Trigger-Happy Baal Predator Pilot
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The Nighthawks
Name: The Nighthawks
Founded: M31 (Records Mention That They Are A Second Founding Chapter)
Successors Of: Unknown (Possibly Ultramarines Or Raven Guard)
Primarch: Unknown (Possibly Roboute Guilliman Or Corvus Corax)
Number: ~400 (Post-Insurrection, Normal Ranks ~1000)
Chapter Master: Adrien Vraxis
Homeworld: Orvan, Calixis Sector, Segmentum Obscurus
Warcry: None (The Nighthawks Avoid Verbal Communication Unless Necessary)
Chapter Motto: From Secrecy Comes Truth, From Darkness Comes Light
Successors: White Falcons, Darkblades
Alliegance: Imperium Of Man
The Nighthawks are a secretive and enigmatic chapter of the Adeptus Astartes. Though it is known that they are a second founding chapter, their primarch and progenitor are unknown. It is suspected that they are either Ultramarines or Raven Guard successors, but analysis of their gene seed has brought the administratum no further to an answer. There is however, a much darker theory relating to the Nighthawks' origins. It is thought by some Inquisitors and even some other Astartes, that the Nighthawks are the loyalist remains if a traitor legion that was sent outside of the light of the Imperium in order to atone for their legion's crimes, but due to the experimentation their gene seed has been subject to and the loss of nearly all records relating to them, is most likely that their primarch will remain unknown. The Nighthawks' homeworld is the planet of Orvan III, better known as Orvan, in the Calixis sector of the Segmentum Obscurus at the furthest North of Imperial territory before the mysterious region of space before the Kronus Expanse. Orvan is protected by the Hive World of Orvan IV and an immense asteroid belt. Orvan is characterised by its treacherous mountains, rivers and valleys, it's numerous avian species and its untouched landscape. The Nighthawks' fortress-monastery, called "The Hawk's Nest" is hidden beneath one of Orvan's huge mountain ranges, but the exact location is unknown to anyone outside the chapter. Even psykers cannot detect the the fortress-monastery. For many years, the Orvan system was the only area under Imperial control in this ancient part of the Galaxy. These millenia of isolation has led the Nighthawks to become almost completely solitary and has also led other chapters and Imperial organisations to become distrustful of them. The Nighthawks began their service as a standard codex chapter that relied on hit and run tactics within the codex to combat the numerous Xenos and Chaotic threats in the Calixis sector. Chief among these threats was the Xenos race known only as "The Scourge". The surviving records that are not currently held by the Nighthawks describe them as skeletal and shadow-like. They also mention that they had the ability to possess other living things and that they would control the corpses of their victims, from whom they had removed their very soul. Some Inquisitors have hypothesised that they may have been C'Tan or Warp Entities, but the full records are hidden deep within the Nighthawks' Librarium and are known only by the Chapter Master and the Chief Librarian. The Nighthawks' tactics were useless against the Scourge and they suffered huge losses and defeats until only 100 brothers remained. It was in this dire moment that Corin Talonis was elected chapter master. Talonis declared a time of meditation and ordered the rebuilding of the chapter. When the Nighthawks finally reached full strength, Talonis discarded the Codex Astartes and ordered new methods of organisation and tactics. Now, the Nighthawks would trade their blades for bolters and written doctrine for initiative. The Nighthawks would also adopt stealth tactics and would no longer entrust the role of scout to inexperienced recruits. Now, the Nighthawks would form special Recon Squads from experienced marines that would specialise in infiltration and stealth. The Neophytes of the chapter would also now be formed into their own squads where they would learn the necessary skills from a veteran sergeant. The 7th company would also now become a Recon Reserve Company. The effectiveness of Talonis' reforms were demonstrated when the chapter, with Talonis at its head, banished the Scourge, the Nighthawks still dress the day of their return. Talonis would later lead an assault on an Alpha Legion warband led by the chaos lord, Allonius Neraxis, which saw the death of Neraxis by Talonis' hand. Talonis' reforms saved the Nighthawks, but all was not well. There were some that resisted Talonis' new ideals and believed in the old ways of the Nighthawks. The two factions nearly went to war until the believers in the codex seceded from the chapter and founded their own: The White Falcons. The White of their armour would symbolise their purity as a codex chapter and how they were free of Talonis' "Taint". After