringes. The capital, of course, is the Golden Legion's home world of Cora Doulas, and there are several Chapter-Keeps spread out on the remaining planets of Bespin. The system, much like Utramar, is constantly under attack by Tau, Tyranids, and other xenos species.


 * Cora Doulas: This fortress world serves as the Golden Legion's Fortress-Monastery. It a desolate, hardy world with an unknown population. Located in the Eastern Fringes, Cora Doulas has been hit with wars countless times by an advanced indigenous species known as the Krall. These reptilian fighters are constantly being put in submissions by Imperial Forces, who occupy the Krall's magnificent fortresses. The Fortress-Monastery of the Golden Legion here is known as Sparta.


 * Nazareth: Once a proud Golden Legion planet in it's early days, this planet was razed and destroyed in a surprise attack by the Emperor's Children Chaos Space Marine Legion, which caught the Golden Legion with it's pants down. The entire planet, a picture-perfect colony world with a giant population, is now completely devoid of life except for an Imperial Legion task force which monitors Nazareth's nearby moons, most of which are occupied by Chaos forces. [DESTROYED]


 * Hrone: The location of a Chapter-Keep for the Golden Legion, they draw recruits from this snowy world, known for it's hardy humans and harsh conditions of living. A planet rich in minerals, it also doubles as an arms manufacturing world, and the Golden Legion constantly receives supplies from the arms companies in exchange for protection, since their presence deters invasion from most enemy forces. Hrone has been the Golden Legion's closest thing to a second home.


 * Pacifica: Another location for a Chapter-Keep, this world is typified by violent oceans and high elevated land masses from which the populace lives in constant fear that they will be flooded. The Golden Legion occupies the highest point on the planet, fairly safe from the rolling, deadly oceans. Pacifica has been invaded by Tyranids several times, but it has never fallen due to the presence of the Golden Legion, which more than doubles as the deciding factor in battles.


 * Eclipse: This is yet the third location of a Chapter-Keep. Half of the planet is in eternal darkness, typified by snowless, yet extremely cold rocky peaks and mountains. The dark side of the planet is occupied by Crawlers, deadly indigenous six-legged arachnids that are constantly probing the border, which is eternally guarded by Imperial Guard Regiments that have beaten off what could be called several large organized attacks. This is the Golden Legion's second largest source of arms and ammunition for their Crusades.


 * Orion: The moon of the planet Eclipse, this is a major naval base owned by the Golden Legion and it's affiliate Imperial Guard and Fleet forces. Bristling with defenses and ships of all types, this base is also occupied by numerous other Imperial Forces and Space Marine Chapters that are constantly arriving and leaving to stage offensives or counter-attacks. There is a Chapter-Keep located near the center of the major naval base clusters; however, no recruiting takes place as Orion is strictly military.

Medals and Honors

 * Golden Seal: The highest honor a Golden Legionnaire can earn. This medal is awarded for going far beyond what the call of duty requires, persevering in the face of overwhelming odds, or saving numerous lives and risking oneself in a deadly situation. Very few Golden Legionnaires have earned this medal, and only one unit, Gold Two, has earned it as a unit citation and honor. It is extremely rare, and is usually awarded in a post-humous state.


 * Golden Cross: The second highest honor given to Golden Legionnaire, this has signified that the Space Marine in question has served with notable and honorable distinction. He has killed more corrupted brothers than his comrades could ever hope to decimate. He has shown that he is devoted to his Emperor, and has signified through his actions that he is, in both name and body, a Golden Legionnaire.


 * Helix of Nazareth: This is a service medal dedicated to those who have fought at Nazareth. Although of those men are now long since dead, these medals have been passed down to Space Marines who have shown exemplary service to the Golden Legion in some way, shape or form. There are approximately seven of these medals, with four of them lost to rogue traders who looted battlefields. Being rare, they fetch a high price. The Golden Legion has since tried to regain these medals back for their archives.


 * Azazel's Helm: The power armor helmet originally worn by Anelace Azazel, this Mk5 Heresy-pattern helmet is moved every decade to a different company that shown the most dedication and effective performance in the name of the Emperor. The helmet is one of the most sacred of all objects in the Golden Legion's possession. It still shines brighter than any other Golden Legionnaire's helm, a constant reminder that none have achieved Azazel's level of devotion to the Emperor.

