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This article, Keepers of the Forge, was written by Pharaohcrab. Please do not edit or 'acquire' this fiction without the writer's permission. |
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This article, Keepers of the Forge, is currently under active construction. The author, Pharaohcrab, apologizes for the inconvenience. |
The 52nd Grand Battalion, also known as the Keepers of the Forge, are a large warband of the IVth Legion Iron Warriors and one of the warbands in the alliance known as Abaddon's Hammer. They possess a large arsenal of weapons, equipment, and vehicles, including those leftover from the hallowed days of the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy along with those produced on the Hell-Forge of Mendax VII, which they claim as their base of operations.
Warband History[]
Great Crusade[]
The 52nd Grand Battalion was founded shortly after legion recruitment was moved from Terra to Olympia after Perturabo was found, with command being given to Warsmith Baroth, a Terran-born tank commander. They would be attached to the 125th Expeditionary Fleet alongside their primarch and participation in many of the IVth Legion's numerous battles.
In 999.M30, the 52nd would be amongst the Grand Battalions that participated in the Sak'trada Deeps Campaign against the Hrud. During the fighting, well-respected veteran Thamanciel the Unyielding would be severely wounded, however he would be dragged to safety by a techmarine named Hadrax. Thamanciel would be given the honor of being interred in a dreadnought, requesting that Hadrax be promoted to Mortificator and assigned to his care. He would then step down from his position as Siege-Breaker and second-in-command, passing the position to his younger brother, Landros. It is also about that this time that Hadrax would join the membership of the Lyssatra and began associating with Kathos Dyr, one of the legion's few psykers and an aspiring researcher of the occult.
Horus Heresy[]
The 52nd Grand Battalion would follow their primarch into the fires of the Horus Heresy, participating in many of the Iron Warrior's major battles. During this time Hadrax and Kathos Dyr, alongside the dark magi of the Pneumachina, would begin experimenting with the possible use of warp entities as weapons, leading to the creation of some of the IVth Legion's first daemon engines.
Post-Heresy[]
Following the retreat into the Eye of Terror, the 52nd Grand Battalion would not be travel to Medrengard with the rest of the legion. Instead, Perturabo would order them to establish themselves in the Mendax system in order to protect a new Hell-Forge of the Dark Mechanicum. Whether this was an honor a slight is unclear, but their separation from Medrengard has helped them to avoid the politicking and scheming of Medrengard's warsmiths, as well as isolating them from the events of the Dispute of Iron.
With the outbreak of the Legion Wars, Warsmith Baroth saw an opportunity to avenge the attempted-sacrifice of their primarch by Fulgrim on Iydris. The Grand Battalion would lay siege to the IIIrd Legion fortress of Kalan-Dazar, located on a Slaaneshi daemon world. Garrisoned by the 6th Millennial (needs changed), the strong walls and warped environment of the world itself would prove to be a great challenge for the Iron Warriors. The casualties were heavy, and things would go wrong when Baroth's Sicaran Battle Tank took a direct hit from an Emperor's Children Typhon Heavy Siege Tank, completely annihilating the tank and the warsmith within.
Now leaderless, the warriors of the 52nd would turn to the esteemed Thamanciel the Unyielding, however he would turn down the position in favor of Siege-Breaker Landros, how was the effective second-in-command of the Grand Battalion. Despite Thamanciel's confidence, it was soon found that Landros had little regard for the lives for his men even by IVth Legion standards, repeatedly throwing his warriors into disastrous assaults with incredibly high casualty rates. This would soon reach a breaking point, leading Landros being confronted by Hadrax, Kathos Dyr, and Thamanciel. The exact events of this confrontation are unclear; the common narrative is that Hadrax slayed Landros in a duel, though some believe that Landros was actually interred in a dreadnought designed to torture him to the point of madness. The outcome was the same either way, as Hadrax would take the position of warsmith and withdraw his forces from Kalan-Dazar to lick their wounds.
