IA: Praetorian Fists

[Sigmarius]

This space to be filled in the future with better content and formatted properly.  Please stand by.

[superghostrider]

I really didnt read all of it ,but from what I read good job. I liked how you wrote the traits in, that was nicley done. You might want to have a seperate section for your Beliefs nad maybe more info on your planet, other than that I think it is good to go.

[Dark Bjoern]

Wow, really good. At first i was not sure if Dorn was alive during the 3rd founding. But i´ve take a look on lexicanum and have seen that Dorn must have died during the 2nd Black Crusade. Very interesting chapter organisation. I hope to see some cool minis.

 

Greetings, Dark Bjoern

[Sigmarius]

Thanks for the C&C everyone.

 

I've been away for a long time, but the Emperor is calling to me, and I must answer the call.

 

I'm going to be making some changes to the fluff. I have personally been influenced by fluff from other chapters, and I want to include it in my chapter. So, I'm going to tinker with some things, try and make it closer to what I want it to say.

 

Over the next couple of weeks, this IA may look like crap as I make changes. Please bear with me.

[Sigmarius]

Made a few more changes.  Updated the image of the armor to match what is written.

 

There are still a few things I want to change.  I'm not super happy with the lead up to the Tecridian Uprising, but I haven't figured out how I want to change it.  So, suggestions are welcome.

[Octavulg]

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Index Astartes: Praetorian Fists

This really isn't in an IA format. Which is not bad, but is un-IAish.

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Following the breaking of the Legions at the Second Founding, Octavian eventually earned command of the 5th Tactical Company of the Imperial Fists. When the announcement came that the Third Founding would take place, and that at least one new chapter would be created from Imperial Fists geneseed, Rogal Dorn was asked to select a Chapter Master for the as yet unnamed chapter. Recalling the stories of Octavian's bravery and the countless other honors that he had earned in the ensuing centuries, Dorn tapped Octavian to lead the new chapter. Wishing to honor the Primarch and remembering the role the Imperial Fists played as the Praetorians of the Emperor, Octavian chose the name Praetorian Fists.

First, Dorn was dead by the Third Founding (he appears to have died by 100.M31).

Second, even if he hadn't been, the Third Founding is almost a thousand years after the Horus Heresy. Space Marines don't live that long (at least, those who aren't the Blood Angels don't seem to).

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The first Battle-Barge the Praetorian Fists were given was christened the Wrath of Dorn. Unlike most other Third Founding chapters, the Fists were set loose at barely over company strength due to an unexpected shortage of viable geneseed.

Why would there be a shortage? The Ad Mech grow it especially for the purpose.

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Many viewed this as a folly, but Octavian welcomed the challenge. Realizing that the Chapter wouldn't survive at such a low number of men if he followed standard Codex Astartes procedures, Octavian broke with the hallowed tome and decreed that each company would be a fully independent entity, with the training, organization, and equipment needed to fight on their own. Many looked on the break from doctrine with disapproval, however, it wouldn't be long before Octavian's new idea was put to the test on the distant world of Tecrid.

Why not just fight as Battle Companies, which basically do that already? Fill out the Reserve Companies later on.

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Coming into orbit over the planet, communications were finally established. The story, however, was unbelievable. Fully 2/3rds of the planets military and civilian population had turned to Chaos, and were leading a campaign to purge the world of it's loyalist forces. The most unbelievable part of the tale was that the rebellion was being led by the Imperial governor himself. Octavian reviewed the information and made his decision: after dispatching communiques to the Imperium asking for aid, the Praetorian Fists would do their duty and descend to the planet to assist. He also made the decision that historians have come to call Octavian's Folly, but it was, at the time, the only decision that could be made. He ordered the entirety of the Fists to make planetfall and assist. He further ordered that the squads be split into several groups, and that they be sent to the most strategically important areas of the battle.

This sounds like a great situation for orbital bombardment. Lots of it.

