The nameless Eighteenth Primarch and the Shadow Legion
By author Poach
The Eighteenth Primarch: [NAME UNKNOWN]
Name:
The Primarch of the XVIII Legion is a mysterious figure, and rumours persist amongst the other Legions of the Imperium that he was never found at all, or is dead, or has been sequestered away from the wider galaxy by the Emperor for a myriad of reasons, changing from storyteller to storyteller. Even his brothers and sisters know little to nothing of the man, with few having met him or witnessed him, so frequently is he absent from any gathering of Primarchs. The following is largely based on the claims made by individuals who purport to have met or spoken with the enigmatic Eighteenth Primarch.
—"Eighteen", according to a record listing Primarchs (those few that had been discovered at that point) attending a critical meeting of the War Council in the early Great Crusade.
—"Primus", according to a Space Marine of the XVIII Legion carrying what was claimed to be direct orders from the Primarch, signed with "Primus". [Authenticity debated]
—"Osiris", a name alleged to have been used by the Emperor when possibly discussing a Primarch, theorised to have been in reference to the Eighteenth as no other Primarch is known by that name, though it is equally possible he was not referring to a Primarch at all, or referring to one in code, knowing he could be overheard.
—"The Boss"/"The Master"/"The Head", vague titles that convey overall command are rarely recorded in use by senior agents of the Shadow Legion.
Appearance:
There are no images recorded of the Eighteenth Primarch. He is theorised to have a tan-white complexion, light brown hair, and likely makes use of facial tattoos. These theories are supported by the prevalence of such complexion and hair colour amongst all bearing the XVIII Legion's gene-seed, and the apparent use of facial tattoos in the Shadow Legion.
Talents and Personality:
Of this, more is known. The Eighteenth Primarch is varyingly described as a kingpin of organised crime, a head of the Emperor's secret police force, or a traitor to the Imperium, depending on who is asked. The Shadow Legion operate exclusively in the shadows: from the lowest level of hive spires to the opulent palaces of corrupt nobility, the Shadow Legion exist in places where central authority is weak and where business gets done through channels shrouded in secrecy and corruption. The Eighteenth Primarch is a hugely capable broker of secret information, secret movement, and unseen influence, with the Shadow Legion being regarded as an enormously powerful faction within the Imperium's underworld as a result.
Homeworld:
No homeworld for the Primarch is recorded. He was found in a small interstellar human empire that comprised many large and poorly governed Hive Worlds, and given what is known of him it is largely believed he grew up in one of these Hives.
Psychic potential:
It is theorised that the Eighteenth displays psychic capabilities, and the only known record of the meeting between the Emperor and the Eighteenth Primarch described manifestations of phenomena, both in the general area and amongst nearby humans, which strongly indicates that some manner of psychic duel or confrontation took place. It is also theorised that psychic means are a primary method of long-distance, or covert, communication for the Legion, suggesting the Primarch himself may prefer this or have capabilities in this area. Furthermore, the Librarius of the XVIII Legion is considered respectable and capable amongst the wider Legions, suggesting the gene-seed lends itself well enough to the psychic arts.
Background:
The Primarch was located within the space of a large interstellar human state encountered, and brought to Compliance by force, early in the Great Crusade. The Imperium had conquered the region for some time before the Emperor's attention was piqued when reports reached his ears of a particular syndicate within the region that had been persistently able to evade Imperial crackdowns and was regarded as a prime suspect in the theft and black market fencing of Imperial war material. Believing no baseline human could show such repeated genius, the Emperor himself took control of the crackdown, finally presenting the Eighteenth with an opponent he could not outsmart. The resultant parlay brought the Emperor and his son face to face, where their conversation resulted in the Eighteenth joining the Imperium as a very short-lived general of the Emperor's armies.
The empire that the Eighteenth was presumably raised in was remarkably like the Imperium in many ways: it was very decentralised, with outlying worlds left largely to themselves so long as imperial taxes were paid on time, and where much governing business was done through deal-making between the many powerful families, cartels, guilds, and imperial agencies that held sway over various patches of imperial space or economic activity. This naturally gave rise to a way of life that had little respect for formal legal codes and much was done largely through deals struck between groups, with more powerful groups dominating or vassalising weaker ones, and with power struggles, either political or violent, being commonplace.