Following the siege of Kalan-Dazar, the 52nd Grand Battalion, rebranding themselves as the Keepers of the Forge, would refocus their efforts to the defense of the Mendax system, focusing on the establishment of trade with other warbands and only venturing out on raids for materials, both on other warbands and on the worlds of the Imperium. The Mendax system, especially its main world of Mendax VII, would grown into a heavily-defended center of production for the instruments of war for themselves and to be traded to others. Their lack of participation in major conflicts allowed them to maintain a large numbers of astartes and equipment, including a stockpile of Crusade and Heresy-era equipment. During this time they would form a working relationship with the Copper Convoy, another warband of Iron Warriors. This warband had grown largely disillusioned with large conflicts and had refocused their efforts towards trade and piracy. This worked well for the Keepers of the Forge, and the Copper Convoy becoming their main trading partners and allowing them to use the spaceport over Mendax VII as a sort of second home port.
Sometime in early 001.M39, the Keepers of the Forge would answer a summons from a Heretek Magos of the Dark Mechanicum in order to assist with the conquest of Ravicore II. They were not the only warband present, however, as the Dark Mechanicum had also requested aid from the Copper Convoy and Irons Maw, both of Iron Warrior descent. The three warbands would work together, and the conquest of Ravicore II took less than a week. During this time they received a transmission from Xorphas the Tainted, a sorcerer lord of the Black Legion, requesting them to fight alongside the now daemon-primarch Perturabo in the 10th Black Crusade against the Iron Hands. Having worked well together during the conquest of Ravicore II, the three warsmiths would band together to form a pseudo-warband called Abaddon's Hammer, loosely aligning themselves with Abaddon the Despoiler before setting out to join the forces of the Black Crusade. During this conflict Warsmith Hadrax would first meet a Hound of Abaddon named Gorbaz the Unkillable, forming a sort of friendship that would lead to an alliance with Gorbaz's warband, the Bloodsworn Pact.
The warbands of Abaddon's Hammer would once again be called to the Despoiler's aid in 999.M41, this time to participate in the 13th Black Crusade. They would participate in the Siege of Cadia under the command of Krom Gat, besieging Kasr Jark and fighting against the Space Wolves in the Kolarak Plains below the walls.
Current Day[]
With the opening of the Great Rift, Warsmith Hadrax decided that the time had come to expand his influence outside the Eye of Terror. He would launch a campaign of conquest into Imperium Nihilus, using the chaos caused by the Rift's opening as a cover. Amongst the first worlds claimed was Delmara, the home of the Delmaran Iron Hounds regiment of the Astra Militarum, who had turned traitor and aligned themselves with Hadrax just over a century before. It is also during these conquests that they would encounter an unknown knight world that had sworn a blood oath to the 52nd Grand Battalion in the days of the Great Crusade, cashing in on this previous arrangement to add a significant number of knights to their auxiliary forces. The warband would leave the conquered worlds somewhat unmolested, instead turning their production capacities towards further supplying Mendax VII with materials that had previously been difficult to obtain. Only those who put up adamant resistance would feel the full brunt of Hadrax's war machine, leaving their cities in ruins and their populations in chains. However not all was well, as at some point during this time the Irons Maw warband would withdraw from Abaddon's Hammer, feeling that they had no real power against the Keepers of the Forge and the Copper Convoy as the two had been working closely together long before the formation of the alliance.
This campaign would eventually lead the warband to the world of Attore Reach, which was being used as a temporary base of operations by the Astral Drakes chapter while they rebuilt their strength and underwent the process of becoming Primaris. Upon learning that the Astral Drakes were successors of the Imperial Fists, Hadrax decided that it had been far too long since they had struck at their hated arch-enemy, and begun to siege the planet. However, despite being understrength, outgunned, and unused to their new Primaris biology and technology, the Astral Drakes would mount a serious defense against the Iron Warriors. Casualties were heavy on both sides, and it eventually became clear that to staying to fight would bring the Astral Drakes close to extinction once again. In a last-ditch effort, the Astral Drakes would conduct a fighting withdrawal from the planet, eventually evacuating to their few ships and managing to escape into the warp, though not without suffering from major damage to their flagship, the Ars Goetia.
The Keepers of the Forge were prepared to follow, but before they could they received an astropathic communication with dire news. During the siege of Attore Reach, a demi-company of chimeric marines left to garrison one of the conquered worlds had murdered their non-chimeric brothers and commander, dedicating themselves to Slaanesh and declaring themselves as their own warband, the Masque of Needles. Enraged by both this slight against him and at the interruption to his pursuit, he managed to contact his allies in the Bloodsworn Pact, who happened to be nearby, and successfully petitioned them to tail and harass the Astral Drakes as the Keepers of the Forge turned to deal with the Slaaneshi insurrection.