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While the survivors of the Praetorian Fists fully expected to be disbanded and incorporated into other chapters, they were pleasantly surprised. The report of the Tecridian Uprising had reached Terra and Imperial Fists Chapter Master before the survivors, and with the weight of an original Space Marine legion behind them, the surviving members of the Praetorian Fists were allowed to remain independent, and the Genetor-Magi was ordered to began producing new marines to fill their ranks, using the recovered geneseed of the fallen original members. It would be nearly two centuries before the First Company was brought back to full strength, and an additional three centuries for the Fists to become a full sized Chapter.

Starting with ten guys, you can build a chapter up to full strength in under a century. I did the math.

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In an event that is rare for the tradition heavy Space Marines, newly minted Chapter Master Aurelius ordered the new marines to change the color of their armor. Moving from their old color scheme of purple and red drawn from their name, Aurelius determined that the Chapter would forever mourn the loss of their original heroes, while simultaneously honoring the important contribution of the Imperial Fists. The Praetorian Fists painted their armor black, and trimmed their shoulders in the yellow of the Imperial Fists.

You just said this.

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The Praetorian Fists had only a minor presence in the Second War, fielding only a single tactical squad. This tactical squad was sent on various missions, raids, and defense efforts throughout the war. After a disagreement between the squad leader, Valarius, and a squad leader of the Blood Angels, the Fists decided to attach themselves to the Salamanders, who had spent much of their time defending the supply lines from Ork attacks. This decision would prove to be hugely influential on the Fists.

I believe we know all the chapters that participated in the Third War for Armageddon.

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After the War was over, Valarius and his squad returned to Arcxis, and requested a meeting with Chapter Master Nicor, Chaplain Scabbus, and Chief Librarian Mastersson, and told them the tale of the Salamanders and their ideas. Over the course of the next several weeks, many discussion, debates, meditations, and prayers were had on the issue. Finally, with approval from the Chaplain and the Librarian, Nicor made a ruling: the Fists would change again. They would focus more on defense of ALL humanity, and not just where it was convenient.

This is really obviously you trying to twist the Fists philosophy around in a direction you like. Honestly, I think it'd be better if you had it rise out of something organic to the Fists - some aspect of the Imperial Fists' beliefs that could result in this.

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In honor of the Salamanders contribution to the new philosophy, and the bonds of brotherhood that were established by Valarius, the Praetorian Fists paint the wrist of their right arm pad green. It is a small touch, but fitting as warriors frequently greet each by grasping the wrist of their fellow warrior.

I rather like this, even though I don't like what lead to it.

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Like other chapters, each company commander also has another role to play. The Commander of the First company is also always the Chapter Master, for example. While most companies are led by standard marines, the Second and Third Companies are the exceptions. To show just how important faith is to the Fists, the Commander of the Second is also the Chapter head Chaplain. Their dedication to their history is shown by placing the Chapter's Head Librarian in Command of the Third Company.

Librarians as commanders always seems risky to me. I mean, the Warp CAN eat their brains. Also, commanding the Second Company would be a full-time job, as would being Reclusiarch. Combining the two feels like it would be involved.

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The First Company:

This is a list. Lists are bad.

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When facing an enemy of far superior numbers, the tactical and devastator squads will form a firing line and wait for the enemy to approach them. Once the enemy is in range, the assault squad, Land Speeders, and any Dreadnoughts will Deep Strike behind the enemy lines and attack their armor and command staff from behind before moving up and catching the enemy in a pincer movement. However, this practice tends to end up with the tactical squads in hand to hand combat more often than not. To prepare for this eventuality, all Battle-Brothers are trained to fire their bolters with one hand and use a close combat weapon in the other. However, this training has a side effect of some squads becoming over eager for close combat and breaking cover to charge out and meet the enemy. While this does not always occur, it happens more often than not.

This is too detailed, and also feels too specific. The post-Heresy Fists were flexible - these guys don't seem to be from a description like this, even if you do say they are.

* * *

I like them, but there's a lot of problems with bits of the fluff that niggle at different bits of the story. I don't think they need to diverge from the Codex. I don't think having the first Chapter Master be a survivor of the Heresy works well due to timeline issues. You have them part of battles where we know all the participants. You have them nearly wiped out, and it takes forever to do it (and then doesn't really matter).

