Gabriel Seth: The Flesh Tearer (Lords of the Space Marines)

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During this time, these Space Marines remained constantly on crusade, destroying any Heretics whose path they crossed. Those they encountered, they defeated. Those they defeated, they utterly annihilated, leaving no stone left unturned and no living beings to continue any heresy. Dante slammed his hand down, brooking no more dissent from the assembled scions of Sanguinius. The Flesh Tearer had said his piece, now Seth would listen to what the assembly had to say. Dante gestured to Techial, Chapter Master of the Disciples of Blood. He had been appointed the assembly's Chronicler. It fell to him to recount Seth's sins, to detail the actions that had brought the Flesh Tearers to such a juncture. Techial unfurled a length of parchment and read the charges aloud.

Achilus Crusade (813.M41) - A Flesh Tearers strike force based around elements from the 1 st and 2 nd Companies arrived unheralded during the Achilus Crusade in the Jericho Reach around the world of Herisor, soon after the first tendrils of Hive Fleet Dagon hit the Orpheus Salient. The Chapter fought a series of actions trailing along the salient, intercepting tendrils of the Hive Fleet and buying time for other Imperial forces to muster a defence. The Chapter took heavy losses in these actions, yet refused to slow the pace of its operations, throwing itself into battle after battle against the ravening xenos monstrosities that were the Tyranids. The Flesh Tearers were assigned the battle barge Victus from their former Legion, which served as their mobile fortress-monastery. The Flesh Tearers' reputation for savagery in battle was soon well-known, and so the terrible flaws of the IX th Legion's genetic legacy must have asserted themselves very soon after the death of the Blood Angels' Primarch Sanguinius.

Consequently, the Chapter often fields an inordinate number of its battle-brothers equipped as Assault Marines. In contrast, they seldom field squads of Devastator Marines. Even among their tactical units, heavy weapons are often left behind, as many Flesh Tearers Sergeants are reluctant to hold their units at range long enough for the weapons to be used effectively. Zargo snarled in frustration, asking the High Chaplain, did they actually need the Flesh Tearers. Astorath replied, that they did. The Emperor in His infinite wisdom created many sons, each of differing aspect. Zargo was their zeal, Malakim their redemption and Sentikan their protector. If Dante was their conscience, then they should let Seth be their blade. They should let the Flesh Tearers be the teeth of that blade. Turning to regard the Flesh Tearers Chapter Master, Astorath continued, explaining that even though Seth was a wretched berserker and his actions were ill-considered and rash, they were in need of such mongrels if they were to triumph. For the first time in two solar days, silence filled the vastness of the chamber. Behind the unreadable visage of his death mask, Dante smiled. Wars, he knew, were won with weapons, not principles. Gabriel Seth was nothing if not a weapon. Yet by striking first, and in isolation from other forces, the Flesh Tearers' worst excesses are concealed, as is the collateral damage amongst allies that once was the hallmark of the Chapter's assaults. Now, worlds that once reviled the Flesh Tearers praise them as saviours. For the Blood Angels, we’d recommend splitting your army into three Detachments – one of First Founding Blood Angels, led by Commander Dante , one composed of Flesh Tearers, led by Gabriel Seth , and one composed of the Legion of the Damned . For thematic purposes, you’ll find it rewarding in this mission to field as many members of the Death Company as you can muster, representing the desperate measures employed by the Blood Angels in what seemed to be their final hour. Avoid using any Primaris units – at this point in history, they have yet to arrive on Baal!

Though Seth knew that in the wake of the Indomitus Crusade the Flesh Tearers would be reinforced with Primaris Space Marines of Sanguinius' lineage who were not as susceptible to the Flaw and the Flesh Tearers' mutant version of it, Seth was not very satisfied at the prospect of seeing the Flesh Tearers' numbers swell once more. He believed that Roboute Guilliman's gift of the Primaris Astartes would transform the Flesh Tearers and the other Successor Chapters of the Blood Angels into further copies of his own Ultramarines who just wore variants of crimson armour rather than blue. Seth was convinced that without their inherent fury, his Space Marines would lose what had made them true scions of Sanguinius and become something else in time, something less. It is too early to tell if Seth's strategy will ultimately bear fruit, if the Flesh Tearers can regain their place amongst the Imperium's pantheon of honoured defenders even with the arrival of Primaris Marines amongst their ranks. Despite his intentions, Seth has done little to dispel the mistrust of his staunchest critics, in whom the memory of plans frustrated by the Flesh Tearers' impetuous assault forces lies too fresh. Such things are of little concern to the Flesh Tearers Chapter Master, for, in his heart, Seth has never truly abandoned hope that the Flesh Tearers can be spared from ultimate oblivion. What fate ultimately lies in store for the Flesh Tearers and their Chapter Master, only time will tell. The Chapter's once-impending doom seems to have had little to do with their choice of a homeworld and far more to do with the inherent failure in their gene-seed. The Devastation of Baal is covered in superb detail in Guy Haley’s aptly-named The Devastation of Baal , which we’d recommend heartily if you’re a fan of the Blood Angels, or despise them and want to read about a lot of them getting eaten by xenos.There is good reason for this caution. On more than one occasion, the enemy body count has not been enough to sate the Flesh Tearers' bloodlust, and many are the Imperial Commanders who have thought themselves saved only to watch in horror as the warrior angels sent to liberate them succumb to their curse. Malphas of the Exsanguinators accused Seth of having to prove that his will was stronger than that of the Inquisitor's. The Flesh Tearer explained that it was, for it had to be, for the curse of their bloodline ravaged his Chapter. It stole his brothers and handed him monsters. It was as inevitable as death, and yet they fought on. Malphas thrust a finger at Seth, stating that it was a fight the Flesh Tearers had obviously lost. Instead, each of their four companies was organised to be fully and independently functional. To maintain this ability, all battle-brothers underwent constant functional cross-training so that they may effectively serve the role of a Scout, Tactical, Assault or Devastator Marine as the tactical situation necessitates.