Upon their arrival, they found the world below in utter chaos. While the Masque of Needles had less than a hundred marines in their ranks, they had used the Slaaneshi cult that the insurrection originated from had grown widespread with much of the populace joining the cult. In addition their leader, a former astartes sergeant called Warsmith Anaxis, had ascended to daemonhood and used his powers to summon forth many daemons of Slaanesh to aid them. Only the garrison of the Delmaran Iron Hounds, with reinforcements from a nearby system, had managed to hold the line against the Slaaneshi forces, but only barely. However the tide turned with Warsmith Hadrax's arrival, as now the main force of the Keepers of the Forge was turned against the Slaaneshi forces. While the fighting was difficult, the Slaaneshi forces were successfully being pushed back, and Warsmith Anaxis began to hatch a plan to escape. The Cult of Needles had managed to successfully commandeer a ship and bring it under their control, however the ships Navigator had been killed during the fighting. In a last-ditch effort to escape, Anaxis began evacuating his forces to the ship while he himself used a warp rift to infiltrate the Forgefire, Hadrax's flagship. In order to both facilitate his own escape and prevent Hadrax from pursuing, Anaxis would fight his way to the navigator's chambers, kidnapping him and successfully bringing him to his own ship. This allowed the remaining Slaaneshi forces to escape into the warp with Hadrax unable to pursue, instead focusing his efforts on clearing out the remaining daemonic presence from the planet below and executing any remaining Slaaneshi forces, crucifying their bodies on eight-pointed stars as a warning to any who would stand against him again.
With the Masque of Needles dealt with for the time being, Hadrax was now able to turn his attention back towards the Astral Drakes. Through his information network he learned that they were actively recovering within Imperial-held space, and were most likely preparing travel through the Nachmund Gauntlet into Imperium Sanctus and towards their homeworld of Goetia, of which they had been forced to flee some time before the Fall of Cadia. Curiously, he also received reports that a company of the Astral Drakes had split off from the main force and was now headed towards the southern Attilan Gate. Hadrax would once again call upon Lord Gorbaz of the Bloodsworn Pact, agreeing to supply them with new heavy armor if they would follow this force to their destination and harass them, delaying their return to the main fleet and, ultimately, delaying their departure for the Nachmund Gauntlet. In the meantime Hadrax took his fleet into the Gauntlet, using the conflict in the region to begin setting up an ambush near Sangua Terra, hoping to catch the Astral Drakes in a choke point where they could not escape him again.
Campaigns of Infamy[]
- Great Crusade - The 52nd Grand Battalion would be a part of the the 125th Expeditionary Fleet under Perturabo's command, and thus served alongside their primarch in many of the legion's battles.
- Horus Heresy - The 52nd would follow their primarch into the fires of the Heresy, participating in major battles like the Drop Site Massacre, Battle of Phall, the First Siege of Hydra Cordatus, all the way up to the Siege of Terra.
- Battle of Kalan-Dazar (unknown.M31) - part of the larger Legion Wars, the newly-christened Keepers of the Forge would lay siege to the Emperor's Children fortress of Kalan-Dazar. The siege would ultimately lead to a withdrawal following the death of Warsmith Baroth.
- 10th Black Crusade (001.M39) - The warband would once again join their primarch, as well as the forces of the Black Legion, in their crusade against the Iron Hands chapter. During this campaign they would forge alliances with the Copper Convoy and the Bloodsworn Pact.
- Siege of Cadia (999.M41) - The warband would be put under the command of Warsmith Krom Gat, participating in his siege Kasr Jark and fighting against the Space Wolves in the Kolarak Plains below.
- Battle of Attore Reach (unknown.M42) - Following a campaign of expansion after the opening of the Great Rift, the warband would first encounter the forces of the Astral Drakes chapter on the world of Attore Reach. A series of bloody engagements would lead to the formation of a bitter rivalry before both sides were forced to withdraw.