It was into this world that the Eighteenth rose to prominence, building or seizing an organisation of his own and quickly establishing a dominant position within the ever-shifting power structure of the empire. Not having come from the right bloodlines meant that, in the quasi-feudal ways of the empire, he was always regarded as lower in status than the Great Families, and his power was in many ways informal or unrecognised, concentrated in criminal enterprises or in the lower rungs of "respectable" concerns where bribery, blackmail, or coercion could build influence and power.
The Eighteenth Primarch's tenure as the master of the XVIII Legion was short. Few of the older Space Marines remember their gene-sire's time among them, and the vast majority of the younger Space Marines have never met or seen him. Indeed, the Eighteenth served for only a decade or so before absconding with the Gloriana-class battleship which, at the time, was largely crewed by non-Terran Astartes. The Legion Master at the time, as well as all the senior Legion officers, have since died in various battles and campaigns, leaving none in the Legion still living who spoke to the Primarch one to one.
The XVIII Legion: the Abandoned Eighteenth
Name:
The first XVIII Legion, the body that is known throughout the Imperium as the XVIII Legion, was never given a name by its Primarch. As a result, they are generally simply referred to as the XVIII Legion. Others refer to them as "the Orphan Legion" or "the Abandoned Eighteenth" as a result of their Primarch disappearing by choice. This is a source of great shame and anger for the Legion.
Insignia and Appearance:
The Legion, prior to the Primarch's discovery, wore battle plate of green, with pauldrons in black rimmed by white. The Legion's symbol, adopted due to the Legion reaching combat capability during the conquest of the Sol system, was a sunburst of gold and the sigil 'XVIII' in black inside the central sun.
Following their abandonment, the Legion repainted all their armour in black. Helms are fashioned to the appearance of a skull, painted in white on the front, with the rest of the helm in black. Pauldrons are also trimmed in white, and bear a simple white 'XVIII' symbol upon them, the golden sunburst having been dropped entirely.
Gene-seed Status:
The Legion's gene-seed is unremarkable: it lends itself somewhat well to psykers, has a fairly average rate of rejection, and displays no major notable defects. In some instances the Catalepsean Node functions poorly, with the worst affected losing their grip on sanity. In the Legion's traditions, these Space Marines are regarded as overcome by grief at the Legion's abandonment by the Primarch and are inducted into the Vanguard.
The primary disadvantage suffered by the Legion is lack of access to their Primarch, resulting in gene-seed being a rare and precious commodity. This places a great constraint on the generation of new Astartes and has prevented the Legion growing to the size enjoyed by most other Legions. The Abandoned Eighteenth has developed a tendency to be cautious about casualties as a result.
Legionary Assets:
The XVIII Legion in the field numbers numbers around 80,000 Space Marines, with numbers unable to grow to match the power of other Legions due to the Primarch's abandonment of the Legion. Through careful husbanding of gene-seed stocks from the Space Marines themselves, the Legion is able to continue to generate fresh recruits, but at a lower rate than those Legions who have their Primarch to draw strength from.
The Legion is primarily fleet-based, centred on the heavily modified and uprated Retribution-class battleship Despair (originally Reckoning of Kings, renamed after the loss of the Legion's Gloriana-class flagship). The fleet is typical of a Legion, comprising a large number of Battle Barges supported by Strike Cruisers, destroyers, and frigates.
It has no fixed homeworld as such, relying on a central fleet of Battle Barges and Forge Ships to act as a moving homeworld, and recruiting is primary done during campaigns, where new recruits are inducted from worlds freshly brought to Compliance.
Due to lack of numbers and a desire for caution regarding casualties, the Legion has a noted tendency towards heavy armour and artillery, operating more tanks and artillery than a standard Legion, with infantry employed only with heavy firepower support from these platforms.
Legion Organisation:
—A squad is of 10 Space Marines, led by a Brother-Sergeant.
—A company is of 100 Space Marines, led by a Brother-Captain.