Style and Equipment
Experts with close and mid-range weapons, the Golden Legion are elitists in ground and urban combat, as well as ship boarding and ship combat. Long-range training is taught, but it is not a specialty of the Golden Legion, nor will it ever be or ever has been. Golden Legionnaires generally avoid Long-range combat styles anyway, since there are much more instances in combat where Golden Legion squads fight up close and personal. CQC combat is an art that Golden Legionnaires have perfected over the years, although with their skewed moral battle tactics they hardly use their proficient skills. Generally, Golden Legionnaires are high above average compared to other Chapters in ground/urban/ship boarding combat, and a bit below average concerning long-range tactics and training. This is very strange, considering that the Imperial Fists, whom the Golden Legion is descended from, preferred long-range combat and siege warfare.

The Golden Legion prefers and teaches the use of power and chainsaw melee weapons, along with flamers and various bolt weapons. Golden Legionnaires have a history of using solid weapons that either hit physically or shoot physical projectiles. Las-weapons are frowned upon in the Golden Legion, simply for their flaky reliability and the fact that the weapons previously mentioned have a history of service with the Golden Legion since its creation, although lasweapons are rarely used. Power Swords still remain the universal weapon that signifies the Golden Legion, being used as combat and ceremonial weapons, and every Golden Legionnaire hand crafts his own Power Sword or inherits one from his former gene seed holder, if his weapon was retrieved from the time of his death by an Apothecary or allied Golden Legionnaire.

The Golden Legion uses standard Space Marine Power Armor (several variants), made of ceramite and various metals. Every Golden Legionnaire’s armor is colored stark gold, with a carbon-grey trim that looks like darkened steel. Visor eye slits are colored steel gray, and officers have dark blue eye slits as to minimize the chance that the enemy may identify leaders amongst the Golden Legion by armor markings, much as many enemies do with Imperial Guard commanders. The Golden Legion’s colors are very reminiscent of the Imperial Fists, the Space Marine Chapter from which the Golden Legion claims its heritage. Armor Insignia includes the Symbol of the Golden Legion, a Power Sword with Terra in front of it's blade, on the pauldrons, with the Imperial Double-Headed Eagle on the front of the armor. Concerning armor variants, standard Golden Legionnaires generally use Mk7 Aquila-pattern Power Armor, but also use other variants, some dating back to the Great Crusade that are in use as "hand me downs." Many Golden Legionnaires commonly use Mk6 Corvus-pattern Power Armor instead of Mk7. The most common appearance is what is called "Golden Legion Configuration Power Armor," which uses various parts from several power armor suits combined.

Bolter weapons in use among the Golden Legion include the standard .998 Godwyn-pattern Bolter. However, every Golden Legionnaire is heavily encouraged to modify their standard issue Boltgun, with others modifying their own Heavy Bolters and Storm Bolters. Generally, Golden Legionnaires carry Standard Bolt ammunition, Kraken Penetrator ammunition, and Metal Storm Frag ammunition on their person into combat, usually with extra bandoliers. They do not carry any other types of ammunition. Generally, the Golden Legion does not use las-weapons of any type, having a preference to the ballistic weaponry they find so comforting and familiar. However, the Golden Legion does maintain a small stock-pile of lasweapons, in case of one day where their power swords and bolters will be ineffective. The Golden Legion also stockpiles numerous autoguns for use against weaker enemy forces, along with a few stub weapons; namely, stub revolvers. Weapons are generally colored stark white or gold.

Although the Golden Legion generally acts as a close range infantry strike force, they do maintain a vehicle force, complete with non-combat support staff to service their vehicles, although they do on occasion work on mechanical issues with their transportation. In terms of mechanized skills, all Golden Legionnaires are extremely proficient with all tanks and transports currently in use by the Imperium. The mechanized Gold Fifty-Seven is the vehicular branch of the Golden Legion. They generally use Land Raider Redeemers and Terminus Ultras, Razorbacks, and various Dreadnoughts and walkers. Since the Golden Legion doubles as an excellent strike force and a picture poster unit, these Space Marines also have access to the newest in equipment that the Imperium can cough up.