Warband Homeworld[]
Mendax VII[]
Located in a tamer region of the Eye of Terror, the Mendax System was gifted to the heretek adepts of the Pneumachina by Perturabo shortly following the days of the Scouring, with the 52nd Grand Battalion to act as suzerains of the new forge world. In the following millennia, the system would grow to become a well-established bastion of both the Iron Warriors and the Dark Mechanicum, the main world of Mendax VII growing into a major production center with outpost on the other worlds of the system and a large trade network to bring in necessary resources, while a well-established defense of orbital stations and warships protects the system from the predations of other warbands.
Warband Organization[]
The warband adheres largely to the legion organization structure of the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy, styling themselves as continuation of the 52nd Grand Battalion.
Officer Ranks[]
- Warsmith
- Captain
Specialist Ranks[]
- Master of Possession
- Sorcerer
- Dark Apostle
- Master of Executions
- Primus Medicae
- Apothecary
- Warpsmith
- Herald
- Master of Signals
- Overseer
- Vigilator
- Siege-Breaker
Line Ranks[]
- Aspiring Champion - Sergeant equivalent
- Battle-Brother
- Scout Marines
- Neophyte
Specialist Units & Formations[]
- Salian Enforcers - The Salian Enforcers are an organization created by Salius the Silver-Tongued, the warband's Overseer Consul and Dark Apostle. Answering directly to himself, the enforcers would serve as somewhat of a commissariat within the warband's auxiliary forces. Their main tasks are largely similar to that of the Imperium's commissars, maintaining discipline within the ranks and making sure that they remain at least nominally loyal to Hadrax and the warband. They are also tasked with monitoring the various chaos cults within the auxiliary forces, making sure the cults keep themselves in check while preventing any one cult from growing too powerful (as was the case with the Cult of Needles).
Warband Gene-Seed[]
Warp-Taint[]
The astartes of the warband see the mutations common amongst Chaos warbands as aberrations to be avoided at all costs. While they have been largely successful at staying the degradation of their geneseed through methods through the efforts of both their apothecaries and their sorcerers, some level of corruption is inevitable as many in the warband show at least minor forms of mutation.
Chimerization[]
In an attempt to combat the corruption of the warband's genestock, Primus Medicae Arbelon has begun to experiment with chimerizing the geneseed with that of other astartes with the assistance of information acquired through trades with Fabius Bile. The largest of these experiments was the creation of a demi-company of marines using geneseed harvested from the Sons of the Phoenix chapter, however this was ultimately deemed a failure when 90% of these astartes formed their own warband after declaring themselves to Slaanesh. All chimeric experiments have been put on an indefinite hold since.
Warband Combat Doctrine[]
The warband heavily follows the combat doctrine of their progenitor legion, heavily focused on siege tactics. They will use every weapon they have to break down the enemy defenses in a hail of oppressive artillery fire before launching an assault on any breaches created. Notably, the warband fields a rather large number of daemon engines, having become masters in the methods of creating them.
In addition to astartes, the warband also makes heavy use of auxiliary forces, both for garrison duty and as part of the main force. This includes the heretek adepts of the Pneumachina-Mendax, the traitor guardsmen of the Delmaran Iron Hounds, the knights of the Iron Host, end occasionally the titans of Legio Alcinax, as well as the teeming hordes of cultists and beastmen tribes that can be found in the Mendax system.
Notable Members[]
- Warsmith Hadrax, Fabricator of Ruin - A powerful Lord Discordant and master of the warband. Recruited as a techmarine in the days of the Great Crusade, he would be promoted to Mortificator consul after saving the life of then Siege-Breaker Thamanciel in the campaign against the Hrud.
- Warsmith Decimus Varsigonn - Terminator Champion, captain of the veteran grand company and second-in-command to Warsmith Hadrax. While Hadrax is the main leader and strategist of the warband, Varsigonn serves as the main frontline command, tasked with carrying out Hadrax's battle plans while also having the authority to deviate from said plans as the situation in the field demands. He is the only captain in the warband allowed by Hadrax to keep the title of Warsmith, a sign of his elevated position and the high regard Hadrax has for him.
