| abstract
| - The Star Phantoms is a Loyalist Space Marine Chapter of the 23rd Founding created in the early 38th Millennium from an unknown origin. It took part in the final days of the Badab War and the final assault upon the Astral Claws' homeworld of Badab Primaris, helping bring the war to a successful conclusion. Created during the so-called "Sentinel" Founding, the Star Phantoms were one of several Chapters whose mission was to take and hold various xenos-contested regions on the very borders of the Emperor's domains. Many of the Chapter's earliest campaigns were waged against now-extinct xenos monstrosities, and the Star Phantoms frequently operated on their own and far from the support of other Imperial institutions. This situation is often cited as the main reason for the Chapter's somewhat isolationist outlook, though others have advanced the notion that the cause is rooted in the Star Phantoms' genetic heritage. Some Imperial savants suspect that the Star Phantoms were created from the gene-seed of the Dark Angels, which, if true, would be unusual, not only because the Astartes of the Chapter do not suffer from any known mutations, but because the Dark Angels' gene stock is rarely utilised by the Mechanicus for new Foundings. The Dark Angels themselves deny the lineage, while the Star Phantoms regard any such enquiries as impertinent. The Star Phantoms display a peculiarly idiosyncratic Chapter Cult. The Chapter's rites and traditions focus on death and martyrdom, the fallen being revered over and above the living. Symbols of death and mourning are used as Chapter iconography, the Chapter symbol itself featuring a sand-timer surmounted by two death's heads. This trait extends to a generalised disregard for the living that has often manifested in excessive collateral damage amongst populations the Chapter has been tasked with purging of insurrectionist elements, and even amongst allied units. In battle, the Star Phantoms utilise overwhelming firepower in order to crush their enemy utterly. Unlike many other Chapters, they hold no particular method of war as inherently favourable or honourable. They make extensive use of Drop Pod assaults, supported by a greater than usual reliance of drop pod delivered ordnance such as the Deathstorm, and favoured personal weapons are always those able to deliver the most impressive and destructive firepower. In nature, Battle-Brothers of the Star Phantoms are often solemn and invariably shun contact with those outside of their Chapter. Their Chapter Cult teaches that life is transient and only the manner of a warrior's death holds any meaning. While they may be somewhat cold, the Star Phantoms truly hold no compulsions about dying, so long as they know they will be grieved by their comrades according to their beliefs.
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![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)