You seem to be fond of them, and I admire the dedication you've shown to them, and it makes me kind of like them. But I don't really have much of a sense of their character - who they are as Marines. And I'm not really sure what you want to tell us about them, or what you want them to be like. What do you want?

An idea occurred to me that would resolve some of the fluff issues: Vulkan appear to have disappeared quite late in M31. It would be possible for the new chapter to meet a Salamander who had fought alongside Dorn at some point. He could then explain to them how some interpretation of Dorn's beliefs they'd been following were inconsistent with what Dorn really meant. Maybe they start out willing to sacrifice others for the Imperium, and the Salamander suggests that that's not what Dorn would have wanted. They paint their wrists in recognition of this brotherhood, and this also serves a reminder of a need for humility - the Salamander, not even a son of Dorn, knew what the right thing to do was, while pride held back the Praetorian Fists from the right course of action. You could even write up how the Chaplains tell the story to the Scouts as a sidebar.

Also, Praetorian seems a weird term to use. They're not, really. They don't guard the Emperor or Dorn. They're not very Praetor-like. It's just kind of a strange choice.

[Sigmarius]

Thanks for the reply. Some pretty harsh critiques. I'm not going to lie, when I first read what you said, I was little perturbed by the way you took me to task. But, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that by saying the things you said, and me fixing the issues (at some point), will help the article be better, and help me be a better writer. So, I'm no longer perturbed, and I'm actually grateful.

I tried to quote some of your responses to reply directly, but every time I try, the formatting gets weird.

The first comment, the Index Astartes: Praetorian Fists is from when the IA section first started. That is how we were told to format them at the time. I haven't been around for a few years, so I think a lot of things have changed since then. I'll look around and figure out the right way to format it.

That was an oversight on my part. I didn't check the timeline correctly. Though from what I remember, at the time I wrote this originally, I was under the (possibly mistaken) understanding that Dorn's death came much later.

I'm not sure why there was a shortage. It sounded good at the time. Do you think it would better if I came up with a good reason? Or is the idea itself not good?

The way I read the Codex (4th Edition), many battle forces would have several companies represented. Scouts from the 10th, terminators from the 1st, and so on. My desire was to have each company be completely independent. They trained their own scouts, had their own terminators. But, this was also back in the days when Battle-Brothers were the next step after scouts, before they became assault marines or devastators, as opposed to the way they are now.

The Iron Cage was a perfect time for an orbital bombardment. I want to say that this line was an homage to the Primarch, but honestly it was me trying to find a good reason to put a lot of boots on the ground, and to set up their destruction.

Can you explain the math about rebuilding the Chapter from 10 guys in a century? It's not that I don't believe you, I'm just genuinely curious about the math.

Do you mean I just need to clean up the wording here? I edited this part individually, as opposed to the whole document, so it is a little clunky.

From what I remember in Codex: Armageddon, isn't there a line in there about numerous other chapters that sent small numbers that are not listed? That was my inspiration for that section.

"This is really obviously you trying to twist the Fists philosophy around in a direction you like. Honestly, I think it'd be better if you had it rise out of something organic to the Fists - some aspect of the Imperial Fists' beliefs that could result in this." Can you explain this a little more please?

I'm starting to agree about the Librarian and Chaplain as Company leaders. In hindsight, I think this was a mistake.

A list is how I was told to do it ages ago. I'm guessing that has changed.

I wrote the "tactics" section to try and have fluff support for the way I played them. I only ever played/play casually, and don't really have an interest in the competitive scene, so this is how I played my army.

I'll see if I can use some of your suggestions (read: outright steal them ) and figure something out.

There were two reasons I chose Praetorian Fists. Primarily, it's because I REALLY like the name. The idea is that they are the Praetorians of Humanity, defending them from the depredations of the horrors of the galaxy.

[Octavulg]

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So, I'm no longer perturbed, and I'm actually grateful.

Thanks. A lot of people go through that emotional rollercoaster with me, if it's any consolation.

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I tried to quote some of your responses to reply directly, but every time I try, the formatting gets weird.

