**Name:** Chalcedon **Age:** 143 **Gender:** Male **Appearance:** ![Chalcedon](http://i.imgur.com/wOejSMP.jpg "Brother Chalcedon of the 5th Company") Underneath that suit of power armor is a true hulk of a man, standing proud at 8 feet and 5 inches with thick, powerful cables of muscle stretching taut bronze, hardened skin. Bald like a monk, fierce blue eyes stare out forth below bushy black eyebrows, and a stern face, chiseled with hard outlines like a Greek statue, scowls eternally. On many parts of his body, there are metal stubs that jut out forth from his very skin, marring his demigod physique, that let him interface with his power-armor’s machine spirit. Grotesque scars, each with a story to tell, and just as frequent as the stubs, also cover great swathes of his body. **Canon, AU, or OC?:** Canon. **Universe of Origin:** Warhammer 40,000 **Personality:** _ “For those I cherish, I die in glory!” – Chalcedon’s last words before being “killed”._ The sacred fraternity of the Lamenters is well-known throughout the Imperium for its compassion towards the common man, the people whom they swore to protect, and Chalcedon is no exception. Though having seen death and ruin enough to fill a thousand lifetimes, he remains a proud paladin of virtue, and through his veins the kindness of Sanguinius flows with the strong pounding of his twin hearts. But while such compassion is considered as weakness by some, Chalcedon shows none of it for the enemies of mankind, showing only hatred and delivering righteous fury. Indeed, he would go to great lengths to save a single human life – provided, of course, the tactical situation wouldn’t go awry from the action. The Emperor loves His servants and citizens, and perhaps the Lamenters are a personification of that love through the geneseed of the Blood Angels. Mild-mannered and soft-spoken for a Space Marine, the only battlecries he yells amid the chaos of the battlefield are those that may inspire his allies. He needs not to even taunt the enemy, for they are below him, and whatever message he may wish to convey, they may receive duly and justly at the nose of a bolter round. The Adeptus Astartes' primary mission is to protect and serve. And by the Emperor, Chalcedon will protect and serve. **Abilities/Weapons:** **_Equipment:_** - **Power Armor, Astartes Mark VII Aquila-pattern:** Constructed in the holiest forges using arcane alloys of adamantium and plasteel, and coated with an ablative layer of ceramite, truly is this set of powered armor fitting for the distant grandson of a literal God, the noble paladin that is a Space Marine. Worth more than a thousand mortal souls, it shrugs off lasers, bullets and witchcraft alike as if they were nothing. Without it, a Space Marine is but a mere goliath on the battlefield. With it – and he is never seen without it – he is a god of war. In addition to its protective value, the Mark VII has got a suite of sensors to smell, see, or hear the enemy from kilometers away. Vacuum-proofed, a Space Marine is able to fight in the airless void of space, and its advanced NBC facilities render the perils of any environment be it radioactive, biological or chemical, utterly nil. Machine spirits and other software are run by a powerful cogitator that analyzes the battlefield in real-time and tags the enemy, ensuring that they do not get away from their coming redemption. - **Bolter, Astartes MK Vb Godwyn-pattern:** The primary weapon for most Space Marines, the Bolter is the foremost cleansing tool when dealing with horrid existences such as aliens, mutants, heretics and traitors. Firing a .75-caliber rocket-propelled grenade at 700 rounds per minute, one projectile is more than enough to gore a man inside-out. Built-in sensors and automatic targeting software can communicate with those in a Space Marine’s suit to provide accuracy that is unmatched. This automatic weapon is optimally held with both hands and is iconic of the Adeptus Astartes. - **Chainsword, Redeemer-pattern:** It is well that the chainsword is so common in the arsenals of the Space Marines, for what is a knight without his blade? Or rather, hundreds of them, powered by a promethium-fueled motor to let them rev and churn against the enemy’s flesh, turning the foe into mincemeat and gore. A cross between a chainsaw and a sword, it is a true battlefield weapon whose teeth, made of monomolecular-sharp adamantium blades, will cut through steel and muscle alike almost without effort. - **Frag Grenade, Type 23 Talvir-pattern:** These are potent fragmentation grenades whose purpose is to