Knights of the Imperium

Jeremy Sleeter
1/13/11
Origins: The Knights of the Imperium are a Chapter shrouded in mystery.
No one but the Battle- Brothers of the Chapter knows the true history of the
Chapter. One of the most popular theories is that the Knights were the Emperors
personal bodyguard. The reason so many people believe this is because the Knights
appeared during the second founding with no known Gene-Seed donor, excellent
equipment and a superb fleet with three Battle Barges also had five strike cruisers.
The Inquisition has tried many times to question the Battle-Brothers on the origins
of their chapter because of this treatment the Knights refuse to fight with any
forces under command of the High Lords of Terra other than their fellow chapters.
The Knights have even been known to abandon a battle if an Inquisitor arrives.
Surprisingly no Battle-Brother has ever revealed the truth of the Chapters origins.
The Knights have even fought with and against Eldar and Tau on occasion. Because
of this separation with the Imperium the Knights have faded from its collective
memory. The Knights chose a world on the North-Western fringe of the Imperium
called Ahman.
Ahman is populated by humans who evolved well beyond the rest of the
galaxy, and thanks to their highly evolved state the natives of Ahman were able to
successfully stage a coup against the Imperial governor. The Knights were sent to
Ahman to quell the rebellion almost as soon as the Knights landed they were
attacked by local militia the Knights fought the Ahmans for almost a decade before
they were finally able to stage an assault on the capital Emption just before the
assault began Chapter Master Silas offered the Ahmanians one last chance to
surrender they refused Silas’s offer Silas ordered a massive orbital bombardment
targeted on Emption. It took the Knights fleet ten seconds to destroy the ten
thousand year old city. The Knights decided to claim Ahman as their home world
and they began the construction of a massive orbital fortress as well as twin polar
fortresses as defenses for Ahman. Although the Knights had to stave off multiple
attacks on the Polar fortresses construction was quickly finished and the Knights
began gaining the trust and respect of the Ahmanians.
The Knights began studying the Ahmanians advanced evolution searching for
a cause and cataloging the difference between the Ahmanians and the rest of
humanity. The Ahmanians are much faster and stronger than the average human
while the fastest and strongest can compete physically with an unarmored Space
Marine. Because of this the implants that make Space Marines have a greater effect
on the Ahmanians.

The battle for Mombassa: It took the Knights almost a century to gain
complete control over Ahman and once they did, they began looking out into the
galaxy once again. They found a Galaxy in shambles. The Knights quickly began to
assess all the possible threats to themselves and as they did so, they became
convinced that the only way to secure humanity’s future is to collect and store all
the knowledge they could acquire. Thanks to there, close ties with Xenos the
Knights were able to gain access and store information that could never be found in
the Imperium. The Knights discovered knowledge that had been lost for millennia
knowledge that could lead to the unlocking of humanity’s full potential. The Knights
were on the verge of tipping Humanity’s war against the galaxy back in Humanities
favor. The Knights had also discovered a way to make new Space Marines much
easier and faster while reducing the mishaps exponentially. The Knights began
increasing their numbers until they had ten thousand marines. The High Lords of
Terra discovered this and were outraged they sent messages to every Space Marine
Chapter they could and called them to war. The Knights having no knowledge of
this started to terraform planets and colonize them with Ahmanians. The Knights
not having enough ship to defend their new planets built hundreds more enough
ships to stop almost any Imperial onslaught. This combined with the thousands of
Space Marines was enough to prompt an increase of Space Marines and ships to
assault the Knights. Finally after almost a year of preparation the task force was
ready. Almost a thousand ships with fifteen thousand Space Marines set out
towards the space controlled by the Knights of the Emperor.
The Knights finally discovered this plot when defense stations on the fringes
of their territory discovered the armada traveling through the warp. With the
Imperial fleet weeks away the Knights called a war council to decide if they should
attempt to fight the Imperial fleet or if they should surrender. The Knights chose to
fight. Immediately planets in the path of the fleet were evacuated while their
defenses were strengthened with polar fortresses and orbital weapon platforms.
Most planets in the path of the armada received almost daily supplies of
ammunition and Space Marines backed by the planetary militia. The true power of
the armada wasn’t seen until the first planet in the Knights defense grid was
conquered in a matter of days despite all of the preparations of the Knights. The
Space Marines that were garrisoned there managed to escape and thanks to an
improvement on the warp drive were able to bring news of their defeat to Silas
within days of the battle. Silas knew that the only way to stop the Imperial fleet
was to draw them to an all or nothing fight. The planet Silas chose for his fight was
called Mombassa. Silas gathered his forces on Mombassa hundreds of ships
thousands of Marines and he also ordered the construction of hundreds of orbital
weapon platforms as well as two gigantic polar fortresses.
The Imperial armada arrived and sent one last message to the Knights
requesting their surrender. Silas refused and cast his fleet forward under the
barrage of fire the orbital platforms threw out. Soon that barrage was joined by fire
from the Polar fortresses. The Imperial fleet landed thousands of Marines that were
tasked with taking and using the Polar fortresses against the Knights. Silas’s fleet
may have been outnumbered but he had better ships and weapons available to him
than the Imperial fleet had. Yet despite his numerous advantages the Imperial fleet
was gaining the upper hand slowly forcing the Knights fleet back and destroying all
the orbitals they could get a shot at. Silas and his fleet smote the Imperial fleet
again and again but eventually the Imperial numbers began to turn the tide of
battle. Silas ordered another strike against the Imperial fleet with only his flagship
it was stuck again and again but managed to reach the center of the Imperial fleet
where it overloaded its warp drive destroying the Imperial fleet with a cataclysmic
blast of energy. Just before his ship exploded Silas was teleported to one of the
other ships in his fleet. After watching their fleet destroyed in an instant the Space
Marines that had gathered to destroy the Knights fought on despite no chance of
success or retreat. After another day of fighting with the enemy numbers reduced
to a handful of companies the Knights gave their fellow Space Marines one last
chance to surrender which they refused. The Knights then bombarded the enemy
positions from space and sent Marines on the ground in to finish the survivors.