The new software is a little evil. I blame it entirely.

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The first comment, the Index Astartes: Praetorian Fists is from when the IA section first started. That is how we were told to format them at the time. I haven't been around for a few years, so I think a lot of things have changed since then. I'll look around and figure out the right way to format it.

Take a look at the Octaguide, in my sig.

Keep in mind, by IA I mean "imitating that format GW does with the Night Lords, Imperial Fists, etc." If you don't think the term has to be that narrow, feel free to ignore me on that point.

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That was an oversight on my part. I didn't check the timeline correctly. Though from what I remember, at the time I wrote this originally, I was under the (possibly mistaken) understanding that Dorn's death came much later.

I've been updating the timeline since it didn't provide information like that, so that's not surprising. Cross-referencing would have been required, and that rarely happens.

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I'm not sure why there was a shortage. It sounded good at the time. Do you think it would better if I came up with a good reason? Or is the idea itself not good?

Well, you could just have there be a catastrophic failure at some point when the Ad Mech are building up the stocks, though I don't see why they wouldn't just keep at the process until they had enough. I wouldn't worry about it. There's plenty of sufficiently nasty stuff in 40K that they can get nigh-annihilated (though I don't know that you need them to be).

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The way I read the Codex (4th Edition), many battle forces would have several companies represented. Scouts from the 10th, terminators from the 1st, and so on. My desire was to have each company be completely independent. They trained their own scouts, had their own terminators. But, this was also back in the days when Battle-Brothers were the next step after scouts, before they became assault marines or devastators, as opposed to the way they are now.

Many people ignore that latter part of the fluff. Feel free to be one of them.

Completely independent companies in that sense are actually something the Iron Hands do. I thought you were more concerned with reserves than with those elements. If your Master intended to crusade on long distances (which Fists successors often do), setting up the chapter that way would make a lot of sense.

Having a reason for doing things makes almost anything OK.

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The Iron Cage was a perfect time for an orbital bombardment. I want to say that this line was an homage to the Primarch, but honestly it was me trying to find a good reason to put a lot of boots on the ground, and to set up their destruction.

Picking Dorn's stupidest moment as the one to emulate may not be a great idea.

What do you want to accomplish with their destruction, anyway?

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Can you explain the math about rebuilding the Chapter from 10 guys in a century? It's not that I don't believe you, I'm just genuinely curious about the math.

Take a look here. Bottom of the post (in spoiler text).

My assumptions aren't perfect, but it's certainly possible to create a lot of Marines very quickly if you still have your Fortress Monastery (and its accumulated geneseed stores). Increase the casualty rates and it'll take longer, but I doubt Marine chapters take more than 10% casualties every five years.

Math is fun.

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Do you mean I just need to clean up the wording here? I edited this part individually, as opposed to the whole document, so it is a little clunky.

I'd misread the previous paragraph a bit, and thought they were talking about the same color change. Oops.

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From what I remember in Codex: Armageddon, isn't there a line in there about numerous other chapters that sent small numbers that are not listed? That was my inspiration for that section.

That's the Third War, I think.

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"This is really obviously you trying to twist the Fists philosophy around in a direction you like. Honestly, I think it'd be better if you had it rise out of something organic to the Fists - some aspect of the Imperial Fists' beliefs that could result in this." Can you explain this a little more please?

As a rule, it's better if chapters change because of stuff internal to them - so is there something about the Imperial Fists that could end up in the same place as this?

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I'm starting to agree about the Librarian and Chaplain as Company leaders. In hindsight, I think this was a mistake.

The Chaplain's an interesting touch that few people do (most go for Librarians, because psychic warleaders are awesome). It's just, y'know. Shouldn't he be busy?

Of course, that could be solved with an explanation of how commanding a company is philosophically important for some reason. You could have Captains also be junior Chaplains. So the Chapter Master commands the 1st Company and the Master of Sanctity command the 10th, representing the spiritual and temporal leadership. Marines could be low-ranking militarily, but high-ranking as Chaplains, and vice-versa. Or something like that. Depends on what you want to do.