—A chapter is of 1,000 Space Marines, led by a Brother-Chapter Master. This is the largest subdivision, under the full Legion.
The XVIII is organised into seventy chapters of 1,000 Space Marines apiece, with the remaining manpower allocated to the fleet or to various pan-Legion duties such as high command, recruiting and training, or independent companies.
Each chapter is nominally a self-contained battlegroup, fielding its own infantry, armour, artillery, and support functions such as apothecaries, librarians, Tech-Marines, and non-Astartes support staff. In practice chapters tend to specialise somewhat along the preferences of their Chapter Masters and the chapter's traditions and histories: while the baseline norm is for tanks and artillery to be over-represented, some chapters specialise in infantry skills, siege skills, or even void warfare. A chapter is usually for life: a new Space Marine will join his chapter as a Scout, and is expected to remain within it until death. As such, individual chapters develop their own traditions and cultures.
Special units:
The Vanguard—Uniquely to the Legion, every chapter contributes to the Vanguard. This is a separate formation outside the chapter structure composed of those Space Marines worst impacted by Catalepsean Node defects, which usually results in a dissociative demeanour, deep melancholy, and a disregard for personal safety. Left in the normal battle line, these Space Marines have an observed tendency to become suicidal, making little effort to preserve their own lives and, some allege, intentionally seeking death. These Astartes are thus pulled from the line when these mannerisms begin to attract notice and are trained as assault groups, deployed where actions with heavy casualties are anticipated as the only means of advance. The existence of this unit is a secret kept by the Legion, and they are never deployed alongside non-XVIII forces.
Expertise and Combat Doctrine:
The Legion does not wage war in any unique fashion, save for a noted tendency towards caution due to recruitment difficulties. The Legion therefore has an observed tendency to engage in substantial artillery or long-range fire preparation of enemy positions prior to an assault, and to rely heavily on armoured vehicles to conduct such assaults. Infantry of the XVIII often only advance under heavy artillery coverage, supported by (or moving in) armoured vehicles. The Legion operates few Assault Marines as a result, with manpower instead devoted to artillery or armoured forces.
This results in a methodical way of war: rarely does the XVIII employ brazen charges or daring raids into enemy rear areas. Objectives are identified, struck heavily with ordinance, assaulted by highly mechanised forces, and are then consolidated and fortified against counter-attack, after which the process is repeated.
Legion Weaknesses:
The Legion suffers from three major weaknesses on the strategic, operational, and tactical level.
The Legion's great strategic weakness is lack of a Primarch, which has twofold consequences: first, no mere Astartes can hope to match the genius and innovation of a Primarch, meaning the XVIII cannot wage war as cleverly or artfully as other Legions; second, lack of a Primarch makes manpower an enduring and acute weakness suffered by the Legion.
At the operational level, the Legion rarely conducts major effective follow-through operations after an assault, due to the risks involved. An enemy skilled at quickly reforming broken units can thus consolidate their lines anew even after a breach by the XVIII, and is thus unlikely to suffer a catastrophic collapse of their entire battle line as a result of tactical defeats.
At the tactical level, the Legion's unwillingness to suffer heavy casualties and reliance on armour means an enemy well-equipped to inflict a heavy toll on armoured formations can effectively delay the XVIII's operations, as the Legion will prefer ever-greater employment of artillery against such positions in an effort to provide their assault groups more guarantee of quick success.
All of these weaknesses exist at an Astartes level, however: baseline human formations will still find themselves outclassed and, though a skilled human commander may indeed note that the Legion takes their time in terms of planning and executing assaults, they "take their time" in Astartes timeframes. To a normal human military, the XVIII is still highly aggressive and conducts operations at a fast pace.
Beliefs and Practices:
The Legion is characterised by their abandonment by the Primarch, and are thus a melancholic lot. They are noted as being bitter and to indulge in dark humour, with revelry and joviality unseen in their ranks. Due to a lack of a homeworld, the Legion's culture is an eclectic mix of recruitment intakes and each individual chapter is often dominated by a particular culture or group of cultures. A chapter that takes heavy casualties, and is thus flooded with new recruits from a particular intake, incorporates those cultures into the chapter as a whole.