- Kathos Dyr - Master of Possession and chief sorcerer. One of the very few psykers permitted to serve in the IVth Legion in the days of the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy, he would join the Lyssatra early on and would develop a fascination with the idea of using daemons as weapons. As the Heresy wore on he would enlist the help of Hadrax and the adepts of the Pneumachina in the pursuit of his research, which would lead to the creation of some of the legion's first recorded daemon engines. In the millennia following the Heresy he would become one of Hadrax's top advisors, honing his mastery in both the art of possession, and in preventing corruption where it is not desired.
- Thamanciel the Unyielding - The oldest member of the warband, he was amongst the first Iron Warriors to be recruited from Olympia. He rose through the ranks quickly, eventually becoming Siege-Breaker and second-in-command of the Grand Battalion. He would be mortally wounded in the campaign against the Hrud, but would be interred in a dreadnought after being pulled to safety by Hadrax, then simply a techmarine. Following this he relinquished his role and old armor to his younger brother, Landros, and requested that Hadrax be promoted to Mortificator and assigned to his care. He would be a faithful advisor to Hadrax through the years of the Horus Heresy and in the millennia since, being given back the title of Siege-Breaker following Landros's supposed death.
- Salius the Silver-Tongued - Dark Apostle and Overseer Consul, he was the first astartes created from the chimerization of the Sons of the Phoenix geneseed. He left he warband to train under the Word Bearers before eventually returning as a Dark Apostle. While he is not well-liked by the rest of the astartes, he has an excellent reputation with the auxiliaries of the warband. He and his squad are the only ones of the Sons of the Phoenix chimerization to stay loyal to the warband.
- Warpsmith Dacius - Chief Warpsmith, apprentice of Warsmith Hadrax.
- Vaugen Raum - Warband Champion and Master of Executions.
- Primus Medicae Arbelon - Chief Apothecary, tasked with preserving the stability of warband's geneseed.
Past Members[]
- Warsmith Anaxis [defected] - Former sergeant, declared himself to Slaanesh and ascended to daemonhood after sacrificing his captain. Currently the warsmith of the Masque of Needles.
- Warsmith Baroth [deceased] - Terran-born, original warband of the 52nd Grand Battalion. A tank commander, it is said he was rather good-humored for an Iron Warrior. Killed when his tank took a direct hit from an Emperor's Children Typhon Siege Tank during the Siege of Kalan-Dazar.
- Siege Breaker Landros [deceased?] - Younger brother of Thamanciel, he would serve as his brother's second-in-command during the Great Crusade. Would take his brother's place as Siege-Breaker, as well as his armor, after Thamanciel's interment in a dreadnought. He would assume the title of Warsmith following Baroth's death, though this would be short-lived before he was supposedly slain by Hadrax. However, some rumors exist that he was actually interred in a dreadnought and has since gone insane.
- Primus Medicae Vortemian [deceased] - The previous Chief Apothecary, mentor to Arbelon. Killed during the 10th Black Crusade.
- Vigilator Jerard [deceased] - A veteran of of the Horus Heresy and considered the best sniper of the warband, if not the entire legion. Slain by Chapter Master Alaric Barbatos of the Astral Drakes during the conflict on Attore Reach.
Warband Fleet[]
The warband maintains a rather large fleet made up not just of legion ships, but also ships from the Dark Mechanicum, newer vessels of the Delmaran Iron Hounds, and various support craft. This also includes one of the few Soul Harvesters, though they share custody of the vessel with the Copper Convoy.
- Forgefire - A Desecrator-class battleship that serves as the flagship for the warband.
Warband Appearance[]
Warband Colors[]
The warband has no distinct color difference from their parent legion, save that their colors often seems a bit darker than other Iron Warriors. Aside from that they share the same black pauldrons, dark gold trim, and black-and-yellow hazard stripes as others of their legion, and their coloration has not seen any real difference since the days of the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy.
Warband Badge[]
The warband's insignia depicts the iron skull of the IVth Legion in front of an iron chaos star, all engulfed in flames in front of a black background.
Relations[]
Auxiliaries[]
- Pneumachina-Mendax - Dark Mechanicum
- Delmaran Iron Hounds - Traitor Guardsmen regiment
- The Iron Host - Subjugated Knight house
- Legio Alcinax - Titan Legion
Allies[]
- Abaddon's Hammer
- Copper Convoy
- The Bloodsworn Pact
Enemies[]
- Imperial Fists and their successors
- The Masque of Needles
- The Illustrious Host
Gallery[]