kill infantry with blast and shrapnel. With a high yield and a large blast radius, these grenades are effective situational weapons. - **Krak Grenade, Mark 14 Katana-pattern:** These are potent anti-tank grenades whose purpose is to destroy armored vehicles with a single, earth-shattering blast. With a high yield and a target-reactive construction that focuses it in such a small blast radius, these grenades will devour and destroy any tank-sized armored foe. _**Personal Skills and Abilities:**_ - **Angel of Death:** If the Immortal Emperor of Mankind – praise be His Name – is Humanity’s one true God, then the Space Marines, the glorious Adeptus Astartes, are his Angels. Though they are not angels of comfort, but rather, they are angels of death. Their wings are not made of immaculate, silken feathers but of screaming rocket engines. Their music is not played with the serene melodies of a harp, but with the loud roar of a bolter or the revving of a chainsword. Whereas other angels will inspire you with love or joy, Space Marines will inspire you with terror and fear. Chalcedon is one such monstrosity, and he, along with his peers, is a super-soldier, a warrior almost without equal in the galaxy he calls home. If the subject is warfare, be it trench, maneuver or blitz; be it melee or ranged, Chalcedon knows it all, as warring is the only purpose of his existence. - **Secondary Heart:** Chalcedon, like all other Space Marines, has had a secondary heart grafted into his system, which allows him to survive his other heart being crippled. He also benefits from the improved bloodflow offered by the extra organ. - **Ossmodula:** This implant has modified the growth of Chalcedon’s bones during his growing years, making them larger and stronger. In addition, it has caused his ribcage to expand, thicken, and fuse its members to become a solid, bulletproof shield of interlocking demigod bone. - **Biscopea:** Serving as a hormonal basis for the implantation of other organs, the Biscopea also encourages heavy muscle growth. As such, Chalcedon is now a true hulk of a man, as strong as the giants of legend. - **Haemastamen:** Space Marines benefit from this tiny implant in that their blood becomes more efficient at carrying oxygen from an increased haemoglobin content. - **Larraman’s Organ:** Blessed be Saint Larraman for forging this sacred implant, for it allows Space Marines to survive even the most grievous of wounds. This organ releases Larraman’s Cells if Chalcedon is wounded, and immediately seals the offending injury with a near-instantaneous generation of scar tissue. - **Catalepsean Node:** This implant makes it so that Space Marines require but 4 hours of sleep daily, and can potentially go for 2 weeks fully awake. Switching off and turning on areas of his brain during sleep smartly, it also allows a Space Marine to sense his environment during slumber, ensuring that he does not get ambushed. - **Preomonor:** This is a pre-stomach that can isolate or neutralize poisonous or otherwise indigestible foods. This organ allows a Space Marine to eat almost anything. - **Omophagea:** A specialized brain implant that allows a Space Marine to “learn by eating,” by allowing him to read the genetic memory of his meal. So, even if one decides not to talk till death, a Space Marine may simply take a bite out of his flesh and extract roughly what he wants to know. - **Multi-lung:** This third lung activates when a Space Marine enters a low-oxygen environment or even water, and allows him to breathe in both. With highly-efficient toxin dispersal systems, this organ allows a Space Marine to breathe even poison gas. - **Occulobe:** With the help of this organ, the Apothecaries of the Lamenters, through their blessed work, has given Chalcedon and his brothers superior eyesight, and allowed them to see in night almost as well as in the day. - **Lyman’s Ear:** Lyman’s blessed organ allows a Space Marine to hear sounds normally inaudible, to a point where he can almost – almost – hear his own muscles contracting and expanding. It also renders him immune to dizziness and motion sickness. - **Sus-an Membrane:** This implant merges with a Space Marine’s brain and allows him to enter in a state of suspended animation, preserving his body for years, activated at his command or when extreme trauma is inflicted upon him. The longest recorded period spent in suspended animation was undertaken by Brother Silas Err of the Dark Angels, who was revived after 567 years. - **Melanchromic Organ:** This implant will increase or decrease the melanin