Subject: Guardians of the Covenant
Classification Level: ██████████
Date Reconstructed: M42.019
Authorizing Authority: Ordo Hereticus, Sub-Sector Calverna
Clearance Required: Ω-Crux Protocol
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Extracted from fragmentary remnants of sealed vault-data recovered from the ruins of Station Barakiel in the Halo Stars. Contents verified against Apocrypha of Skaros and the Index Excommunicatus – Volume XIII.
> “Even in penitence, treachery casts a long shadow.”
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➤ Origins
Though publicly lauded as an obscure yet faithful Chapter founded in the aftermath of the Scouring, recent findings strongly suggest the Guardians of the Covenant were not born of loyalty—but of betrayal.
Evidence from recovered Legiones Astartes ciphers, matching tactical markings found on derelict battle-plate, points to their origin as a Blackshield warband formed during the late Horus Heresy. They operated under numerous codenames—most notably the Shadowed Flame, Penumbral Order, and in one unredacted sigil-plate, the Fourth Vow.
Their genetic markers trace to the First Legion, but all references to a parent Company or Crusade fleet have been struck from Dark Angels’ internal records. Not uncommon, yet this level of redaction is extreme—even by Unforgiven standards.
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➤ Treachery
Recovered vox-logs and war scrap from the Siege of Terra confirm the presence of a unit bearing the now-iconic sigil of the Guardians—pre-crimson, but bearing dual-bladed heraldry and sealed helms with liturgical scrolls.
Witnesses describe them fighting alongside Iron Warriors and Sons of Horus, displaying no Daemonic allegiance, yet executing Loyalist forces with precision. Their war doctrine emphasized decapitation strikes and strategic annihilation of Imperial morale assets—libraria, remembrancer enclaves, data-crypts.
One fragment from a slain VIII Legion Remembrancer reads:
> “They kill like priests. Like they mourn each throat they cut.”
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➤ Exile and Transformation
Following Horus’ death, they did not flee to the Eye. Instead, they surrendered to Terra. Their Praetor, one Eryan Valedorn, was executed without trial. The surviving warriors—numbering less than a hundred—were banished to the Halo Stars, their armorial stripped, their oaths nullified.
There, they began again.
Over millennia, they assumed a new identity: the Guardians of the Covenant. They forged a dual path of thought and war: the Theoreticum, dedicated to understanding, and the Practicum, dedicated to defense. Their crimson robes—first worn in pride—became grom reminders of blood spilled in sin.
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➤ Verdict
They are a Chapter of penitents. But not innocents.
Their betrayal is buried, but not erased.
Their knowledge is vast—and dangerous.
Their loyalty, measured by their willingness to be forgotten.
The question is not whether they will fall again.
The question is—if they do—who will be left to stop them?
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+++ Data-Slate Sealed. Archival Access Denied Without Inquisitorial Seal ORDO-M42-BLACK.
+++ Transmitting to Librarius Obscura, Segmentum Pacificus.
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