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A list is how I was told to do it ages ago. I'm guessing that has changed.

A good basic principle when writing an IA is to not explain in any more detail than necessary, and not to explain things that are common to every chapter. Lists tend to do both.

Plus, look at how GW IAs do these - they talk about broad organizational principles and quirks rather than running through the details of the chapter's organization.

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I wrote the "tactics" section to try and have fluff support for the way I played them. I only ever played/play casually, and don't really have an interest in the competitive scene, so this is how I played my army.

It's that it feels narrow in scope more than anything. Marines will fight countless different foes on countless different worlds. Again, principles make more sense here than details do.

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I'll see if I can use some of your suggestions (read: outright steal them thanks.gif ) and figure something out.

Please steal that "Salamander who fought with Dorn corrects them on intepretation of Dorn's views" thing. Please. It is honestly one of my favorite ideas, and I don't want to write a chapter just to use it.

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There were two reasons I chose Praetorian Fists. Primarily, it's because I REALLY like the name. The idea is that they are the Praetorians of Humanity, defending them from the depredations of the horrors of the galaxy.

Considering how the Praetorian Guard worked out, the last interpretation requires them to sell humanity out to the Eldar for money. But liking the name is certainly a pretty good reason for the name.

* * *

Are there any themes or elements of their character you really want to bring out? The Fists are stubborn, the Salamanders are humanitarian, the Iron Warriors are bitter, the Space Wolves are drunk...what do you want your guys to be?

Right now I'm getting humility, which I think you could tie into that Salamanders anecdote and people being dual Chaplains and ordinary Marines. But there may be more you want to do with it.

Anyway. I'll be around if you need me.

[Sigmarius]

I changed the picture of the armor colors.  I've decided to go away from my usual "black is best" mentality.  Mostly because I bought the Army Painter system to make up for my sub-standard painting skills.  However, when I changed the image URL, I apparently screwed something up, as you can tell from looking at the original post.  So, if someone can tell me how to fix the problem, or if a mod could just go in and fix it, I'd appreciate it.

[Lord Marshal Ragnrok]

i had the same problem after the site update. you have to go through and manually fix the coding. basically editing out all the weird stuff.

[Sigmarius]

That's what I thought.

At some point, I should probably stop feverishly building and painting and start re-writing my fluff...

[Lord Marshal Ragnrok]

at least yours is more legible than mine was

[Sigmarius]

So, I tried using the new IA templates, and it seemed to work at first.  Then I went in and changed some text, NOT BB Code, and it's back to looking like ass.

Who is in charge of making all this stuff work?  I just spent 2 hours trying to get everything looking right and it reverted back to showing all the code as opposed to actually IMPLEMENTING the code.

 

Also, don't read any of the actual fluff.  Most of it is filler text right now.

[Octavulg]

Work on it in a text editor, not in the forum software, and you won't have those problems. It's an IPBoard issue, as I understand it.

[Sigmarius]

Ah, ok.  Thanks.

[Ecritter]

You edit it here, just use full editor and click on BBC Code mode.  Works fine that way.

[Sigmarius]

NEW FLUFF AND A NEW NAME!  YAY!

 

So, I made some pretty significant changes to the fluff, including a name change.  This is still a WIP, but let me know what you think.

 

Origin

 

The Scions of the Praetorian draw their namesake and gene-seed from the Praetorian of the Emperor Himself, Rogal Dorn, Primarch of the VII Legion Astartes. Though the chapter is old, it is relatively obscure, considering it's age. However, their anonymity does not mean the Scions have not gained honor and recognition on the battlefield. They have a long and glorious history, a history that, while pride worth, is not boasted of as some of their brother chapters.  The Scions believe that too much pride leads down a dangerous road of ruination.  The idea marks them as unusual amongst the Astartes chapters, but the relatively low occurrence of treason within their ranks proves the effectiveness of the belief.

