Sons of Taurus Background

Looking through some papers a few weeks ago I came upon the old writeup I did for the background of the Sons of Taurus renegade Space Marines when I was getting back into 40K a decade ago.  With all the Badab War stuff coming down the pipe from Forge World I thought this would be a good time to transcribe it here.  I swear I'll actually make the army some day, or at least a Killzone team!

Sons of Taurus

Beginnings

     During the dark days of the Badab War, Marine fought Marine in the largest such conflict since the great Horus Heresy.  The Traitor forces raided Imperial shipping lanes, and loyal chapters such as the Minotaurs were sent to stop them. 
     Long and arduous were the battles the Minotaurs fought with the Traitors, especially with the Lamenters.  The Minotaurs became quite adept at the boarding actions prevalent in this conflict, destroying and capturing many Lamenter vessels.  Captain Taurus' forces were often at the vanguard of such actions including at the ambush in M41.908 that led to the final surrender of the Lamenters.

     Eventually the Traitors were beaten down and the Tyrant of Badab fled along with some of his surviving followers.  Along with the other loyalists, the Minotaurs received rewards.  In their case, the rewards included a share of the captured ships and equipment.  This was a bitter disappointment to many Minotaurs, as the "reward" consisted of spoils that they already possessed, while other chapters received entire worlds.  Their resentment and extended deployment time left some Minotaurs ripe for corruption.

     With the "betrayal" by the Adeptus Terra, Taurus would no longer willingly serve those who claimed to speak for the Emperor.  He recognized the need for a patron to help protect him and those he would lead into heresy from the Inquisition and other enemies.  Inspecting the prize ships, Captain Taurus uncovered various relics and heretical tomes, study of which fed upon his bitterness and led him down the path to Chaos.  One of the Chaos Gods would be a natural choice for his needed patron.  But which one?

      The four main gods were powerful and tempting, but Taurus hesitated.  What would he and his relatively small band be to such a powerful entity, who already commanded LEGIONS of Space Marines and others, many of whom had served for millenia?  No, these gods had too many followers and were more concerned with maintaining their power rather than expanding it.  He needed a patron with a smaller base, where Taurus could rise more easily; a patron interested in expanding their power.  One of the "middle" gods of Chaos.

     Communing with several such entities through dark rituals, Taurus and Hashut chose each other.  Swelling the ranks of his company with other disaffected Minotaurs and liberated prisoners, primarily Lamenters, Taurus warped out to begin his career as a renegade and the SONS OF TAURUS were born.