Atomic Gladiators

Atomic Gladiators
The Atomic Gladiators, a 2nd Founding Iron Hands successor, are a fleet based Space Marine Chapter that is slightly Codex compliant with 5,000 Astartes organized into 1,000 strong Corps  groups. The Gladiators are a very unique Chapter, for they have close ties with both the Mechanicus of the Forge World Toyotis and the Knight House Stark on the Feudal World of Koschei in the star system of Canum, Segmentum Tempestus. Although fleet based, the Atomic Gladiators have a Chapter Citadel on Koschei, and many other planets, as a fixed point for the Chapter. The Citadel is where they take in recruits after collecting them throughout the Segmentum. They also have many smaller citadels to take in recruits or to protect certain sectors of the Imperium. Aside from Mankind's enemies, the Atomic Gladiators are loathed by the Deathwatch and Ultramarines. The Deathwatch hate the Gladiators because the Gladiators, who are huge scavengers, stole their equipment from dead Deathwatch battle brothers. The Ultramarines loathe the Gladiators sincethey are not codex compliant. When trying to bring them to court about such a thing, the Gladiators have always avoided it, still keeping their Chapter at a strength of 5,000. As such, when the two Chapters must fight together, the Ultramarines keep their distance.

Chapter History
The Atomic Gladiators have close ties with the two mentioned organizations for a good reason. In 345.M34, half a dozen Chaos Warbands, consisting of the Blood Gorgons, Bloody Path, Ravagers, Magma Hounds, Oblivion Butchers, and Shatter Corps, attacked Toyotis in force. The Skitarii and Titan Legions of Toyotis mustered and defended the Forge World, yet even with constant supply of munitions and war machines, the Chaos Forces started to gain ground toward the forges and data hives of Toyotis. Without warning, the Atomic Gladiators Fleet arrived in orbit in force. The Atomic Fury obliterated the Chaos warships in rapid, merciless succession. The burning, pulverized hulks of the Chaos fleet fell from orbit, slamming into the ground amongst the Chaos forces, obliterating entire swathes of the armies. The Atomic Gladiators gave the heretics no respite; within minutes, scores of Thunderhawks and Storm Eagles descended upon the scattered and decimated Chaos Space Marines. Captain Korey Alquesta led the attack on the servants of the Ruinous Powers. Within days, the Chaos Forces had been eliminated entirely or else driven from the planet. The ruler of the planet, Forge Lord Valorus Contino, created a Bond of Mutual Camaraderie in thanks for the assistan- ce. This granted the Atomic Gladiators access to perks like ancient war machines, Titan and Skitarii support, and the ability to rearm, refit, refuel, and repair at Toyotis at any time, as well as numerous Forge Worlds across the Imperium. House Stark owes their thanks to the Atomic Gladiators for their assistance on 87.M38. A cabal of Dark Eldar launched a raid from a Webway entrance on the planet with numerous Ravager and Raider craft. Captain Zackary Brieger, already nearby on the Battle Barge Sword of Midnight and with the Strike Cruiser Revenge of Manus, made the call to assist. They arrived at the planet and deployed. First deployment was six squads of the 5th Company of the 3rd Corps to the Webway entrance with a single Reaver-class Titan to assist. Meanwhile, the rest of the 5th Company and the 6th and 9th Companies deployed to the capital of Coghagen with heavy Predator and Sicaran tank support.

Stormtalons performed air strikes on the Dark Eldar, destroying dozens of Raiders and Ravagers with no mercy. Once the remaining forces of Dark Eldar arrived at Coghagen, they were met with a few hundred Space Marines with heavy tanks support. As the Atomic Gladiators pulverized the Dark Eldar at Coghagen, the other forces at the Webway portal destroyed the portal with a well placed Deathstrike plasma warhead. The Dark Eldar survivors of the battle of Coghagen headed towards the portal, only to find more Space Marines, where they were surrounded and eliminated wholesale. Planetary Govenor Lucius Claucherty swore his allegiance to the Atomic Gladiators, pledging Knight support whenever and where ever they needed it.