 

The history of the Scions of the Praetorian begins with Abaddon’s Second Black Crusade,  with a sergeant of an Imperial Fists assault squad by the name of Octavian.  Octavian led his squad to glory on numerous occasions during the traitor Abaddon’s attempt to conquer the galaxy.  When Abaddon was finally beaten back, Octavian was given command of the 5th Company, to replace it’s fallen captain.  Octavian led the 5th with honor and distinction for many decades until he was tapped for a greater honor.

 

When the announcement came that the Third Founding would take place, and that at least one new chapter would be created from Imperial Fists geneseed, the Master of the Imperial Fists was asked to select a Chapter Master for the as yet unnamed chapter.  Several centuries of glory, honor, and determination had led Octavian to becoming highly regarded as a leader of Astartes,, and these glories led to him being chosen to lead the fledgling chapter.  In honor of his primarch, Octavian chose the name Scions of the Praetorian, so that all would know that he and his brothers were true sons of Dorn.

 

The first mission of the of the Scions of the Praetorian would be to assist in the Tecridian Crusade, an effort to cleanse Tecrid and the surrounding systems of the taint of Chaos and those most hated of foes: Traitor Astartes.

 

The Tecridian Crusade was a hard fought war between the the Scions of the Praetorian, elements of the Imperial Fists, and multiple regiments of the Imperial Guard.  System by system, planet by planet, the forces of the Imperium slowly pushed the Chaos tainted humans and Astartes, led by a Tzeentchen warband known as XXXXXXXX off the planets they held, and back to the heart of the rebellious war zone, the Tecrid System.  For 5 years war raged in the system, as fleet actions led to planetary bombardments, which gave way to planetary assaults.  Finally, the forces of Chaos were wiped from every planet except Tecrid Prime.

 

After much debate between the Imperial Forces, Chapter Master Octavian decided on the plan of attack.  1 Company of the Scions, with support from the Imperial Guard and Imperial Navy, would attack every hive city save the capitol, where it was believed the head of the warband was directing his forces.  The capitol would be assaulted by the 1st and 2nd companies, led by Octavian himself.  After reorganizing the survivors of the battle and reserve companies, 8 nearly full companies were formed, with the 10th Scout Company operating at barely a quarter of it’s strength.  It was thusly decided that the 10th would remain in orbit, as their scouting talents were seen as not essential for the upcoming battle.

 

The assault on Tecrid Prime was an unmitigated disaster.  The 8th Company was destroyed when their primary landing site, a vast landing platform for bulk lifters, was mined and seeded with heavy explosives.  Every single brother of the 8th was killed in the resulting explosion and attack by the traitorous forces.  The 7th Company never made landfall.  Hidden anti-air emplacement, with support from Chaos fighters,  shot down all the companies dropships before they made planetfall.  The 6th fared better, but were unable to overcome the hordes of the cultists, mutants, and daemons that descended upon them, and they were slaughtered to a man.  The 4th and 5th companies were both annihilated by the combined psychic might of dozens of powerful rogue psykers and their unholy powers.  The 3rd Company fought dozens of squads of traitor marines to a standstill, but were eventually surrounded and defeated.

 

Only the 1st and 2nd Companies seemed to have any luck in defeating their enemies.  Slowly, block by block and street by street, the Astartes made their way towards the fortress where the cult leader, Dahlire, waited.  As Octavian learned of his brothers’ deaths, his anger and hatred grew.  It was during the assault on the gates of the fortress that Octavian learned of the fall of the last of the 3rd Company, where he learned that his mighty chapter had been reduced to barely a hundred full brothers.  His rage was uncontrollable.   Some say he channeled the fury of his father, and he became the embodiment of violence.  The survivors fought their way to the command chamber, and Octavian faced Dahlire in individual combat while his squads fought the Traitor Marines around him.

 

Hours of battle followed, and in the end only a few brothers of the 1st and 2nd Companies were alive to see Octavian take one of Dahlire’s cursed power swords through his primary heart, and the second enter his secondary heart.  With a bellow of pure hatred, Octavian smashed Dahlire with his thunder hammer, taking Dahlire’s head from his shoulders and ended the battle.

Octavian was rushed back to the chapter flagship, where he died from his wounds.  Or so it was believed.

