Restorers

Summary
The Restorers were a Space Marine Chapter founded in the Fifth Founding, descended from the Ultramarines. At first, as their name promised, they restored peace to their sections of the galaxy, beating back several Ork invasions and assisting the battle against the Tyranids. However they slipped into more arrogant, vainglorious ways since that time, and although they remained steadfast warriors of mankind, they have alienated some Imperial forces with their callous attitude to the lives of those not of their Chapter, most notably the Revenants Chapter Astartes, with whom they have a vicious rivalry, and the Sanguine Paladins, whose Chapter Master they offended during the defeat of the Qorintian Diatribe.

Essential Information
Chapter Name: Restorers.

Motto: Originally "Restore His Light!", Currently "Restore His Glory!"

Gene Seed Ancestry: Ultramarines

Homeworld: Ares

Faction: Imperial.

Status: Active.

Founding
"We are the Emperor's chosen, and we shall restore His light into the darkest corners of the galaxy." - Gaius Agleron, first Chapter Master of the Restorers.

Formed in the Fifth Founding, the Restorers were so named because they were created to restore peace in more northerly fringes of the galaxy, which at that time were embroiled in several conflicts. The first Restorers were placed on the planet Arez, a civilised world from which, over time, they recruited their new Marines. The Restorers built their Fortress Monastery far from civilisation, intending to make it a home of the ideals of Ultramar made anew. Although they refrained from interfering in the way the people of Arez governed themselves, their influence was felt on Arez's people, who over the next few hundred years began to live life by the standards of the realm of Ultramar, in honour of their homeworld’s new tenants.

Slipping Standards
For many hundreds of years following their initial founding, the Restrorers were truly a paragon of the Imperium's Space Marines, and among the high ranking leaders of the Imperium they were considered one of the many great examples of the courage and honour of the Astartes and, before anything else, truly noble servants of the Emperor. They were known especially for their strength of will on the field, never surrendering while victory was even remotely possible, and among their many victories were the cleansing of several Ork infested worlds and fighting against the forces of Chaos in some of the earlier Black Crusades.

Gradually however, through means no one knows or understands, (though many suspect the distance from Ultramar and the bounteous praise the Chapter consistently received from their peers and the people of Arez), the Restorers’ mindset changed. Although they had been the noblest of Chapters for many long years, they were eventually affected by one of the sadly more common traits that can manifest in Space Marine Chapters, namely the flaw of arrogance. They began to believe the hype that surrounded the Space Marines in general and them in particular - they are among the Emperor's finest, above and beyond "mere" humans.

At first this reflected merely in their gradual decreasing courtesy - Captains of the Chapter would no longer ask Imperial Guard Colonels for fire support in crucial sectors but demand it, they would be more discourteous and unkind to common soldiers, less concerned with the welfare of the people they were supposedly servants of. Eventually, however, they began to believe that they – and other Space Marines – were the highest of the high, the most important people in the Imperium. They believed that their glory was more important than the common good of the people of the Imperium, and this reflected upon their actions. Though they remained loyal servants of the Emperor, their arrogance sometimes made them less effective than they could have been had they been more humble, and they began to believe that "lesser" humans - essentially the entire population of the Imperium - were of no importance to them or to their goals. It came to pass that they would happily ignore pleas for help from civilian convoys in favour of winning glory in semi-suicidal frontal assaults. No longer would they fight holding actions to save civilians, no more would they lend aid to beleaguered Imperial Guardsmen, and they took no interest in collateral damage, so long as victory – and more importantly the glory that comes with it - were theirs.

It was this arrogance led the Chapter Masters of the Restorers to claim lordship of Arez and its people, where before they had merely inhabited the planet and recruited from the populous. For hundreds of years they had merely lived upon the world of Arez, but now they ruled the planet, demanding tithes from the populous to support their Fortress-Monastery.

This shift in the Chapter's priorities and beliefs was most noticeable in the change in their battle-cry from "Restore His Light" to "Restore His Glory!" which, although perhaps it seems the most trivial of changes, nevertheless symbolises better than anything else just how changed the Chapter is from its once glorious ideals. Despite their increasing focus on gaining glory, they nonetheless continued to win many victories, albeit at greater cost in both their own brothers' lives and in the lives of many thousands of civilians and Imperial Guardsmen that they ignored in favour of bold, almost suicidal manoeuvres designed to maximise damage to the enemy at minimum loss to themselves. Perhaps inevitably, they developed a reputation as unreliable, glory-seeking fools and most rational commanders refused to ask for their help unless there was no other choice. Typically, they believed this reflected the weakness of the people of the Imperium, and not their own flaws, and thus they would seek battles out on their own, often wasting men and materials on fruitless battles.

As well as the loss of faith and trust inherent with the arrogance they possess, another among the many prices of the vainglorious nature of the Restorers is the continuing enmity they have with several of their brother Chapters, most notably the Revenants and the Sanguine Paladins Chapters.

