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This article, Steel Tempests, is currently under active construction. The author, Tauva101, apologizes for the inconvenience. |
The Steel Tempests are a Loyalist Successor Chapter created from the lineage of the stoic and unforgiving Iron Hands Chapter. Operating out of Horizon Nomad, a sprawling space station located in the midst of the Ork-infested Musharaf System, the Steel Tempests are the largest and perhaps most iconic of the Devotio Sector's numerous Astartes Chapters, as well as one of the youngest, being only founded in the latter half of M40, in the 25th Founding, the so-called 'Bastion Founding'. Well known for their discipline and professionalism, as well as their characteristic scathing wit and remarkably casual Chapter culture (most unusual for a Chapter descended from Ferrus Manus), the Steel Tempests have been led by Chapter Master Rainald for almost two centuries, and in that time have grown to become almost a household name among the various military forces of the Ultima Segmentum and beyond.
History
As Iron Hands successors, the Steel Tempests stand out as being among the only sons of The Gorgon to have almost no similarities to their parent Chapter, barring the Horizon Council, a modified variant of the Iron Council. This was due to the actions of their fourth Chapter Master, a pragmatic and brutal man who went by the name Rubid Drostan. Drostan's legacy was one of treachery and malice, yet also one of hope, after a lengthy campaign against an Ork menace alongside the Black Templars and several Astra Militarum elements he was inspired to devise a plan to use the turbulent currents of The Warp to end the Ork threat they were fighting before it had started. This would not stand with the Ordo Chronus though, who, after receiving an anonymous tip, took it upon themselves to kill him before disassembling his life's work and providing the chapter with an ultimatum, either abandon the works of Drostan forever, or face the full wrath of the Holy Orders of the Officio Inquisitorus. The decision was not a hard one to make for Kol G'dzir, Drostan's successor and the source of the Ordo Chronus' information, who took the Chapter to an unknown backwater sector, setting up a new fortress-monastery in an abandoned star fort that he christened 'Horizon Nomad'.
From here, G'dzir decreed that they would follow the tenants of the Codex Astartes no longer, abandoning the structure and strategies of their fellow Astartes in favour of a new identity, formed from their other major influences in the Black Templars and Astra Militarum. As such, after taking up a new name of Altmann, he commanded his marines to rearrange themselves into three battalions of three-hundred Astartes, instead of the traditional ten companies of a Space Marine Chapter, with the leftover one-hundred being assigned to specialist operations, as well as certain other secret projects.
Chapter Homeworld
An abandoned Star Fort in the Ork-infested Musharaf system, Horizon Nomad has been The Steel Tempests' home for as long as official records within the Chapter stretch back. When Altmann first arrived with the Chapter in tow it was merely an abandoned husk, devoid of life and seemingly left to wither and die on the edge of Devotio space. Now though, with the influence of The Steel Tempests it has grown to a sprawling hub of activity, with throngs of humans and Astartes constantly moving around, as well as countless civilian ships docking daily thanks to Horizon Nomad replacing the defunct Port Jaeger as Devotio's civilian naval port.
Notable Campaigns
- Komron Liberation Campaign (928.M40) - The Steel Tempests first started to forge their own identity on the jagged rocks of Komron, a harsh, brutal world that was under siege by Ork Warboss Dagtaz Ragekrakah and his massive army, pushing back the soldiers of the 707th Komron Light Infantry that were defending the world and forcing them to call for help from the nearest Astartes.
In response to this, a detachment of Black Templar marines made planetfall, alongside the first and second companies of The Steel Tempests. Due to the sheer scale at which the Black Templars as a whole were operating at, the Komron detachment was somewhat neglected, and the unexperienced Steel Tempests ended up forming a close bond with the marines stationed there during the long, drawn-out conflict, eventually taking up several of the Chapter's idiosyncracies.
Eventually, the Imperial forces defeated Dagtaz Ragekrakah, with the commander of the 707th Komron Light Infantry claiming credit for the final kill. While the Black Templars departed for warzones unknown, The Steel Tempests were enraged at the lengthy nature of the campaign and sought to find a way to remedy the situation. After hearing legends and tales of ships entering the warp and exiting at another point in time altogether, Chapter Master Rubid Drostan devised a plan to use this phenomenon to travel back to before the Komron troops called for aid, to end the war before it started... - Ordo Chronus Censure (930.M40) - After receiving information from an unconfirmed source, Inquisitor Havittaja of the Ordo Chronus arrived, flanked by Inquisitorial escorts, and demanded to be shown the technologies developed by Drostan.
After Drostan took Havittaja and his cohorts to the chambers in which they were kept, the bodyguards opened fire, killing Drostan in a hurricane of bolter fire, then burning the devices through both psychic and conventional flames.
Havittaja then issued an ultimatum: either the Steel Tempests face the wrath of the Inquisition as a whole, or they move far away, abandoning the works of Drostan.
- Musharaf Reclaimation Campaign (954.M40) - After the disastrous events of Havittaja's censuring and execution of Drostan, G'dzir (now know as Altmann) set his sights on a new home for The Chapter, Horizon Nomad.