Each chapter operates as a semi-independent force, with groupings of chapters happening due to operational demands and being selected due to expediency. A chapter might never see a particular other chapter, or might work closely with them for a single action, a campaign, or for many decades, only to part ways to different fronts and different chapter groups. As such, the bulk of Legion life happens inside a chapter, where relationships can be built and deepened across decades or centuries, and where an Astartes typically spends his entire life.
A Space Marine of the XVIII Legion will usually only leave his chapter temporarily to receive specialist training, such as to the Mechanicum to become a Tech-Marine, or to join the Legion's training cadre, or in darker circumstances, such as being entered into the Vanguard or being tasked with managing those condemned to it. An Astartes will only permanently leave his chapter should he rise to the heights of higher Legion command.
Recruitment and Discipline:
The Legion recruits constantly from the campaigns it takes part it, gathering Aspirants from the worlds it brings to Compliance, running recruits through a series of initial medical trials in the field before shipping those deemed likely to survive the process to the flagship, Despair, for physical and mental trials designed to select the best of the best. These trials are competitive, and many are dangerous, with not all Aspirants surviving their attempts. A select few who show leadership potential but not the necessary physical endurance to become Astartes are offered a place within the Legion's human support forces, entering as officers there.
Discipline in the Legion is strict, almost perfectionist, which some regard as an over-compensation for the departure of the Primarch. Few other Legions can present a parade formation better than the XVIII, and instances of insubordination are nigh-unheard of. This is hammered into Aspirants early, who are often given illogical or pointless commands as a test of loyalty and willingness to follow orders whether they understand their purpose or not.
Space Marines who fall short of these high standards are censured, and on the rare occasion that an Astartes accumulates too many such censures he is forced to paint his armour white as a mark of shame, and is only allowed to re-paint into Legion black when his commander feels he has performed suitable penance and has suffered suitable shame. A White Legionary often finds himself shunned by his comrades, who are unwilling to be associated with such dishonour.
Characters of Interest:
Legion Master Agamarr—The current Legion Master, and one of the few left in the Legion with any memory of the Primarch. He was a Brother-Sergeant when the Primarch was discovered, and served aboard the Legion's Gloriana-class battleship for a time before he was transferred to field duty shortly before she vanished. Agamarr is a severe man, exacting in standards and grim in outlook, unsmiling and unflinching. To receive no comment from him at all is regarded as a compliment on whatever task was at hand.
Venerable Dreadnaught Boken—He was a hero of the Legion, decorated many times for bravery on the field of battle, and for a short time Captain of the Phalanx Guard, the name given to the short-lived and never-used personal bodyguard of the Primarch. Reviewed on parade only once by the Primarch, they were never requested on the field or informed of the Primarch's movements, which proved difficult to track after only a few short months after the Primarch arrived, as he would consult only with those retainers he brought into the Legion from his pre-discovery life. Boken is now woken only to lead the Vanguard into battle instead.
Battle-cry:
The Legion has no battle-cry.
Legionary History:
The XVIII Legion, true to its high number in the line of succession, was activated fully only during the conquest of the Sol system, not during the earlier Unification Wars on Terra. Its first major campaign conducted as a full Legion took place in the void cities around Neptune, which were pacified and brought into Imperial control. Prior to this small segments of the Legion saw action upon Terra itself, and in the inner Sol system, but generally in support of larger Legions or tasked with secondary objectives or battles. The Legion adopted their original sunburst emblem as a celebration of their victories around and beyond Neptune.
The early days of the Great Crusade are now considered to be the Legion's apex. Driven outwards, as many early Legions were, by the prospect of finding their gene-sire amongst the stars, the XVIII were a commendable Legion in the early days, pushing hard and fast into the darkness and bringing Compliance to many worlds and minor empires. 'The Sunburst Crusade' is a title often given in Legionary history to this period, and included major victories over minor Ork empires, various hostile human polities, and the destruction of scores of minor xenos empires.