Rivalry With The Revenants
The rivalry between the Revenants and the Restorers was instigated when the two fought alongside one another during a campaign against Orks on the distant star system Septum. The Restorers Fourth Company, at the time under Captain Julius Levar, were fighting alongside the Revenants Fifth Company, at that time under the command of Captain Pollonius. During a lull in the fighting, the two armies camped near each other.

Members of the Restorers had heard rumours of the Revenants Doctrine and their previous campaigns prior to the fighting, and during their campaign alongside each other had heard the various battle-cries of their brothers, and feeling that their dedication the Doctrine of Peace was a sign that their fellow Chapter was weak and unworthy of the mantle of Space Marines, some of the Restorers Battle Brothers – including one Brother Sergeant Dimitrios Argyus – decided to mock a squad from the Revenants Third Company who were nearby at the time. This mockery quickly came to blows as younger members of the Revenants' squad endeavoured to defend the honour of their Chapter, until the two squads were separated by their superiors, which would have been the end of it, except for Captain Levar's arrogance. He barged into the Revenants' camp, stormed into the Captain's tent, and demanded that he surrender the squad of Revenants involved in the fight to him for justice, despite the fact that Pollonius had already assigned the Marines heavy penitent duties for “acting like drunk Space Wolves”.

"And what of your men?" the Revenants Captain reportedly asked his counterpart. "What punishment have they received for their transgressions?"

"None," Levar apparently replied, smugly, "because beating down weaklings is what we do: why should I punish them simply for doing their duty?"

Pollonius, being a Revenant Captain, experienced in adhering to the peaceful aspects of the Doctrine, did not act as violently as another captain of another Chapter might have in his place, but merely quietly requested that the other Marine leave his presence. He then ordered his entire Revenant contingent to leave that section of the front and remove to a different section, one more in need of Space Marine support - or at least, those were the official reasons given. Angered, Levar sent a message of complaint to the Commander of all Space Marine operations on Septum, deriding the "cowardice" of Pollonius, but the sector commander had no interest in internal squabbles as the war was not going perfectly.

This incident was the beginning of the enmity the Restorers and the Revenants held for one another, which would, many years later, result in a skirmish on the Revenants very home world. The Restorers have forever refused to fight alongside the Revenants, and have been one of their most vocal detractors at all times, questioning their battle-record and achievements whenever possible. The Revenants for their part ignore the Restorers as best they can, for their Brothers - to their minds - are fools, exemplifying precisely what the Revenant try ‘’not’’ to be.

Home World
Arez is a hive world, originally built with Codex Astartes levels of precision, as the Restorers aided the people of their newly adopted world in building a more habitable place for themselves. Sadly, the hive world has become more cluttered and less ordered as time has gone on, as the Marines have ceased caring about the trivialities of architecture, or the position of leading the people of Arez, focused as they are on the glory of conflict. The people of Arez nonetheless hold the Space Marines of the Restorers in high esteem, for they are perceived as noble, honourable warriors who are the epitome of what the Imperium's finest should be, showing if nothing else just how effective the Imperial propaganda machine is on that world.

Training
The training of Restorers is near-Codex-perfect, as you might expect from a descendant of Ultramarines. Each member of the Restorers is taught to believe that he - and his Chapter - are the ultimate potential of the human race, and that other, inferior Chapters and inferior humans should pay homage to their superiority.

Among the few deviations in their training is an increased emphasis on fast attack in training - scouts are often equipped with grav-chutes and other such infiltration equipment, and are often used to secure points ahead of the main force.

Organisation
As they are descended from the Ultramarines, they of course follow the Codex Astartes’ regulations on Chapter organisation perfectly, viewing any deviation from it as at the least foolhardy and disrespectful and at the most borderline heretical, which is one of many other reasons they find to disparage brother Chapters. The Restorers ‘’were’’ strict followers of the rules of the Codex’s many rules of engagement as well, never questioning its tenets in any way. However, as they have become more arrogant, it has been noted that they have allowed their exacting standards to slip slightly, and where once their devotion to the Codex was the equal of their forebears, now it has waned to the point where the Codex is only rarely consulted, and the Captains of the Restorers follow their own counsel – the idea of lightning strikes – first. Nevertheless, these strikes are executed with Codex precision.

The battle tactics of the Restorers can charitably be called reckless – they do not fortify positions, they do not leave men to hold ground, and they do not strategically plan assaults to the level of removing an enemy’s support options. They instead rely on strength at arms and skill in combat to support their favoured tactic of lightning strikes on an enemy’s HQ or commanders. They will launch lightning drop pod assaults on governmental buildings or military bases of operations, and once there, tear apart everything in search of their enemy’s leaders, whom they will slaughter and hang high for all to see precisely who slew them.

This tactic allows them to win much glory - if they survive - for such tactics, when successfully executed, win them a mighty victory and often shatter the enemy’s resolve. It does however lead to a heavy toll in battle brothers, for they lose many warriors in these assaults. Nevertheless they continue to fight wars like this, the attrition rates nearly always leaving the Restorers’ reserve companies at low strength, for the Marines from these companies are nearly always immediately transferred to under-strength Battle Companies to make up for their losses.