The abandoned Star Fort was the perfect base of operations for a Chapter such as the new Steel Tempests, and as such the entire Chapter was deployed, alongside elements of The Illuminators.
To disrupt and systematically dismantle the Ork forces inhabiting the Musharaf system, with the exception of the world Musharaf itself and the planet's sole moon: Kagura, which Altmann decreed should be left populated with Orks, to be used as a training grounds for their recruits.
- 12thBlack Crusade (139.M41) - As Abaddon the Despoiler's Gothic War kicked off, the 3rd Battalion of the Steel Tempests, under the command of Colonel Adelgis.
Being in the Sector, the Templars engaged in fighting a Ork infestation. In response to the dire threat, Adelgis' forces deployed en-masse to fight off the Chaotic forces.
The Templars were all slaughtered to a man, with the exception of a single Marine: Team Leader Conrad, of Battle Squad F, who was found comatose in the wreckage of a Thunderhawk, which in turn was embedded deep into a Chaos Emasculator-Class Cruiser. He was eventually placed into a Dreadnought Sarcophagus, whereupon his first recorded words were "Should have done more".
- The Macharian Crusade (392.M41) - When Lord Commander Solar Macharius began his famous crusade, the forces of the Steel Tempests were among the Astartes involved, taking to the fight with gusto and deploying all three Battalions to the fray, each in separate warzones.
It was here that the Steel Tempests' complicated relationship with the Blue Flames and Illuminators Chapters first became apparent
With the Tempests coming close to blows with their Gertlyshian allies only to be held back by the Illuminators of Nullepart multiple times.
Chapter Organisation
Officer Ranks
Specialist Ranks
Line Ranks
Order of Battle
Chapter Command
Companies
Chapter Beliefs
Chapter Gene-Seed
Combat Doctrine
Chapter Appearance
Chapter Colours
Chapter Badge
Notable Members
Chapter Fleet
Chapter Relics
Relations
Allies
Enemies
Notable Quotes
By the Steel Tempests
- "Well that wasn't supposed to happen"
- — Chapter Master Rainald, after setting off a chain reaction that killed every Ork on Kagura
- "Have you ever seen the inside of the Albus Domus? I haven't personally, but an old friend of mine from my Deathwatch days assures me that whatever the Emperor's Liberators are keeping there is certainly worth defending. What a tease"
- — Chapter Master Rainald on The Emperor's Liberators
- "We are professionals, sweetheart. If you took your face out of the incense and actually paid attention perhaps you would learn something, one day you might even have enough troops to do your jobs outside of this backwater sector"
- — Colonel Rigoberto of the Steel Tempests' 1st Division, to Commander Canaan, Blue Flames Zircon Company
- "While I'm sure our friends in the Jade Paladins have some choice words regarding their allies, one thing I have to respect is their demeanour, it's good to see another Chapter with a sharp wit, I hope to fight alongside them again soon"
- —Senior Specialist Hamelin, Steel Tempests 1st Division on the Will Breakers.
- "A Chaos warband called The Servants of the Truth? Well there's an ironic name if ever I heard one"
- — Veteran Bénoni, Steel Tempests 1st Divison
- "A good, strong Chapter, with an emphasis on flexibility and the individual marines. Truly if I was not part of the Tempests I would call them my true calling brothers!"
- — Team Leader Abelard, Steel Tempests 1st Division, Battle Squad C on the Novus Krakens
About the Steel Tempests
- "Your stand against the Inquisition's insolence was brave, as was your decision to carve out a new legacy. I'm aware of your curiosity as to what we strive so hard to defend inside of the Albus Domus, so I'll grace you with a visit. One thing for certain is that what we defend in there is the same thing you fight for: the hope of a better future for Humanity."
- — Executive Davidius Clarkeson of the Emperor's Liberators to Chapter Master Rainald
| Twenty Fifth 'Bastion' Founding Space Marine Chapters | |
|---|---|
| Dark Angels Successors | Umbral Brotherhood • |
| White Scars Successors | Storm Heralds • |
| Space Wolves Successors | • |
| Imperial Fists Successors | Eternity Invictors • Shenandoah Knights • Storm Sentinels • Voidwardens • |
| Blood Angels Successors | Angels Benevolent • Blessed Reavers • Bone Reapers • Gold Templars • Knights of Sanguinius • Sanguine Spectres • Soaring Angels • |
| Iron Hands Successors | Crystal Dragons • Grey Gorgons • Steel Tempests • |
| Ultramarines Successors | Azure Ravens • Emerald Spears • Instigators • Pillars of Jeza • Silver Consuls • |
| Salamanders Successors | The Saurians • Stellar Drakes • |
| Raven Guard Successors | Accentors • Angels Tenebris • Astral Ravens • Sandsons • |
| Unknown Lineage | Aacharns • Argent Leviathans • Frost Reapers • Gloam Strikers • Grecians • Heralds of the Storm • Orcinus Astra • Wolves Eternal • |
| Renegades | Silver Sigils • |