It was a day of joy when a transmission from the Emperor himself confirmed the Eighteenth Primarch had been recovered at last, and would soon join his Legion in the field. With the XVIII already an accomplished Legion, many felt the Legion could become the finest in the Emperor's service now that a Primarch could wield such a finely tuned war machine.
It would not last. The Primarch arrived, bringing with him an inner circle already established, and seemed to show little interest in the Legion that already existed. Men who had undergone Astartes uplift from the Primarch's homeworld were quickly installed in positions of power and influence, and new Astartes arriving every year were increasingly inducted as Tech-Marines, Apothecaries, and Librarians. Tensions built within the Legion as the 'Old Legion' and the 'New Legion' factions coalesced, with the Terran-born Legion feeling increasingly locked out of the upper reaches of an organisation they had built.
What happened in the single fateful week leading up to the Primarch's departure is locked away in archives only the Legion Master himself can grant access to. Even the Remembrancers had their records seized in the aftermath. It is believed a group of Old Legion captains forced their way into an audience with the Primarch and made their plea, or made their demands depending on who tells it, regarding the power structure within the Legion and the need for unity. As they told it, the Primarch agreed to this need, and had them depart the flagship to take word of the formation of a Great Council to the many detached elements of the Legion fleet.
Shortly after they left the flagship, all communications were cut by the massive starship and, for the next several hours no one aboard her could be reached. When a lone Thunderhawk blasted open a set of hanger doors and made to escape into the void, and was blown apart by the huge battleship's point defence cannons, the rest of the fleet went to battle stations, ordered Astartes into boarding torpedoes, and sent a final broadcast: reply, or be boarded. Whether this was something the Primarch had been waiting for, or whether this final hail was sent just as the flagship's engine rooms were secured, no one will ever know. The Gloriana-class battleship's Warp engines roared to life and she made a jump to destinations unknown. It was never seen again.
The Emperor himself was informed, by transmission of the utmost urgency and utmost secrecy. He appointed a temporary Legion Master and ordered the Legion to continue their Great Crusade duties in the interim. 'The interim' never ceased: to this day the Legion awaits news. The first act of the second 'temporary' Legion Master was to order the now-standard all-black colour scheme of mourning.
The XVIII Legion: the Shadow Legion
Legionary History (continued):
The Shadow Legion was officially "born" on "the day they understood the consequences", as the Primarch put it.
When the Primarch was discovered, he was forcibly plucked from the world he knew and ruled and was given an army he did not want, told to wage a war he did not care for, and expected to be a general in uniform rather than who he was. What he was not, besides all this, was stupid: Astartes were smarter, faster, stronger, longer lived, more disciplined than any human, and even genetically predisposed to loyalty. He could use that.
The first plan eventually failed. Predisposed to loyalty or not, Astartes, especially the Terran-born ones, were proud peacocks. They chafed against the changes the Primarch put in place: the men he trusted were put into positions of power, and the Old Legion resented that. The Primarch foresaw the eventual boiling point, but it arrived before he was ready. The "Council of Captains" confronted him with their demands, wrapped in feel-good language about unity and brotherhood. They wanted their power back.
They were misdirected, for a time. The Primarch agreed to hear their demands, and fooled them with a counter-offer they believed would ultimately work in their favour: gather the Legion's senior command, from all corners, and settle the Legion's future in the open, with an agreement struck in public, to carry forwards. This got them off his ship.
By then the majority of the Consequences' Astartes complement were the Primarch's men. The Terran-born forces had been mostly, slowly, deployed away to escort vessels or had their egos exploited by being offered independent command detached from the main Legion fleet. The communications system was powered down, the first of the Direct Action Cells were formally activated, and the starship's vital systems were secured. In a ship-wide broadcast, the Primarch labeled the Council of Captains, and the Terran-born Legion they represented, to be traitors and cowards, and required every Terran-born Astartes on the ship to swear a new oath of loyalty to the Primarch himself, in person, forsaking previous chapter loyalties.
