Accipiters

"Revere the works of the Emperor by upholding the honor of Corax, by ensuring the safeguarding of the Imperium, by abhorring corruption and by giving your very lives to the Golden Throne! Do all this and more, and the Emperor shall smile upon you!"

- Chaplain Alerin Issoro of the Accipiters' 2nd Company The Accipiters are a valiant Codex-Compliant Chapter from the fabled 23rd Founding of the lineage of Corvus Corax, well known throughout the Imperium for their exploits against the xeno horrors and Chaos strongholds of Segmentum Tempestus. This Millennia-long crusade awarded the Accipiters with many accolades and culminated in receiving the Hive World of Sedonus as a recruiting world in early M41 for their efforts.

While the Accipiters abide by the edicts of the Codex Astartes, penned by Roboute Guilliman, the Chapter has a particular love for using ranged weaponry and luring in an enemy to a deadly ambush with Assault Marines. This tactic has proved to be quite effective when operating against Orks and their favored enemy, traitor Astartes.

During the latter years of M41 the Accipiters were famously embroiled in a long war against the vicious Chaos Warband, the Forsworn. The heretic Astartes had long been a threat to Imperial vessels travelling through the westward regions of Tempestus, and the Accipiters were committed to driving the Slaanesh-worshipping pirates out of the area and make shipping and transport lanes much more safer, and that victory earned them respect among their brother Chapters of Tempestus.

History
Formed in late years of the 37th Millennium, the Accipiters were charged with the protection of Imperial worlds in the Segmentum Tempestus, which were under constant assault by alien and heretic alike. With no homeworld of their own, the Chapter’s fleet-based nature allowed it to deploy across the Segmentum whenever needed,many times with each Company going to separate battle-zones in the Orpheus, Spartus, and Uhulis Sectors dealing with greenskin hordes, Dark Eldar pirates, and Chaos uprisings. With each company facing such large enemy forces alone, they all resolved to be as Corvus of old, and be the blade that strikes suddenly and deadly. The Accipiters’ use of devastating ambushes and guerrilla tactics proved to be a true ally in their battles and they saw success across Tempestus, while also suffering regrettable casualties to the youth of their Chapter. Over the following years, the Accipiters grew very well accustomed to their adopted stratagem and tactics and become heroes to the countless Agri and Hive worlds saved from their merciless attacks from the shadows.

Notable Campaigns
War of Ghosts (893-953.M41) - For many thousands of years the name, “the Forsworn,” conjured fear and unease in many soldiers of the Imperial Navy, and for good reason. For the unlucky captain to see alabaster vessels adorned with a sigil of a great eye was not likely to ever reach their destination. In 893.M41 the Accipiters were ordered to chase down and eliminate the traitorous threat to the Imperium’s vital space lanes, and the Chapter eagerly accepted the directive. The honor of hunting down the Forsworn was taken by then chapter master, Lord Indral Anderus, with the 1st and 6th Companies under his command.

The hunt for the Forsworn began in the Caradryan Sector, as the Accipiters swept through the void waited for a distress signal that could be the result of the Warband’s presence. Surely, after months of remaining on edge, ready to engage at a moments’ notice, Indral’s force consisting of the Battle-Barge Whisper of Wrath and the 6th Company’s frigate, Tempered Sword, as well as a few other smaller vessels found themselves responding to a Forsworn attack. They came upon an Imperial Navy cruiser beset by the enemy Warband’s ambush, and was already being boarded. Knowing that most of his brothers would be at an extreme disadvantage attacking the majority of the Forsworn who now were on the cruiser, and had nigh-perfected ship-to-ship combat, Indral ordered the 6th Company to board the Forsworn ships that had deposited most of their marines into the Navy cruiser, while he and the elite 1st Company saved the cruiser itself and cut the head of the snake by slaying the ambush commander leading the attack on the cruiser.

After heavy fighting on all fronts, the 6th Company managed to destroy the Forsworn’s ships and left the large boarding party stranded, with the claws and assault cannons of the Accipiters 1st Company. Himself being an expert in hand-to-hand, as expected of an officer of his Chapter, Indral slew dozens of heretical marines with his deadly lightning claws as he scoured the ship for every last traitor and showed them the Emperor’s wrath for their crimes. After the day was won, the Accipiters escorted the battered Navy cruiser to the closest port as a sort of apology for arriving so late to the battle. But the Forsworn were far from defeated, and Indral had but destroyed one pack of the Warband.

The next encounter the Accipiters would have with the Forsworn occurred five years after the previous, but this time the 2nd Company under Captain Raynerus was attacked during the purgation of an ork-controlled world in the Chiros Sector, named Olmov. Caught off-guard by the sudden appearance of the Chaos Marines, much of the 2nd Company was slain, including Raynerus himself. Enraged by his captain and mentor's sacrifice, a marine named Percival Felfyre took up Raynerus' bolter loaded with Inferno Bolts and fired relentlessly at the traitors. The Forsworn were long ago blessed with a merged consciousness through their gene-seed, and when one of their number was set on fire from within, every last one of them felt the same pain. Crippled momentarily, Percival was able to slay dozens of the writhing Chaos Marines and rallied his brothers to a Pyrrhic victory not only on the Forsworn, but the Orks of Olmov.