In 999.M41, the Blood Angels teetered on the brink of oblivion following the events on the Shrine World of Sabien. The fate of the Blood Angels Chapter now required the magnanimity of their Successor Chapters. Commander Dante summoned all of the Blood Angels' Successor Chapters to a conclave on Baal following a near-disastrous Chapter civil war that nearly tore the Blood Angels apart. Seth was convinced that without their inherent fury, his Space Marines would lose what had made them true scions of Sanguinius and become something else in time, something less. Seth and his Flesh Tearers have earned a great deal of animosity from other Imperial military forces who the Flesh Tearers often ignored or disregarded during combined operations because of their over-aggressive tendencies. At the same time, even other Astartes often refuse to serve alongside the Flesh Tearers because of their tendency to rush headlong into battle without regard for strategy or tactics.But beneath their boisterous behaviour and irrepressible wildness, the Space Wolves are as valiant as any other Space Marines, despite their disdain for the dictates of the Codex Astartes. Instead of Guilliman-approved battle formations, they form their warriors into specialist units like Wolf Guard and Blood Claws, even in the age of Cawl’s Primaris Space Marines.

Seth leads his Chapter from the front, landing in the vanguard of the Flesh Tearers assaults as his massive two-handed Eviscerator, Blood Reaver, scythes through his foes in vivid crimson arcs. Close to the centre of the action and knee-deep in the dead, Seth can better command his Battle-Brothers. When the Red Thirst takes a Flesh Tearer the teachings of the Codex Astartes fall away and only the scent of blood and death will guide them. Seth has become adept at channelling the unrestrained violence of his Chapter, leading by example when words hold no weight. When not in combat, Seth is a stern and gloomy Chapter Master, preoccupied with the imminent extinction of his Chapter and what, if anything, he can do to stop it. Though Seth hopes for a reprieve, he also is preparing his Chapter to join the annals of the lost with honour rather than being remembered with fear and loathing. They are true servants of the Emperor of Mankind though their heavy affliction with the genetic flaws of their Primarch Sanguinius and the resulting brutality has led to their investigation on charges of heresy by the Inquisition. They have been cleared of suspicion at present. The chalk to the Dark Angels’ cheese, the Space Wolves are ferocious front-line fighters who love nothing more than a good scrap, a loud chorus, and a big old tankard of Fenrisian mjød. Their Chapter maintains a proud history of storytelling, with Characters competing to fulfil Deeds Worthy of Saga in the midst of combat – the better to boast about when the battle is inevitably won. When the Flesh Tearers Chapter was brought into being during the Second Founding, Captain Nassir Amit, the commander of the Blood Angels Legion's 5 th Company, was chosen to be its first Chapter Master. Of all the IX th Legion's captains, Amit's reputation -- and that of his company -- was the most bloodthirsty. More than once, the 5 th Company had been called to censure by Sanguinius for its zeal in pursuing enemy forces.

Index Astartes: Flesh Tearers

Astorath informed the assembly that it was not defiance he brought, but redemption. Techial inquired for whom did he bring redemption. Astorath interrupted, snapping at the Chronicler -- he brought redemption not just for the Flesh Tearers, but for all of them. He had come to stop the assembled Chapter Masters from making a grave error. Sentikan spoke slowly, struggling to contain his anger, warning Astorath that it was not his decision to make. Astorath retorted that he was the Redeemer, Sanguinius' chosen executioner. Were they so certain that none among them should face the High Chaplain's axe. Astorath levelled his weapon, panning it over the assembled Chapter Masters. A chorus of angry retorts rippled around the chamber. Malphas asked Astorath if he had dared to threaten them. Astorath replied that he had not. He offered only a reminder and a promise. A reminder that in time when the curse took even the strongest among them, he would bring judgement -- and release.