The Red Brotherhood Background Part 1

The Red Brotherhood

The Red Brotherhood Space Marine chapter was formed during the second-founding, branching off from the Imperial Fists in the 31^st Millennium, by order of the great Rogal Dorn. Thousands of years later they still share many of the same traits as the Imperial Fists, such as a fervent loyalty to the Emperor, mastery of siege craft and tactics, and expertise with bolt weaponry. The Red Brotherhood and Imperial Fists have been known to campaign together during times of the darkest threats against the galaxy, when the Empire of Man is in the greatest of peril, and have retained close ties since their separation.  

The Red Brotherhood was tasked by the Emperor with the defense of the Laygus Sector, comprised of 14 populated words in 8 solar systems. The prized jewels of the sector are without a doubt Xhorik Prime, the planet nearest the star Yitus, in the Xhorik System, and Carthage, the only planet of the Gurdigav System. A hundred years ago, Occular would be included among the finest of planets in the sector as well, but the once bustling planet of mega-cities has since been abandoned after its complete devastation from Waaaggh! Zuffskull.

 Carthage, the home planet of the Red Brotherhood, is an immense planet with red skies circling a giant red star. The planet is a major industrial center and ship-building yard, constructing the great battle barges traveling through space, down to the reliable lasguns carried by the common Imperial Guardsman. Carthage has topography of harsh mountains and valleys, rich with natural resources to fuel the engines of the factories. The most prized resource of the sector is Kleinhaurker, an ore and gas needed for creating the strongest metals known to man, and is vital to the plates covering Land Raider tanks, battleships, and suites of Terminator Armor, but which is only available in large quantities from the planet Xhorik Prime. Carthage has had a symbiotic relationship with Xhorik Prime for millennia, serving as its protector and overseeing all mining contracting there. A garrison of Red Brotherhood Space Marines is stationed at the Thorrosin, a fortress-monastery on Xhorik, and have kept a constant watch over the planet for thousands of years, except for the final few days of Waaaggh! Zuffskull, when the entire military presence on the planet was exterminated.

The Red Brotherhood train potential new recruits on a small moon rotating around Carthage named Zelchhound, which has such brutal conditions that before their arrival it was considered uninhabitable by man. The moon offers a slightly poisonous atmosphere containing too much nitrogen for normal lungs to process and new recruits who have yet to complete their transformation to full Space Marines must wear a breathing apparatus if they are outside for longer than a few minutes. The moon alters between extreme heat and cold every 8 hours and will freeze a normal man’s flesh in a short time during the dark periods, and can blister and burst uncovered skin during the light periods. The Brotherhood takes recruits from around the Laygus Sector to this hell-moon for their initiation, and it is widely believed that 4 out of 5 die during the brutal training.

The primary enemies of the Laygus Sector, and therefore the Red Brotherhood, are the Orks and the Tyrannids, which whom they have clashed with on numerous occasions over the years, as well as occasional heretics, raiders and Chaos insurrections. Four times over the millennia great Hive Fleets have drifted into or near the Sector, and three times powerful Ork Waaghs! pierced the calm skies of Laygus. In fact, once in the history of the Red Brotherhood both Ork and Tyrannid invasions came at the same time, resulting in one of the grimmest times of the Chapter, when fully half of the battle brothers were lost. This time of great sacrifice and loss has since been known as The Dark Hour, with the victory over the vile enemies of man and the following years of rebuilding known as The Reawakening.