The final battle of the so-called "War of Ghosts," was when four entire Companies of the Accipiters assembled and began to siege an asteroid-turned fortress used as a staging post for Forsworn raiding parties. Named Theoprae by the Heretic Astartes calling it home, the Lord Indral saw the cesspit station as key to achieving his mission and thus the Accipiters' Battle Companies launched a surprise attack from all directions, the goal to completely destroy Theoprae. But the defenses lining the asteroid were quite deadly, and the Forsworn's dedication to perfecting the art of killing had those defenses used to great effect. Knowing that somewhere inside Theoprae there might be a Sorceror or a low-level psyker that might send a signal to the rest of their Warband in the Warp, Indral organized a strike force to enter the station and deliver a high-ordnance warhead inside, as shooting a missile directly could spell it being shot down by gun batteries. Arriving through torpedoes, Indral's contingent bloodily fought through the warped and menacing insides of Theoprae to find a suitable location to set off their bomb. When the group found such a spot, they were reduced drastically in number. And while arming the warhead, Indral bravely gave his life so that the mission would succeed, and the payload detonated, destroying Theoprae entirely but at the cost of the Accipiters' beloved Chapter Master. Now, a statue of Indral Anderus stands proudly in the Chapter's Fortress Monastery, a testament to the Accipiters dedication to their duty, to Emperor and Imperium.

Leyak Reinforcement (957.M41) - Upon receiving communications from their brother Chapter, the Warriors Tempest, requesting reinforcement to patrol the Leyak Sector after reports of Dark Eldar raiding parties in the Sector, the Accipiters seconded three Tactical Squads from the 6th Company, led by the young Apothecary Aegir. The next solar year, only Aegir and five of his brothers returned to their Chapter alive.

Ambush at Indoria (962.M41) - Heeding a call for aid from the beleaguered 22nd Gothoran Imperial Guard Regiment, the Accipiters' 4th Company made landfall on the Agri World of Indoria to find the Regiment absolutely decimated. Shortly after, the 4th Company was suddenly attacked by strange Chaos Marines, appearing to be Forsworn. But these Forsworn screamed praises to Chaos Undivided, rather than Slaanesh. Taken completely by surprise, many Accipiters died as Captain Alaras Morvon ordered a quick retreat back to their ships. More than half of the 4th Company was slain fighting off the new Forsworn from their extraction zone, and most of the progenoid glands could not be recovered. Captain Alaras swore an oath of vengeance against their nemesis Warband.

Invasion of Hive Fleet Cobra (975.M41) - Eventually a tendril of the Great Devourer had invaded the outlying worlds of the Haxan Sector, a portion of Tempestus that was liberated and founded after the Dark Marches Crusade. This particular Hive Fleet, dubbed "Cobra" due to a vapid mutant strain of extremely venomous garbs and fangs sported by the Tyranids of the Fleet, was poised to consume the entire Sector, but the Accipiters took up the duty of dealing with the aliens alongside the heroic Imperial Guard marshaled to defend Haxan. All of the Chapter's battle companies had assembled under order of the Lord Hanoleth, the Chapter Master. For weeks the Accipiters studied the Tyranids as they used the teachings of Corvus Corax to assassinate key and imposing genomes among the xenos ranks, extracting genetic material, used by the Chapter's Apothecaries to tailor a weapon to use effectively against the Tyranids. But as the Hive Fleet then massed toward the Sector Capital, there was little time left for such care, and the Accipiters deployed to fight Cobra. The battle was hard fought, and many battle-brothers gave their lives to fight off the unending hordes, but the 1st Company managed to slay the Hive Tyrant, Hanoleth holding the creature's head to the sky and cried out, "Shadow take you," to the retreating Tyranids as Battlefleet Haxan and the Accipiters' own fleet tore into Cobra's living ships in orbit. With this victory, the Accipiters won the favor of the Sector and the accompanying glories.

Chapter Organization
The Accipiters dutifully follow the edicts and wisdom of the Codex Astartes, thus arranging their Chapter into the standard ten companies, the 1st comprised of Veterans, 2nd-5th being the battle companies, 6th-9th the reserves, and finally the 10th scout company. While the Accipiters adhere to the work of Roboute Guilliman, as a later Founding Chapter, they often prefer to eschew its battle strategies in favor of their own.

Chapter Homeworld
The Hive World of Sedonus is a heavily industrialized planet, with cities sprawled all across its surface. Like all Hive Worlds, it can be extremely dangerous to live and survive with underworld gangs, food riots, and the everyday struggle to live in such an environment. However, for an unknown reason, there are a great many vigilantes that appear to attack the gangs that all but rule the Underhives, and these vigilantes if they are effective are prime recruits for the Accipiters that collect neophytes from Sedonus. The highest quality that the Chapter's Chaplains are keen to look for in potential recruits are the ability to strike fast and hard, with maximum damage caused. Like the Raven Guard, the Chaplains of the Accipiters will soar and stalk through the Hives of Sedonus and watch the potential neophyte operate, and if they pass their "tests," the Chaplain will then abduct the human and bring him to the hidden lunar Fortress Monastery of Hawk's Sepulcher.

The Accipiters' hidden Fortress Monastery, situated on Sedonus' moon, Sion, is where young Accipiters are trained and instructed in the Chapter's lore and history. Most of Hawk's Sepulcher itself is buried deep below the surface of Sion, and there is speculation that indeed much of the small moon insides are hollowed out and used by the Accipiters, though for what use is one of the Chapter's few secrets.

Chapter Combat Doctrine
The Accipiters dutifully follow the guidelines of the Codex Astartes and organize their Chapter accordingly, with ten standard companies and four battle-line companies of Tactical, Assault, and Devastator Marines in even portion. However, the Accipiters' favored tactics rarely entail head-on and drawn out battles. Instead, they prefer to start and end a battle with minimal time wasted and maximum damage dealt, thus the Accipiters' love for ambushes and long-range combat. Usually this accomplished with artillery emplacements established and the mobile forces of the Chapter will harass the enemy into entering range of a barrage of death from the sky, as well as the fire of Devastators. But when the tide turns against their preferred way of battle, the Accipiters are by no means out of their element with taking up chainsword.