Astral Dragons

"The Sons of Avalon have returned, fallen Eldar. And you will be repayed a hundred-fold for what you have done to our home."

- Dragon King Arthur Claudius

The Astral Dragons chapter of the Emperor's Adeptus Astartes have their roots in the darkess days of the Horus Heresy. Grim of temperament but of terrifying anger, they have time and time again proven themselves to be utterly dedicated to the protection of the peoples of the Imperium.

Official Story
The history of the chapter, according to official sources, can be traced to an Ultramarines Legion Praetor named Alexander Aurelius. During the Siege of Terra, he and the men under his command bravely fended off nigh endless assaults by traitor forces and even managed to launch multiple excursions into traitor held territory to held rescued trapped Imperial forces and civilians. How an Ultramarines strike force managed to get to the Siege of Terra is explained as either pure luck or the Will of the God Emperor.

When Lord Guilliman divided up his Legion, recognizing the Praetor's deeds, gave him his, Alexander's, homeworld of Avalon as his chapter's world.

True Story
However, while most of the official story was true, as every good lie has some truth in it, Alexander was never truly a part of Guilliman's legion. Truthfully, he was a Praetor of the Emperor's Children Legion. Soon after the pacification of the serpentine xenos known as the Laer, he noticed the changing behavior of his Primarch and began keeping paying closer attention, hoping that it was nothing serious. However, after consulting with Lord Commander Vespasian and others who feared for their Primarch and the Legion, his concern only grew stronger.

What had saved him from the Istvaan III massacre and brought him the frontlines of the Siege of Terra could only be described as the Emperor's will. Issues during Warp Transit caused his vessel to dewarp shortly before the traitor forces were done slaughtering the loyalists. As fate would have it, he managed to receive a signal from loyalist Death Guard, who warned him about the treachery of Horus and begged him to warn the Legions on Istvaan V. Unfortunately, he arrived too late to stop the second massacre, but resolved to travel to Terra to help prepare for an inevitable siege.

Post-Heresy to M41
During this period, the chapter maintained the original character of the 3rd Legion. However, a somberness and grim deposition had quickly seized the chapter and later generations of the chapter would only know the official story of their history, out of a desire to keep the chapter from falling into despair from the knowledge of who their brothers are.

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Overview
The 19th Dragon King of the chapter perished in the year M41.664. During the selection process for the next Dragon King, a whole third of the chapter's strength suddenly seized upon their brothers and began rebelling against the Imperium. Led by a man now known only as Mordred, they cut a bloody swath through several cities on Avalon and managed to destroy two entire companies and crippled another in a short period of time. However, due the sacrifices of the fifth company, the loyalist forces were to able to rally under the command of Dragon-Knight Arthur Claudius of the Sixth Company, Mordred's younger brother.

During a long and grueling counter-offensive, the loyalist forces were able to whittle down the traitors before pushing them back into a final defensible location at the hilly region of Camlann. Bearing the relics once used by the chapter's founder, Arthur seemingly slew his older brother in combat and routed the remaining traitor forces.

However, as the fighting ended, dozens of Imperial void craft, from both Imperial Navy and Astartes forces, enter the Avalon system. Following several months of intense Inquisitorial interrogation, a tribunal of Space Marine chapters was convened to pass judgement upon the Astral Dragons. Looking at the once stellar record of the chapter and the satisfactory reports from the interrogations of the chapter's leader, it was decided that the chapter would go on a pentitent crusade of one hundred years to prove that they were still worthy of being in the Emperor's service.

Penitent Crusade
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Return to Avalon
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M42
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Chapter Organization
The chapter is divided into twelve companies of one hundred battle brothers each. The first and second companies consists of all of the chapter's veterans and terminator units. In these companies, all of the chapter's Leviathan and Contemptor class dreadnoughts continue to fight even after death. Companies three through six are the main battle line companies, sharing the same compistion that such companies are expected to have as laid out in the Codex Astartes. The seventh and eigth companies are the chapter's dedicated heavy support companies, consisting of seven devastator squads, two tactical squads, and five veterans each, in addition to having control over the chapter's heaviest support vehicles. The ninth and tenth companies are the dedicated assault companies, consisting entirely of jump pack and biker assault units. The eleventh company is the dedicated scout company and also maintains many of the chapter's landspeeders. The twelth and final company currently consists of the small number of Primaris Marines that the chapter was given during the Indomitus Crusade.

Ranks
Squires (Scouts)

Knight-Errant (Assault and Devastators)

Knights (Tactical Marines)

White Knights (Sergeants)

Chevaliers (Lieutenants)

Ensigns (Ancients)

Spirit Bearers (Chaplains)

Apothecaries

Magos (Librarions)

Dragon Knight (Captain)

Scarlet Dragon (Force Commander)

Dragon King (Chapter Master)

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Chapter Tactics and Demeanor
There two parts of the chapter's general combat doctrine. One of destructive preliminary heavy weapons strikes, and the other of a swift and fatal melee rush.

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Dragon King Arthur Claudius
Arthur, the current Dragon King, is a native of Avalon Prime and, 193 at the time of his ascension, is one of the youngest Dragon Kings in the chapter's history. An exemplar of the chapter's virtues of self-sacrifice and courage, he proved to be the proper heir to the position during the betrayal of his older brother Mordred.

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The Regalia
This three relics are considered the most sacred in the chapter, as all three have been passed from Dragon King to Dragon King ever since the founding of the chapter. They consist of a masterwork relic blade, an iron halo, and a suit of mark three 'maximus' power armor.

The relic blade is known as Excalibur. Finely crafted and with near flawless balance, it is an extremely deadly weapon to all enemies of mankind, but is especially fatal to denizens of the Warp. The iron halo is known as the Prydwyn. Due to its origins in the Great Crusade, it is far stronger than most iron halos and renders it's bearer nigh invulnerable while it is active. Lastly, the armor is referred to as the Aegis of Avalon. Similar to other artificers suits of its kind, it provides protection that easily rivals that of suits of tactical dreadnought armor.

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