Relationship with other elements of the Imperium
Apart from the aforementioned rivalries with the Revenants and the Sanguine Paladins, the Restorers generally hold lukewarm regard for their brother Chapters, feeling disdain for the Chapters that disparage the Codex such as the Space Wolves, feeling a reasonably strong sense of loyalty and kinship to the Ultramarines Chapter from whom they are descended (to the point where veterans and commanders of the Restorers wear Ultramarine insignia) and feeling nought but a vague kinship with the rest. There is an honour debt between the Restorers and the Emperor’s Firebrands, which the Restorers – despite their conceited nature – uphold; they feel that the Firebrands’ support against the Qorintian Diatribe was an important moment, one that sealed a bond of brotherhood between the two Chapters. The Firebrands feel a kinship with the Restorers as well, for they are both proponents of an orbital, lightning fast assault mentality, though they disapprove of the Restorers' arrogance.

The Qorintian Diatribe
Among the many battles the Restorers have fought in, there is one great tale of fractured brotherhood in the Restorer's past that stands out: that of the Qorintian Diatribe.

This was the rather florid name taken by a Xenos species encountered in a nine planet solar system. The species had ascended to a moderate level of technological advancement, roughly matching Imperial standard weaponry, and they had managed to colonise both their own solar system and two nearby ones. Rather than allow yet another alien empire to build on the Imperium's borders, as the Tau had, it was decided by the High Lords of Terra that they would be exterminated and their worlds taken.

The Restorers were the first Marine Chapter ordered there, about three months into the campaign, when the main solar system of the Diatribe - their original home system - was assailed. Upon their arrival Captain Tobias Dion, Captain of the Third Company, immediately began a series of lightning raids on his enemy’s commanders, ignoring the advice of Imperial Guard tacticians in the process. This cost his company heavily, and fully half the Third was killed in these actions, but nonetheless they seemd to work, for the demoralising effect the loss of various HQ’s had left the Diatribe in retreat, until only their original home world was left.

Dion had already requested additional Restorers support, which arrived in system fairly quickly, but to Dion’s irritation, his men were joined shortly thereafter by the Sanguine Paladins Chapter, as well as by the Emperor's Firebrands, whose expertise in planetary assault would prove invaluable in the final assault, and indeed in the battle the Restorers themselves had to face.

Captain Dion, initially the Astartes Commander on the field by virtue of his being the senior Marine present and all the Marines being from his Chapter, now found himself under the command of no less a personage than the Paladin Master (the Paladin's equivalent of a Chapter Master) Cruor Maximillian. Maximillian gave the order for the Restorers to support an Imperial Guard invasion on the primary continent, in order to lend much needed strength to their assault.

However, feeling slighted by the fact that his Chapter had been sent support, and feeling that the Chapter Master of ‘’another’’ Chapter had no authority over a Restorer, Dion eschewed the commands of the Paladin Master and all good sense, and rather than assist in the invasion as Maximillian ordered, took his company straight into the heart of his enemies defences; their main city. It was plain that his intention was to slay the government of the Diatribe themselves.

It was a flawed but audacious plan, one that might have succeeded but for the strength of will in the Diatribe's soldiers – and the fact that, having fought the Restorers several times by now, they expected a strike here and had prepared accordingly. The 107 Marines of Dion's company, including their most recent additions, were cut off from aid in the enemy's capital city, where they would have been slaughtered had they been anything but Space Marines. Despite the heaviness of the odds stacked against them, somehow Dion and twenty other Marines managed to survive two weeks before Captain Valus of the Emperor's Firebrands led a relief mission to aid them. Together, taking more casualties as time went on, these Marines held out for months before the capital was assailed in force by Imperial forces and the Marines were rescued. At the end of it, fully ninety Marines of the Restorers and sixty five of the Emperor's Firebrands - including Valus - were slain.

After their rescue, Maximillian sought to speak with Dion, but Dion, ashamed at having to be rescued, ashamed that he had failed, and irrationally angry at the Paladins for refusing to support a plan Dion had never informed them about, refused to speak with him and, apparently, insulted the Paladins' honour to the face of the messenger sent to summon him. With that the Restorers returned to Arez, and no apology has ever been sent for the insult, which has led to strained relations between the Paladins and the Restorers ever since.

Notable Members
Chapter Master Pyotr Jorus. By the standards of the Restorers, a noble and wise Space Marine and a cunning leader. Indeed, even when set up amongst other Space Marine Chapter Masters, Jorus is a shrewd tactician, who is known for not wasting lives if he can help it - eschewing the more dangerous tactics of many of the younger Captains, and making sure that when he leads lightning strikes on the leadership of his foes, they are successful. But still, he believes in the glory of the Chapter before anything else, and holds his Chapters grudges well.

Captain Dimitrios Argyus. Argyus is a noble warrior by traditional Space Marine standards, but is arrogant and vain, trusting himself and his own judgement first, even in the presence of other, wiser commanders. He also believes absolutely in the superiority of himself and his Chapter above all others, which was part of what sparked the rivalry between the Revenants and the Restorers, as he was among those who started the initial brawl that began the entire thing. Since then he has learned much of war but little in the way of interacting with people.