Obsidian Talons

The Obsidian Talons are a Loyalist Chapter who - unknown to the vast majority of the Imperium for millennia - were Founded during the 21st Founding. They are often characterised by their aggressiveness, secretiveness, mistrustful nature and their employment bionics on a massive scale.

Known for their abilities in exterminating Xenos breeds, they predominantly operate on the Eastern Fringe in the untamed areas of space where Xenos still run rampant. They are also known to successfully campaign against Tyranid Hive Fleets and splinter fleets thereof.

Cursed Beginnings
Their beginnings were largely kept hidden because of intense secrecy, incomplete records, and the employment of extensive bionics. This truth was known by the Chapter itself, but was only revealed to the Imperium at large several millennia later.

Early History
The earliest years of the Chapter are shrouded in secrecy, but surviving records suggest that they did not always operate within the Eastern Fringe. Instead, it is suggested that they were a crusading Chapter without a Homeworld and thus were Fleet-Based for many centuries.

Notable Campaigns
Across the millennia since their inception, the Obsidian Talons have engaged in countless conflicts of infinite nature. However, only a few have ever been truly noteworthy.

Lost Brothers [ 238.M38 ]
During one of the Chapter's shortest conflicts, they were tasked with the complete extermination of a very Warp-sensitive Xenos breed about which exists effectively no record. During the earliest days of the conflict, a Warp Rift opened that split the planet in two.

Nothing is known about exactly what happened next since even the Chapter's own records are almost completely non-existent, but what is known is that the Warp Rift closed shortly after it opened. Next to nothing remained, with only a small debris field of metal and rock teetering on the fringes of the Warp Rift's reach.

As many as four hundred Astartes - the true number being lost to time - were on the planet when the Warp Rift opened and none made it off the surface once it did.

Antonius Greyheart
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Chapter Homeworld
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Chapter Recruitment
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Fortress Monastery
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The Librarius
The Librarius as it exists in most other Chapters does not exist in the Obsidian Talons' Chapter structure, instead replaced by a group of human auxiliaries that go by the same name and whose role is the documentation of anything and everything to do with the Chapter.

Non-Combat Psykers
The Obsidian Talons have a deep mistrust and hatred towards psykers in general as a result of the apparent weakness the Chapter sees in them, but this is not always the case. In the cases of psykers such as Astropaths and Navigators, the Chapter has a dislike for them rather than deep mistrust and hatred since they realise that without the work of such psykers, the Imperium could not function.

Therefore, all psykers that fulfill roles such as those of an Astropath or Navigator are tolerated and employed by the Obsidian Talons, but are both guarded and watched very carefully.

All other psykers such as Librarians of other Adeptus Astartes Chapters or the Sanctioned Psykers of the Astra Militarum are not tolerated under any circumstances. This lack of tolerance is so extreme that various psykers have been executed by the Chapter in circumstances that are generally shrouded in either misinformation or complete lack thereof.

Mutation
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Impurity of the Psyker
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Hidden by Bionics
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Chapter Tactics
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Chapter Ethos
The Obsidian Talons were very aggressive as a general rule and also often don't communicate well with those who are not a member of the Chapter. The older, more senior Astartes such as Company Captains and the Chapter Master tend to be more experienced not just on the battlefield, but also reigning in their aggression, meaning that they are more stoic than aggressive when dealing with outsiders.

Culturally, they were all about honour and purity, which is part of why they continue to use bionics. Bionics are incorruptible and thus pure, while the pursuit of martial prowess on the field of battle against all Xenos was considered very honourable. As a result of both of the aforementioned, it was not uncommon to see melee weapons that are unique in their nature which are also bonding to the bionics of its bearer. For example, a typical Assault Marine whose specialisation is close combat will often have a variant of a chainblade which is mechanically attached to one of their bionic arms and was typically only removed when the battle is finished.