intense debate, the Administratum officially recognised the White Falcons as a chapter, but in exchange, the White Falcons would always provide neophytes to their progenitor chapter when they were undermanned and would always answer the Nighthawks call for aid unless doing so would be against the interests of the Imperium. In the present day, the Nighthawks' stealth is matched by very few and the cold efficiency and their skilled marksmanship has brought them recognition. However, Nighthawks Astartes are characterised by their willingness to execute plans with as little collateral damage as possible. At present, the Nighthawks are led by Adrien Vraxis, a mysterious and enigmatic chapter master. No records of him exist before 633.M41, when he first joined the chapter as a neophyte. He has led the Nighthawks since 924.M41, when he was first elected and under Vraxis, the Nughthawks have had some of their greatest victories and have lived through some of their darkest hours. Vraxis is rarely seen even by the Astartes within the chapter, but his authority remains absolute and his skill and experience is respected by those within the chapter and without. In battle, Vraxis wields "Deadshot", a rifle that he has wielded since first joining the chapter. It is unknown how Vraxis came into posession of it, but it known that Deadshot is in the hands of one of the most deadly marksmen in the ranks of the Adeptus Astartes. Vraxis' marksmanship is rivalled only by Lias Issodon, the Chapter Master of the Raptors, and Torias Telion, the Veteran Sergeant of the Ultramarines' 10th Company. Currently, the Nighthawks are at seriously low numbers, with less than 400 brothers remaining. This is due to a recent event known as "The Insurrection", a plot a thousand years in the making by the Alpha Legion to exterminate the Nighthawks. The mastermind was revealed to be Neraxis himself, returned as a daemon prince. Though heavy casualties were taken, the Alpha Legion's plot ultimately failed and the daemon was banished to the warp by Vraxis. The battle was a decisive Imperial victory. After the battle, the Nighthawks founded a second successor chapter. Known as the Darkblades, they are entrusted with the Important role of defending the worlds to the galactic North of the eye of terror and fighting the forces of chaos. The honour of commanding the chapter was given to Krivan Dredas, the Captain of the Nighthawks fourth company and both the Nighthawks and the White Falcons supplied the foundations of their ranks. Another large part of the Nighthawks' culture is their secretive nature. They rarely fight openly and when they are allied with another Imperial Force, it is likely that said Imperial Force will not even be aware of their presence until they announce themselves. Nighthawks Astartes will typically never reveal their identities to anyone outside the chapter and when they are without a helm, it is a custom within the chapter for them to wear a hood that conceals their features. Little verbal communication occurs between Astartes within the chapter, though they can recognise each other even when their faces are concealed and even engage in conversations without a single word being uttered. To the ignorant, they have a spiritual connection to each other which allows them to do this, when in fact they make minuscule modifications in body positioning that are invisible to most eyes. On the subject of their gene seed, it is relatively pure and they posess all necessary gene seed organs. Problems are rare, but not unheard of. A mutation that all marines of the chapter poses is the "Hawkeye" mutation. A short time after transformation into an Astartes (Immediately for some, but much longer for others), their eyes will turn a bright orange colour and their vision will become superior even to a standard Astartes, they will be able to recognise fine details from miles away and focus on movements and changes that are invisible to a normal eye. The Hawkeye mutation is used by different chapters who bear Nighthawks gene seed in different ways. While , the Nighthawks use the mutation to enhance their already excellent marksmanship and pick of targets from tremendous distances with deadly accuracy, the much more melee oriented White Falcons use it to find weak points in an enemy's defences and to anticipate their movements. A problem with the Hawkeye mutation is that it gives all Nighthawks Astartes a cold, sharp look that is considered unnerving and even terrifying. On top of their Millenia of isolation and secretive ways, this is another reason why they are widely distrusted, but though many question their loyalty, they have proven their allegiance to the Emperor time and time again. They stand ready to face the sinister Alpha Legion, the looming threat of a Tyranid incursion and the inevitable return of the Scourge.
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