 

Following the conquest of the Tecrid system, the Scions of the Praetorian retreated to their ships to take stock of what was left of their chapter.  The news was grim: of a full 8 companies of Astartes, barely one hundred survived, fifty of them not yet finished with their time in the 10th Company.  While the news given to the public was of a great victory with many heroic sacrifices, behind closed doors many whispered of Octavian’s folly and the reintegration of the Scions into their parent chapter, the Imperial Fists.  Into these troubled times stepped the last member of Octavian’s honor guard and the man who would become the new Chapter Master of the Scions of the Praetorian: Lucius Aurelianus, known to his brothers as Aurelian.

 

Through a combination of political maneuvering, powerful friends in the Imperial Fists, and sheer stubbornness, Aurelian prevented the High Lords of Terra from reintegrating the Scions into the Imperial Fists.  Instead he was able to convince his doubters that the Scions would live up to their name as the sons of Dorn, and would come back from the edge of extinction.

 

With numerous garrisons of the Imperial Guard keeping watch over the newly freed worlds, the Scions of the Praetorian went into seclusion to rebuild.  Slowly, over the course of a hundred years, the Scions built back their strength, bringing them back to full strength.  During this time, Aurelian guided the system into one of relative peace and prosperity.  The occasional small scale seditious uprising would usually be put down by the local PDF forces, with Astartes support rarely needed.  That is until the uprising of Tecrid Quintus Primaris.

 

The Shaming of the Scions

 

The first major action undertaken by the Scions of the Praetorian after their near destruction was one of reconquest.  The capital city of Tecrid Quintus, creatively named Primaris, revolted against their Imperial leaders.  The ruling administrators were slaughtered, the loyal commanders of the PDF were beheaded, and the the primary Arbites fortress was put under siege.  The civilian populace took up arms and joined their traitor brethren in the PDF and began a campaign of slaughter and bloodshed.  PDF units and local Imperial Guard forces desecrated their banners with unholy sigils to the Dark Powers, declaring their loyalty to the Chaos Gods.

All across the planet, in the hive cities and outlying towns, rebellions sprang up, pitting loyal Imperial citizens against their neighbors, cousins, and brothers.

 

When news of the betrayal reached Aurelian, he was apoplectic with rage.  After everything his brothers had fought and died for, Aurelian would not allow this treason to go unpunished.  The punishment would be severe, and would be the example used by Imperial forces across the galaxy to demonstrate what happened when a world turned from the light of the Emperor.

 

Aurelian ordered the entirety of the Scions of the Praetorian chapter into battle with one simple order: find and exterminate all traitors, all those who supported the traitors, all those who did not fight hard enough to stop the traitors.

 

What followed was what has become known as the Shame of the Scions.  An entire chapter of Astartes channeled and unleashed the rage of their leaders on the populace of one world deemed lost.  Millions of people died.  Men and women who fought with the traitors, and those who were believed to not have fought hard enough against them.  At times the slaughter was so extensive that the Astartes of the Scions ran out of ammunition, reduced to using their blades on sometimes helpless men and women.  For the citizens of Tecrid Quintus, both loyal and traitor, it seemed as if Hell in the form of supposed holy retribution had come for them.  All seemed lost, until salvation arrived, coming in the form of a fire breathing monster from the depths of space.

 

Atonement

 

Responding to one of the first astropathic signals sent at the beginning of the uprising, an Astartes strike cruiser entered the Tecrid system and took up orbit around Tecrid Quintus.  A small group of Salamanders, the Sons of Vulkan, had arrived and began requesting communications with Aurelian.  Upon speaking with the Chapter Master, the Salamander’s assistance was accepted, and they preceded to make landfall in the capital city.  Included in the force was one of the Salamander’s revered brothers encased in Dreadnought armor, a Marine by the name of Ko’van.

 

What the Salamanders saw when they made landfall appalled them.  Near indiscriminate killing by loyal sons of the Emperor.  Hab blocks leveled by heavy armor with little to no regard for civilian casualties.  The Salamanders did what they could to mitigate the bloodbath, but were largely ineffective.  They made their way to the front lines where Aurelian was leading his men to their ruin.