It was expected that not all would agree. Fighting soon broke out, as forces loyal to the Old Legion sought to seize both the engine rooms and communications system, seeking to immobilise the flagship and summon aid. The fighting was brutal, close-quarters stuff, with the Old Legion enjoying an advantage in experience and access to more of the Legion's advanced weaponry, but being heavily outnumbered. Deck by deck they were purged, with particularly fierce fighting happening around the engine rooms, which remained held by the Shadow Legion despite multiple ferocious attempts to storm them.
When the writing was on the wall, a small force managed to breach a hangar bay and escape in a Thunderhawk. The jig was up, as they say, but the secret had to die with the traitors: the Thunderhawk was destroyed, but the surrounding Legion fleet knew something was wrong enough that they announced they were preparing boarding torpedoes. Enough was enough, the Old Legion were a lost cause anyway, and so the Consequences was jumped to pre-arranged coordinates to rendezvous with a minor Forge World that had had previous good relations with the Primarch himself. They repaired, modified, and disguised the Gloriana-class battleship in secret in a black starshipyard.
Secret to most. The Emperor's own mighty vessel, the enormous battleship Bucephelus, soon arrived at the head of a Custodes armada, and the Primarch was invited aboard. The term was "invited", but the intent was "ordered". Nonetheless, he accepted the invitation.
None have recorded what happened in the Emperor's personal chambers. The Primarch was absent for days and the Custodes had garrisoned the bridge of the Consequences, barring all from entry. Eventually the Primarch returned, and said only this to his inner circle: "My father and I had a productive discussion. I accepted his viewpoints on my failings, and he accepted my viewpoints on how best to utilise my skills for the Imperium. We will not be returning to the Old Legion, but certain aspects of the plans I had have been changed or abandoned."
From that point on, the Shadow Legion and the Abandoned Eighteenth, the New Legion and Old Legion, permanently parted ways.
Name:
The "Legion" does not have a name. It is known by a thousand names in a thousand systems, by millions of names on millions of tongues. It is known by whatever is expedient at the time, by whatever mask it wears and whatever authority it usurps. Sometimes, it is even known by the names of the other Legions, when it suits.
Insignia and Appearance:
By and large, the Space Marines of the Shadow Legion do not wear uniforms, instead wearing whatever guise suits the needs of the time. On those occasions where Power Armour is donned, it will never be arrayed in a manner that assigns it to any one Legion: often painted to appear as another Legion, or painted in colours or patterns known to belong to no Legion at all.
The vast majority of the Legion is non-Astartes, and few even know that their masters are the Legion. They dress in the manner of their employment: as captains of industry, as masters of ships, manufactorum workers, supervisors, administrators, and even some as the high nobility they believe themselves to be.
Gene-seed Status:
Highly stable, with extremely rare deficiencies in the Catalepsean Node, which is often simply incorporated into the role given to that particular Astartes. Even the suicidal have their uses.
Legionary Assets:
A list too long and myriad to write in one place, if even a central record existed. Every cell of the Shadow Legion oversees their area of territory or economic activity, building their influence and power through any means fair or foul, occasionally making use of being Astartes to deceive, intimidate, or to force compliance.
The number of Astartes in the Shadow Legion is also an unknown quantity. This number is, however, exceptionally dispersed and divided into units no larger than a few hundred (and very few such units exist at that size) but which on average would number a few dozen.
The Gloriana-class battleship Consequences (renamed from Supernova the day she was removed from the Old Legion's order of battle) is the Shadow Legion's headquarters, and has been extensively modified to act as a communications and intelligence platform without equal anywhere in the Imperium. Equipped with extensive hangar bays to facilitate the constant traffic, she acts more like a space station than a warship, and she generally remains deep in the void, emissions shielded and beacons off, to evade detection. As a Gloriana-class ship she still boasts a monumental and fearsome array of weaponry, even if far reduced from many more warlike configurations of the class, so she would still make for a formidable opponent should any vessel attempt to stand against her.
The Legion, through many layers, shells, middle-men, and false identities, owns or controls a long and convoluted list of organisations, individuals, and even planetary governments, through the Imperium, including an extensive series of assets upon Terra itself.