The Journey to Octanus IV: Silas knew that it was only a matter of time
before another Imperial fleet attacked. Because of this constant threat Silas decided
to gather his Chapter and all the citizens of his empire and set out for a new
galaxy. Silas sent messages to the Eldar asking them for advice on his undertaking.
The Eldar sent Silas a message request that he bring part of Biel-Tan’s population
with him as an attempt to revive the dying race in another galaxy. Silas after
extensive contemplation and discussion agreed and he set out with his nation as
well as the Eldar contingent to Octanus IV. The navigators that Silas assigned to
mapping out the route predicted that it would take almost a month with their
enhanced drives to get to Octanus IV. After a week in the warp the fleet ran into a
Tyranid Hive fleet. Silas ordered the transports to find a way around while he and
the Eldar fighting ships would stay and try to fight a way through the Tyranid fleet.
From the moment Silas’s fleet engaged the Tyranid fleet they were beset by wave
after wave of Bio-Ships each wave more numerous than the last. Silas knew he had
to last long enough for the transports full of his people to escape.
Silas and his fleet managed to outfight the Tyranid swarms of ships. Silas
decided to flee and try to find his transports that were still traveling through the
warp towards Octanus IV. Almost a month later Silas arrived at the chosen planet
in Octanus IV. The planet was called Posiden his fleet detected the transports in
orbit as well as settlements on the ground. Silas breathed a great sigh of relief and
collapsed to the ground dead. An autopsy by the Apothecary could not determine
why Silas had died.
The Knights were now put in the difficult position of deciding who would
become the next Chapter Master. The three most likely choices were the Captain of
the 1st company Kayto Huyga, the master of the fleet Hasrimi Nagato, and Captain
Watami Shadi of 2nd company. A council of the 1st 2nd and 3rd company Captains
along with the Chief Apothecary and Ecclesiarch decided that the Knights would be
split into three parts each candidate for Chapter master would get a third of the
Space Marines, a third of the fleet, and a third of the Ahmanians would go with the
new Chapter Master. Posiden was to be populated by the Knights under Kayto
Huyga a planet a couple of weeks travel away was claimed by the Chaos Knights
under Hasrimi Nagato and the Wild Knights under Watami Shadi disappeared across
Octanus IV traveling almost to the other side until they found a planet to their
liking. The Eldar traveled with Watami until they found a world that they could
inhabit.