level of a Marine’s skin depending on the intensity of sunlight. It also protects the Marine, to a point, against other kinds of radiation. - **Oolitic Kidney:** In conjunction with the secondary heart, the Space Marine can filter his blood with this organ very rapidly, rendering him immune to most poisons. The drawback is that the Marine must stay unconscious while his blood is circulated at a very high speed. - **Neuroglottis:** This enhances the Space Marine’s sense of taste to the point where he can track down his target by taste alone. - **Mucranoid:** This implant allows a Space Marine to sweat a substance that coats the skin and offers extreme resistance against the heat and cold, and can even provide a measure of protection in the void of space. Activated only by Apothecarian rites, it is common to do so when a Space Marine is expected to fight in space. - **Betcher’s Gland:** This implant allows a Space Marine to spit a blinding contact poison so corrosive that, given time, it can even break strong metals. - **Black Carapace:** The most distinctive implant, this resembles a firm, black plastic that is implanted directly underneath a Space Marine’s skin. Having matured, Chalcedon’s Black Carapace, like the ones of other Astartes, is fitted with neural sensors and interface points with which he can synchronize with his power armor. Chalcedon, being a member of the Lamenters, does not suffer from the Black Rage nor the Red Thirst thanks to the borderline-heretical genetic tampering by the Priesthood of Mars during the conception of his chapter. **Backstory:** _ “I am no longer Chalcedon, son of Makedon, but Chalcedon, son of Sanguinius, the Beatific One, and am now until forever an instrument of war of the Immortal Emperor, praise be His Name. I will be the arrow that fires from His bow, the blade of His sword, the mail around His fist, as I join the sacred fraternity of the Adeptus Astartes.” – Excerpt from Chalcedon’s initiation oaths._ Chalcedon was born on the feral world of Turkje in the year 40,849 AD with a pedigree of warriorhood and was recruited as an adolescent by the Lamenters chapter as their fleet passed by. Passing through the painful trials of a space marine neophyte, surmounting the mounds of bodies of failed candidates that collected over the years, Chalcedon, after serving honorably for three decades as a scout in the 10th Company, was promoted to full battle-brotherhood and given his own set of power armor. Beginning the Eternal War as a true Astartes battle-brother in the 9th Company, Chalcedon hacked, gored, shot and detonated foes as he rose up to the 8th, 7th and 6th Companies. Chalcedon also fought against other Space Marines in the dissident Badab War, particularly distinguishing himself when the Minotaurs chapter attacked the Lamenters’ fortress-monastery. Personally taking down five enemy Space Marines with bolter and chainsword – and not without lament, for he was forced to slay his own brothers – he was promoted during post-war chapter reorganization to a place in the 5th Company as a tactical marine and awarded several orders of merit, though no honors could placate his aching hearts as over 500 Marines of the Lamenters perished in a pointless conflict. He was there when the chapter was sentenced to a century-long penitent crusade, and he was there when it ended: serving in the 5th Company as a Sergeant – and intending to do so till his death, having formed a strong bond with the members of that unit – Chalcedon spent the last century of the 41st millennium fighting hard as a Space Marine should against, amongst others, the horror that was the Tyranid Hive Fleet ominously named Kraken. Planet after planet, his chapter, the Lamenters, defended, though at a great cost each battle, for while Space Marines are gods of war, they are not infallible, and numbers can overwhelm. Every engagement had them face tens of thousands of Tyranids at the least and over a trillion at the worst. When the chapter had only 300 Space Marines left, out of the 1,000 it should have, Chalcedon’s twin hearts sunk into inconsolable sorrow and became as cold as the void of space. Chalcedon met a poetic end as he was struck by a Zoanthrope’s psychic bolt the moment his chapter was cut off of communications with Imperial command. However, instead of being guided to the Emperor’s Palace, or becoming a paladin of the Legion of the Damned, what Chalcedon found after death was… a whole new world. Or rather, a whole mess of them. **Faction:** Chalcedon’s loyalty lies with the Emperor of Mankind and nobody else!