 

Ko’van marched towards Aurelian and demanded he stop this atrocity.  Aurelian, whose blood was up and had fully given in to his holy rage, turned on the dreadnought and ordered him to leave if he was too afraid to conduct the Emperor’s work.  Ko’van stormed towards and Aurelian and grabbed Aurelian’s thunder hammer mid-swing, preventing the Chapter Master from striking a blow against an unarmed man.  This interference enraged Aurelian who turned and punched the sarcophagus of Ko’Van’s dreadnought armor.  Ko’van picked up Aurelian, and putting his vox-speakers on full volume, demanded that Aurelian stop in the name of the Emperor, his Praetorian, and Vulkan.  Aurelian, realizing that his life was quite literally in the hands of an enraged war machine, paused.  “This is not the way of Dorn, young one” Ko’van told Aurelian.  “Let us finish your work.”  Aurelian, his soul shaken by this ancient warrior, agreed and ordered the Scions to return to Tecrid Prime.  Ko’van returned with them, to speak to Aurelian while the Salamanders finished the last of the traitors.

 

Upon their return to Tecrid Prime, Aurelian and Ko’van spent many days together, secluded from the rest of the Scions.  They argued strategy, philosophy, and duty.  Ko’van told Aurelian of the greatest honor his life, the day he heard Dorn, primarch of the Imperial Fists and Praetorian of the Emperor, and Vulkan debate the role of the Astartes in the Imperium.  Dorn argued that it was the duty of the Astartes to serve, and Vulkan stated that Dorn was correct, but that his thinking was limited.  It was not merely their duty to serve the Emperor, but rather to serve the citizens of the Imperium as a whole, for without them, there is no Imperium, and the Emperor has no one to rule.

 

This story, amongst others, convinced Aurelian that he had erred in his ways and his duty as an Astartes.  He felt that his actions, and the actions of his brothers, had tainted them, and their Primarch’s name.  Aurelian gathered the Chaplains and told them of his decision and his change of heart.  Though some resisted, at first, eventually all of the Chaplains of the Scions came to understand that duty meant saving as much of the Imperium as possible, and that destroying it to save it was counterproductive.  The Chaplains proceeded to pass this word to the rest of the Chapter, and slowly a change began.

 

To facilitate the instruction of the new way of thought, Aurelian made an unusual decision.  The Scions of the Praetorian would leave Tecrid Prime in the hands of Imperial Guard reinforcements, with the group of Salamanders in the system staying to oversee the rebuilding.  The Scions then spent the next one hundred years on a self-imposed penitent crusade, under the command of head chaplain Viccor Scabbus, cleansing traitor held worlds of the taint of Chaos.  Aurelian himself, believing that he held more blame than his brothers, made a pilgrimage to Terra.  He arrived at the Imperial Palace,, clad in nothing but a simple tunic, and under the watchful gaze of the Adeptus Custodes, prayed at the foot of the Golden Throne.  What he prayed for, and what he heard or saw, was never recorded, but after 2 days, Aurelian left the Throne chamber, and began the slow return to his Chapter.  He took civilian transports as far as he could, and on several occasions, assisted the civilians on those transports with fighting off raiders and pirates.

 

The Reclamation of Honor

 

After a century of crusading, the Scions of the Praetorian returned a changed chapter.  They maintained their hatred for the foes of mankind, as any Astartes chapter would, but they tempered that hatred with kindness and humanity.  When not offworld engaged in battle, brothers of the Scions can be found scattered throughout the Tecrid system, assisting in building projects, training the Imperial Guard regiments, and serving as as inspiration for their fellow man.

 

The Scions of the Praetorian have since maintained a close relationship with the sons of Vulkan, and on numerous occasions have gone to war at each other’s side.  The influence of Ko’Van on the Scions is unmistakable, and is viewed so highly by the Scions that they took a highly unusual step to honor them.  A small portion of the right arm, where the hand of a Battle-Brother would be in a warrior’s handshake, of every Scion’s armor is painted in Salamander’s green, to honor the Ko’van and his brothers for all time.