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Like many of the chapters, the Way Watchers and Goliaths were created with the sole intention to combat the greater evil. Both chapters were founded in recent time with the purpose of defending the planets closest and must vulnerable to the Eye of Terror. The Way Watchers were founded first, basing their principles more on the mastery of the warp to help combat against the mental invasions that daemons were known for. Led by an enclave of librarians the Way Watchers remained stoic and managed to survive the many dangers and intense mental stress that was put upon them. Other chapters had been founded for the same reason though they often did not survive for long, being overrun or destroyed from within. There had even been a couple of chapters that were destroyed by the inquisition. Then the Goliaths arrived.
At first both Way Watcher and Goliath fought together in silence, working together if need be but otherwise keeping to themselves. The Goliaths were big and strong, like walls against the enemy. They did not have librarians of their own though they did not oppose or complain about the powers wielded by the Way Watchers and a mutual trust formed between them. This trust bloomed over time as other chapters were destroyed or removed from the front line and the Goliaths and Way Watchers continued to fight together. During one particular action a company of Way Watchers led by Chief Librarian Auros, chapter master of the Way Watchers, was caught between a powerful psionic storm that threatened to spill daemons and a small army of Night Lords. The librarian and his apprentices were forced to focus their attention at keeping the cracks sealed as the remainder of the squad continued to fight off hundreds of Night Lords chaos marines. Things looked grim as the fighting lasted for more than a day before the closest Goliath company could intercept. For a chapter that was known for their silence and defensive nature they charged and howled like the crazed Space Wolves. Led by the Bull Master Markus, chapter master of the Goliaths, the small company punched through the Night Lords, buying the Way Watchers some much needed time. Soon the Goliaths were surrounded but their defiance could still be heard over the sounds of battle. In that short amount of time Auros had managed to seal off the crack in reality for a time, letting him turn his attention back to the battle at hand. Even with the swarm of Night Lords all around Auros could still see the large, terminator armour clad, frame of Markus cutting down Night Lords with the big double headed axe that the Goliaths seemed to favor. With a cry of vengeance Auros summoned a purifying flame, scorching and melting the night Lords closest, the blue flames spewing from his hand like a flamethrower. As the storm cleared reinforcements arrived from orbit, both Goliath and Way Watcher drop pods rained down to add their support. The battle-craze that seemed to have taken over Markus and his company seemed to have ended and they resumed their usual stoic nature. As the battle ended both Markus and Auros shared a nod of respect for each other. Without a word being spoken, the two chapters became as close as battle brothers could and Way Watchers clasped hands with Goliaths.
Soon after the incident the inquisition had arrived with concern for chief librarian Auros after being exposed to the powers of chaos for such a long period of time. If it had not been for Markus' vouch for the Way Watcher, and the impressive battle-ready force he had brought to greet the inquisitors, Auros and his chapter would have been disbanded or at worst destroyed completely. Both Auros and Markus worked closer together from that point on, relying on each others strengths to reinforce the weaknesses each chapter possessed. However as time passed Auros could not ignore the whispers in his head any longer. They had started shortly after Markus' had charged to his rescue and were getting louder with every passing day. At first they seemed like signs from the Emperor Himself, prophetic visions that had save lives on small skirmishes and had found several chaos cult locations. Auros had always been adept in the arts of telepathy and so these visions were not questioned by the other librarians in the council. In the same regard Markus of the Goliaths could not shake that blood boiling sensation he had felt on that charge. It had been the first time the Goliaths had ever uttered a war cry and charged with such reckless abandon. He had spoken of it with his closest bretheren as a feeling of freedom and excitement, somehow enhancing the elation of cleaving heads from their bodies. Those that had been with him during that charge felt the same and Markus made a point to re-write the battle doctrines implored by the Goliaths to encourage these wild charges more often.
As time passed Auros felt his powers becoming stronger, conjuring flames with ease even though he had never shown any aptitude with pyromancy when he had first been trained. He had even evaporated some of his own battle brethren without heed or care. Even stranger was that the companies of Way Watchers that suffered such losses didn't seem to mind either. They all seemed to share the same passivity of their chief librarian. At the same time Markus and his Goliaths took the fight to the enemy, becoming battle crazed as they adorned themselves in the bones of their enemies. They would charge whenever possible and cared not for the losses they suffered from such mindless actions. When questioned they simply claimed to have changed from the Emperor's shield to His sword.
It was the Way Watchers that turned first. Upon the arrival of the inquisition for the third time, instead of waiting patiently Auros and the Way Watchers opened fire, bolter rounds with a blue aura cut through armor and the powers wielded by the librarians made sure that nothing from the orbiting fleet survived. When Markus heard of this treachery he led his Goliaths against the Way Watchers, and against Auros whom he had loved like a brother. the two chapters fought each other for a time though the chaos gods pulled all the strings. As the Goliaths killed they became berserk, some of them coating themselves in the blood of Way Watchers to the point where the usually dark green armor became a thick red. The blue flames that the Way Watchers summoned would melt the armor, making the dark green look like oozing flesh melting off while darkening the blue colors of the Way Watchers. At some point during the battle the Goliaths had turned and the fighting stopped for a time. Auros had become a daemon prince while Markus' terminator armor had fused with his flesh. Both chapters joined as one, the souless Way Watchers dedicating themselves to Tzeentch while the battle crazed Goliaths dedicated themselves to Khorne. Yet despite the difference in gods did not break their bond and they fought together once more though now they destoryed and ravaged imperial worlds instead of protecting them. the changes in their armor and demeanor made them unrecognizable compared to when they had first been founded. Imperial records now simply show the time of destruction of the Goliaths and Way Watchers and the time of the chaos warband that the imperium had come to know as the Flesh Ghouls.
[Thanks for taking the time to read my army background! Hopefully I can add pictures of my crappy painted csm army. I am hoping to add stories as my army fights battles throughout 6th! All comments and criticism is much welcomed]
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