Although the Gladiators have fought hard against their foes, losses and defeats have been staggering recently. In the most recent battles, the Atomic Gladiators have fought Chaos Space Marines on two planets, Salmar VII and Misha V.     On Salmar VII, elements of the 2nd and 3rd Companies of the 2nd Corps fought against the Chaos Space Marines of the Talons of the Despoiler. The Tactical Marines and Hellblasters were overly outmatched, due to the fact that the Talons deployed scores of Terminators. In the fighting the Gladiators were able to inflict heavy losses on the Talons despite suffering their own heavy losses. Losses were so heavy, however, that the only survivor was Battle Brother Kiril Zacharov of the 9th Squad of the 2nd Company. The Gladiators were forced to abandon the planet to avoid even worse losses. Yet, the worse was to come on Misha V. Located near the Eye of Terror, elements of the 1st, 5th, and 6th Companies of the 4th Corps supported elements of the Raptors, Imperial Talons, Sons of the Phoenix, and Solar Hawks Space Marine Chapters, as well as 800,000 Imperial Guard soldiers from many worlds against 20,000 Chaos Space Marines, including World Eaters, Crimson Slaughter, Word Bearers, and dozens of other warbands. The initial stages of the campaign were full of success and victories. Yet...the mood turned to dread and horror as a Daemon Gate was created, connected to the Warp, and Lorgar Aurelian himself came through. Chapter Master Artemis Bailey strode forward to meet Lorgar in single combat as the battle raged around them, Space Marines clashing with their traitorous counterparts. Artemis used his relic Power Sword, Obsidian, against Lorgar, who used his spectre maul Illuminarum against him. The two fought in a duel of epic proportions, a physical as well as a psychic one. Yet Lorgar, as a Daemon Prince, could draw more power from the Warp than Artemis could without opening himself to corruption. Lorgar smote Artemis off his feet with a powerful psykic blast that left Artemis hanging on a thread. The Terminators of the Gladiators' 1st Company fought tooth and nail to protect and recover Artemis' severely wounded body, sustaining extreme losses as dozens of Terminators fell to Illuminarum in bloody swings. The Imperial forces were forced to abandon the planet in the face of  the wrath of a Daemon Primarch, all sustaining severe losses. Yet despite all of their losses, the Atomic Gladiators have more Astartes than most Chapters. As they are fleet based, their limit is 5,000 Astartes in all. Fifty Companies, each with one hundred Astartes. The fleet is almost never together at one time, only in the most direst of circumstances.

Maolia The planet of Maolia was a hive world where the Atomic Gladiators had built one of many of their Chapter Citadels. Unknown to most of the population, a Planetary Governor of thousands of years ago had hidden an Eldar artifact on Nellis Island on the continent of Lastros. It was protected by an extensive network of Firestorm Redoubts, Aquila Macro Cannons, bunkers, trenches, and defense lasers with thousands of Skitarii and Imperial Guardsmen garrisoned on the island. Upon learning that such an artifact was in the hands of the Imperium, Craftworld Yrat'ani made plans for planetary invasion. Such dishonor could not go unpunished. Before long, Maolia also attracted the Tau, Dark Eldar, Tyranids, and Forces of Chaos, as well as awakened the Necrons of

Maolia. After many months, and many casualties, the Atomic Gladiators eventually were able to escape, although the Eldar had reclaimed their artifact.

A New Chapter The Adepts of Toyotis immediately set to work repairing and refitting their fleet, vehicles, Titans, and Knights, as well as resupplying. The Gladiators, Nobles of House Stark, and Adepts of Toyotis set aside a day for mourning in respect to all of the Skitarii, Knights, Nobles, Astartes, and vehicles lost in the five months of the campaign. As the Adepts repaired their allies' and friends' vehicles and whatnot, Artemis called a meeting with all of the Praetoran, Captains, and Masters of the Chapter. All of the Gladiators from across the galaxy gathered in the Atomic Fury as Kasmir Gaffwiger himself tended to his wounds. Artemis stated that the next move would be to replenish the Chapter with recruits. Once that was done, the Corps would split up once more to defend the Imperium. But first, they needed to get all of their stuff repaired and resupplied, House Stark needed more Knights and time to mourn, and the recruits needed to be processed. Never again would the Gladiators be drawn into another horrible campaign. Shortly after, the Bloody Hands arrived to lay siege to the planet. The Atomic Gladiators' and Adeptus Mechanicus fleets pulverized the Chaos ships at range, yet still a significant number of them managed to land on the planet in the Jorgani Badlands. The Atomic Gladiators assisted Toyotis' Skitarii Legions against the Chaos Space Marines. Daemon Engines were reduced to scrap, the Daemons bound within bandished to the Warp. Chaos Space Marines were herded into killing zones before being reduced to corpses in droves. Yet still the Chaos Space Marines fought on, inflicting heavy casualties on the Imperial forces as they attempted to take over the Forges of the Forge World. The Knights of House Stark pushed them back into the Jorgani Badlands, where, desperate, the warband deployed dozens of Chaos Knights. The battle was intense and bloody, with Gladiator Devastator Squads providing support from a distance. The Chaos Knights were stubborn, and did not yield their ground. House Stark refused to do the same. Sir Malcom Stark proved himself worthy by catching a Lord of Skulls' axe, attached to a Chaos Knight, in his Thunderstrike Gauntlet before using his Thermal Cannon to melt the Chaotic Knight in half, then tossed the top half at another Chaos Knight, destroying both completely. Then he was destroyed by Chaos Lord Jericho, who was piloting a Knight with a giant two handed Lord of Skulls axe. Jericho attempted to destroy Lady Selina, in her Castellan, before Sir Cornelius stepped in front of the swipe, blocking it with his Reaper Chainsword. This gave Lady Selina enough time to pulverize Jericho with her Volcano Lance. The warband retreated back into the Eye of Terror, promising revenge. Lady Selina received a high honor from Queen Kati for her actions, as did Sir Cornelius for defending Lady Selina.