Legion Organisation:
The Shadow Legion is divided into Cells, each tasked by the Primarch with certain territories or economic targets. A Cell generally contains few Astartes, from as few as a dozen to as many as several hundred for the largest and most developed networks. From each Cell a vast network of human (or in some cases xenos) agents are managed, with many being wholly ignorant of the nature of the organisation they answer to.
Additionally, the Primarch controls a series of units directly, usually termed Direct Action Cells, who act far more like typical Astartes. Armed and armoured for war-fighting, trained as any Astartes would be trained, these units are loaned out to Cells, or sent to remedy Cells failing in their duties, and are employed as assault units to take something or someone by force of arms and breathtaking violence of action.
Cells exist across the Imperium (and in some cases beyond it) and are highly active in every criminal underworld they are embedded within. Many of the most powerful underworld organisations, with influence and strength spanning whole sectors, ultimately take instruction from the command deck of the Consequences, whether knowingly or not.
Expertise and Combat Doctrine:
The Shadow Legion does not wage war, at least not in the conventional sense. The Direct Action Cells of the Shadow Legion are specialised in rapid assaults, primarily in urban settings, in order to seize or destroy objectives or people deemed to be critical. They are thus highly trained in infiltration, close quarters battle, sabotage, and stealth.
The majority of the Legion's manpower, however, are more aptly trained in darker arts: blackmail, extortion, murder, coercion, abduction, trafficking, and the like. Most of the Shadow Legion's Astartes act more like murderers and thugs than soldiers. Where more noble Legions have many Astartes trained as statesmen, as planetary governors, as leaders of men, the Shadow Legion's are trained as kingpins, mob bosses, and oligarchs.
Legion Weaknesses:
The Shadow Legion, were it to gather every Direct Action Cell available to it, could field an army of perhaps a few thousand, with no armoured support, no artillery, air power, naval support, or much in the way of heavy weaponry. No planets are conquered by the Shadow Legion, no planets defended by it, no wars waged by it. In a conventional sense, the Legion is militarily inept.
Beliefs and Practices:
To detractors, the Shadow Legion would be the nerve centre of criminality across the Imperium, a great social blight, a stain on what the Imperium should be. Yet, the Emperor has not declared them traitors, has not redacted them from Imperial rolls, and has not hauled their Primarch back to the Imperial Palace in chains.
The grand bargain struck between the Emperor and his rogue son that fateful day has held: the Shadow Legion act in part as the Imperium's secret police force. Those criminal elements that cross the line and go from simple greed and lust for riches, status, and prestige into the darkness of sedition, sorcery, and betrayal are brutally culled in the shadow war waged by the XVIII Legion outside the bounds of Imperial law and justice. What many Planetary, Subsector or Sector Governors label as gang wars or cartel feuds are in fact strikes by the Shadow Legion against those criminal elements whose disloyalty becomes too great to accommodate.
By joining the criminal world, the Shadow Legion can go places no Arbites would ever reach alive, can see and learn things no Imperial authority ever would, and can get and move things the Imperium would never even know of. By acting through tenfold layers of obfuscation, misdirection, and deceit, many in the Imperium's myriad criminal underworlds do not even know to whom they report their secrets and their dealings.
Recruitment and Discipline:
It is not known how the Shadow Legion recruits. Or, rather, there is no single policy: it is believed that Direct Action Cells, when not employed in furthering the Legion's interests, are kept busy abducting prominent young men from the worst of the Underhive pit fight leagues, or from ambushed Prison Barges, or from worthy opponents that yet live when their gangs are slaughtered in a night of bolter fire and chainsword revving. Another theory is the Legion siphons off from the more remote recruiting worlds of other Legions, letting them do the hard work of identifying suitable populations and genetic stock, before impersonating those Legions and conducting their own recruitment round-ups long after the true Space Marines of the Legion that rule that world have taken to the stars with their own batches. A final theory is that Aspirants are simply bred in a eugenics programme run aboard the Consequences herself, as the baseline human population of any vessel that size is already enormous.
Characters of Interest:
None known.
Battle-cry:
The Shadow Legion do not give battle, as such, and so do not have one. Direct Action Cells often impersonate other Legions, and so would use their battle-cries.