They have fought across searing deserts, in the cold void of space, in dense carnivorous alien jungles, and in the depths of the wildest underhives.
Dark Angels have held Ork WAAAGH!s at bay, crushed planetary uprisings, and saved entire star systems from the incursions of the Ruinous Powers. The Chapter has fought the length and breadth of the Imperium and beyond against every foe that has ever beset Mankind. The Dark Angels hold more battle honours than almost any other Chapter its only equals are its own successors. On attaining each new level, they are granted a little more knowledge of the truth behind the Dark Angels' origins, but only the highest-ranking members of the Chapter, the members of what is known as the " Inner Circle," know the terrible, shameful secret of what occurred 10,000 Terran years ago. There are many different levels within the Chapter which individuals may gradually rise through. The Chapter has been shaped by its dark past and is secretive and monastic in nature, with much time given over to worship and prayer. No one knows of this other than the Dark Angels, their Successor Chapters and, perhaps, the Emperor Himself, interred within His Golden Throne. This story of treachery and betrayal is the Dark Angels' hidden shame, and their secret mission to destroy all of the Fallen is now their only hope of salvation. These survivors are known to those few Dark Angels granted knowledge of their existence as the " Fallen Angels" or just " The Fallen." In the eyes of the Chapter's leaders, there is only one way that the Chapter can ever atone for its shame, restoring its honour and trust in the eyes of the Emperor - all of the Fallen must be found and either made to repent their ancient sin, or slain. The Renegades were defeated in a battle that destroyed the Dark Angels' Legion homeworld, Caliban, but many of the Traitor Dark Angels survived to be cast through space and time by the direct intervention of the Chaos Gods. The Dark Angels' terrible secret is this: during the Horus Heresy, some of their brethren were turned to the side of Chaos. Such is their shame that from that time onwards, the Dark Angels and their Unforgiven successors, of which there are more than 19 currently in Imperial service, strive for absolution from the sins of millennia past. Yet a legend persists that at one point the Dark Angels teetered on the very brink of heresy and that an act of the most terrible betrayal dishonoured all of the I st Legion's feats of valour, leaving an enduring stain upon all of its Successor Chapters' honour. Most references in the histories of the Imperium to its deeds during the accursed times of the Horus Heresy have actually been expunged. Few Imperial records of the Chapter's beginnings still exist, nor are there many mentions of the part it played in the Emperor's Great Crusade during the early 31 st Millennium.
The origins of the Dark Angels remain shrouded in mystery. They are a proud Chapter, with traditions and rituals that date back to the earliest days of the Imperium of Man. The Dark Angels stand first amongst the Space Marine Chapters, as they have done since their very inception as the I st Legion. Though they claim complete allegiance and service to the Emperor of Mankind, their actions and secret goals at times seem at odds with that professed loyalty, as the Dark Angels strive above all other things to atone for an ancient crime of betrayal committed over 10,000 standard years ago against the trust of the Emperor during the time of the Horus Heresy. They were the I st Legion of the original 20 Space Marine Legions to be created during the First Founding of the 30 th Millennium. The Dark Angels are considered amongst the most powerful and secretive of the Loyalist Space Marine Chapters. Black and White (Pre-Heresy) Dark Green and White (Post-Heresy)
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