A Renewed Force Once the Atomic Gladiators were back to full strength, more or less, they set out once more to  defend Mankind.

Chapter Gene-Seed
The Atomic Gladiators suffer from a unique flaw: often, in battle, the Machine Spirit of their Power Armor will “possess” the Marines. While this makes them less suspectible to Chaos, it makes them way more reckless in battle. A Chaplain or Techmarine can minister to an affected Marine and unpossess them. The problem only gets worse when parts of the bodies of the Marines are replaced with bionics bit by bit. The probability of affection by this flaw is only at 40%, however. Therefore, most recruits are safe from suffering at all.

Chapter Combat Doctrine and Organization
The Atomic Gladiators are a heavily mechanized Chapter. With a combination of Iron Hands gene seed and close ties to Forge World Toyotis and House Stark, the Atomic Gladiators have amazing access to war machines and all kinds of tech. However, they lack in Land Speeders and Bikes, for they prefer heavy armor. As such, they had large numbers of Land Raiders, Predators, Rhinos, Sicaran Battle Tanks, Rapier armored carriers, and even relics like Deimos Laser Vindicators, Spartan Assault Tanks, and one Fellblade tank.

The Atomic Gladiators have an unusually high access to vehicles including relics. As such, they favor calculated, brutal assaults with overwhelming firepower and heavy armor. The Gladiators have little Bikes or Land Speeders, preferring Land Raiders, Rhinos, and Predators in assaults. The Chapter will often spend days planning before a planetary assault/defense, strike, skirmish, etc. Most of the time, such battles are preceeded by orbital bombardment and airstrikes. Their Bikes and Land Speeders are reserved for their 5th Corps, where the Scouts are, as well as their newer Inceptor Squads. Once a landing zone is created, the Chapter will deploy all necessary forces. The Gladiators believe that strength in numbers and heavy armor are the keys to victory. As heavy armor bears down on  the enemy, gunships and strike craft – often relics like Storm Eagle and Fire Raptors – will perform pinpoint strikes against enemy support positions and other targets of interest. This combination of heavy armor on the ground and heavy firepower in the air has been the bane of traitors, heretics, and xenos alike. The Chapter has a high number of relics, due to close ties with the Forge World Toyotis. Many Chapters envy the Gladiators for this reason. The Chapter also has a high number of Techmarines. As tradition, every battle brother, upon introduction into the main part of the Chapter from Scouts, replaces part of himself with bionics. Through their career as a Space Marine, a battle brother may, through decoration or injury, replace more and more of himself with bionics and machinery. As  such, Veterans of the 1st Companies have bodies that are usually half or more than half machinery after centuries of service. As a fleet based Chapter, the Atomic Gladiators have a higher number of Astartes than most Chapters. At 5,000 Astartes, the Gladiators are a force to be reckoned with. To deal with organization needs, every 1,000 Astartes are separated into groups called Corps with ten companies each. Each Corps is led by an Praetoran, above Captain but below Chapter Master. Each Praetoran is given command of the vessels that transport the ten companies of each Corps. However, the Gladiators are almost never fully together; the only time in recent memory that they were was during the defense of the

Cadian system during the 13th Black Crusade, only to be separated as other needs brought them elsewhere. Each Corps often fights its own campaign against the enemies of Mankind, much like the Black Templars. Each Corps also has its own amount of Techmarines, Chaplains, and Apothecaries. Yet there are only one leader for each of these parts of the Chapter (Master of the Forge, Master of Sanctity, Master of the Apothecarion, etc). The Chapter's Veterans of all five Veteran Companies (one for each Corps) have access to special equipment, as is usual, yet they also have access to Deathwatch armor and gear. This is because the Gladiators are notorious scavengers. This has led to animosity with other Chapters.

Master of Sanctity The Reclusiam of the Atomic Gladiators is led by the Chaplain Dreadnought Volker Aldermann. At five thousand years old, Volker is the oldest Space Marine of the Chapter. Due to this, Artemis often includes him in his command squad for his wisdom and experience. Volker even has his own private chambers on Atomic Fury. Volker trains, mentors, and leads the Chaplains of the Chapter. Volker inspires the warriors of the Chapter with righteous zeal; in 245.M40, Volker punched straight through a Word Bearers Helbrute and into a Dark Apostle to silence the heretical preacher, giving example to a young Chaplain, Oskar Vogel. His Autocannon on the right armor is loaded with armor piercing, full metal jacket rounds to better take down heretics, traitors, and xenos. Despite nearly dying dozens of times in his service, his faith in the Emperor has always triumphed the wounds.

Master of the Forge Master of the Forge Karolus Surhardt is the second oldest at four thousand years old. As Master of the Forge, Karolus has the responsibility of caring for and repairing the vehicles of the Chapter, building new ones, requesting new ones from Toyotis (or relics), dealing with their Mechanicus and Questor allies, and training new Techmarines of the Chapter. Karolus runs the giant, advanced Forge on Atomic Fury. From there, his armor of servitors, Mechanicus adepts, and fabricator Chapter serfs create/repair armor, weapons, ammunition, tools, war gear, munitions, and myriad other items day and night to keep up with the constant warfare that the Chapter is involved with. Karolus is very protective of his vehicles. In 155.M38, Karolus strove through a giant battlefield to recover the Fellblade belonging to Captain of the 1st Company, 1st Corps Valten Vaksmann, cutting bloody swathes through Ork Boyz and Mekboyz, even casually slaying the Ork Warlord and ending the greenskin threat just to retrieve the ancient relic.

Master of the Apothecarion Kasmir Gaffwiger is the current Master of the Apothecarion. Kasmir is responsible for training, mentoring, and guiding new and current Apothecaries, as well as assisting the Reclusiam with screening new recruits into the Chapter. Kasmir is also responsible with storing and occasionally screening the gene seed banks of the Chapter to prevent a disaster from destroying the Atomic Gladiators. Although not heroic himself, he is brave. In 181.M39, the Atomic Fury was boarded by  an Ork pirate fleet. Kasmir locked the adamantium bulkheads to the Apothecarion, standing outside with nothing but two chainswords to repel the filthy invaders. He was later found by Veteran Squad Deltus of the 1st Company of the 1st Corps, surrounded by piles of greenskin corpses and blood

dripping from both chainswords. Ever since, although Kasmir's official role is saving people, he keeps a mini chainsword in his Narthecium just in case, and all of the Medicae servitors and Chapter serfs are heavily armed to protect the gene seed of the Chapter.

Artemis Bailey Artemis was the former Chapter Master of the Atomic Gladiators. A potent psyker, Artemis rose through the ranks of the Chapter after millenia of warfare. Due to his elevation, the Librarium of the Gladiators was increased in size, leading to the Gladiators having many Librarians in their ranks. He has extensive bionic augmentation, especially in his skull. The skull augmentics help him draw a large amount of power from the Warp while at the same time keeping the Daemons of the Ruinous Powers at bay with a blessing from the Grey Knights. Artemis was a brilliant tactician, drawing on countless centuries of experience and the advice of his Honor Guard, Praetorians, and Captains. His most trusted advisor, besides his personal guard Chapter Champion Gabriel Haymaker, was the Venerable Dreadnought Yuri Kopsland. Yuri was one of the first members of the Chapter upon its founding. Artemis was logical, tactical, precise, loyal, and honorable. He eskewed emotion for pure logic in all situations, viewing emotional baggage as a liability. Yet this did not keep him from having a good sense of humor, which he used to defuse tense situations. A legendary hero, Artemis had faced all kinds of enemies of Mankind, including the Primarch Lorgar himself. Artemis met his end during the Siege of Tarvokia in the early 42nd Millenium at the hands of the Arch Sorcerer of Tzeentch, Ahriman.