Index Astartes: Defiant Sons

[Odsox]

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Nos Repugnare

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~Ever Defiant~

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he Defiant Sons lay claim to an illustrious history as a crusading Chapter originally created during the 22nd Founding. Created using Iron Hands gene-seed, they were to be led by a former Captain of the Brazen Claws; Chapter Master Valiar Avitus, a venerable warrior noted among his proud brethren as an unflinching strategist with a stubborn nature who was pained by even the most necessary of tactical withdrawals.

Avitus named his fledgling Chapter the Defiant Sons and decreed that their symbol be an echo of their primogenitor; a closed, gunmetal-grey fist to signify their stubborn nature, crested by a half-cog design similar to that of the Iron Hands. As a Brazen Claw, Avitus had been heavily influenced by the Codex Astartes, but taught his warriors that the greatest strength of a Space Marine is his inability to concede defeat, and advocated a creed of defiance.

To this end he created the Liber Contemptio, a tome to be filled with the knowledge and wisdom of the Chapter's finest minds. It would go on to become the foundation of the Cult Contemptio.

The Chapter was granted custodianship of a small group of planets named the Prades Belt - a string of worlds which hovers between Segmentums Obscurus and Ultima. Their fleet patrolled the system and took the desert planet of Sigma XVII as their recruitment world, forging mighty heroes from the nomadic tribes and hard-nosed warrior castes of the great desert cities.

Under Avitus' leadership the Defiant Sons took part in several noteworthy actions before his death during the Skarroan Excorcism, though the Chapter's greatest achievement occurred in 373.M41; a system-wide campaign referred to as the Prades Rebellion. This war was to become their defining moment, an epic battle that any Astartes Chapter would be proud to have fought in.

It was during the Zordrak Crusade that Chapter Master Hrundin Goro received a distress signal from Hive Singulare on Aleph VII. A rebellion had erupted on the hiveworld, resulting in a civil war which tore apart the planet's ruling class and could only be halted by the intervention of the Adeptus Astartes. The 3rd Company, led by Captain Gaius Octavian aboard the strike cruiser Ferrox Ultra, returned to the Prades Belt to assist in quelling the uprising, but by the time they arrived, the system's primary agri-world, Carusca, was already burning.

The rebellion, it seemed, had not been confined to Aleph.

Extensive ground wars were fought on the surfaces of Aleph and Sigma XVII, and even Forgeworld Grakkus suffered a schism as seditious workers turned against their masters. Scattered reports from the Prades Defense regiments indicated that the worst of the fighting was on Sigma XVII, the Chapter's primary recruiting world.

In a masterful display of strategy, Captain Octavian took command of the theatre, linked his vessel to the few Imperial navy elements within the system and divided his Company, aiming to decapitate the source of each rebellion in one fell swoop, but what followed was a month-long battle of twists and betrayal as the Imperial defenders fought an enemy constantly reinforced by newly-turned troopers and vile Chaos cultists. Captain Octavian was finally forced to request support from his Chapter Master. The last thing anyone expected was the sudden, violent deaths of the Ferrox Utra's astropathic choir when they attempted the sending. The lone survivor was killed to avoid taint, but not before confessing what he had seen.

"The gate of doom opens! Blood, fire, Chaos everywhere! Enemies everywhere! The hydra's fangs! Oh Throne, the gate opens! A world of Chaos! The hydra comes!"

~ Last words of Astropath Golva, summarily executed as warp-touched.

With the psychic expertise of Chief Librarian Carolinus Yensid, a message was successfully transmitted, though a terrible premonition struck the master psyker and with it, clarification. Yensid saw a vision of black-clad cultists surrounding an archaic structure of warped design - a Daemon Gate. His vision exposed the location of this heresy: the catacombs beneath Sigma Primaris, the capital city of the Chapter's recruiting world.

On hearing this augury, Octavian ordered the Ferrox Ultra to make for an orbital position over Sigma XVII while his remaining warriors readied themselves for battle. Even as Octavian's plan was put into effect and the last drop pods of the 3rd Company rained down onto the desert planet, multiple warp-signatures began to appear on the Ultra’s scanners. Two vessels, later identified as the Hidden Evil and the Eighth Maw, tore free of the warp, accompanied by a fleet of smaller craft. Ancient, midnight-blue battlebarges trimmed with scarred silver and eerie green, they bore heraldry depicting the multi-headed monster of ancient Terran myth, the Hydra. Heraldry that made the mad astropath's words all the clearer.

~Heroes of the Chapter~

While each Space Marine is a hero in his own right, the Defiant Sons have had several notable warriors among their ranks throughout the centuries.

~Chief Librarian Carolinus Yensid~

Yensid was the Chapter's 3rd Chief Librarian and is still considered the most potent among the Chapter's records. Yensid, who personally disrupted the Alpha Legion’s daemonic ritual during the final stages of the Prades Rebellion, is remembered as a true hero to whom many of the Chapter’s Librarians pay homage during their initiation.

~Ancient Morn~

One of the youngest and most active dreadnoughts in the Chapter's possession, Kastor Morn was tipped for greatness until a sniper nearly decapitated him. His resulting interment has only increased his Company's admiration, for to be interred within a Dreadnought's sarcophagus is a truly death-defying honour.

~4th Company Veteran Borus Jehkar~

Referred to as 'The Pistolier' by his fellows, Borus Jekhar is a Deathwatch veteran and part of the command squad "Captain's Fury". He bears an ornate plasma pistol, gifted him by Inquisitor Om Vorbis of the Ordo Xenos. Jekhar's vocal chords were shot out during an assault on a Tau cadre and he has refused an augmetic replacement, taking a vow of silence in its place.

The Alpha Legion had arrived.

Doubt swept through the mortal defenders of the Prades Belt, but little did the stricken Imperials know that help was to appear from an unexpected quarter.

The Jain-Ya Eldar shimmered into existence over Aleph VII and like a bolt of lightning a clutch of fragile-looking xenos craft made straight for the Hidden Evil, crippling the battlebarge's propulsion drives before the Traitors aboard had time to register their presence. Greater surprise was to come when the Eldar opened communications to the Ferrox Ultra, offering a truce with the beleaguered Space Marines. Though distrustful and disgusted by the presence of such arrogant aliens within his home system, the losses already suffered forced Octavian to agree to the proposition.

With the aid of the Eldar, the Alpha Legion fleet was kept at bay until the sons of Alpharius themselves descended to the surface of Sigma XVII, landing within a day's journey of Sigma Primaris.

Jain-Ya warrior covens led by their commander, Farseer Aeron, joined Octavian's forces amid the ruins of Sigma Primaris, and through their joint efforts the crumbling city was prepared to face the pawns of Chaos. Shortly afterward, cross-system communications ended when the Ferrox Ultra was destroyed during a combined Astartes-Eldar attack run.

Deep beneath the Imperial Palace, Aeron led Yensid's astral form to the turbulent storm of psychic power surrounding the Daemon Gate. The Farseer sent a triumphant psychic call to the Jain-Ya forces - the signal the Eldar had been waiting for. The xenos turned their weapons on the Imperial forces they had thus far fought alongside and Farseer Aeron returned to his body, abandoning Yensid to the perils of the daemonic ritual. The Farseer swiftly carved a bloody path toward the site of the Daemon Gate, vanishing into the labyrinthian catacombs with his retinue. Captain Octavian launched a deadly counter-attack, ordering his warriors to engage the aliens with all the fury of the Astartes betrayed.

As the Alpha Legion vanguard approached the city, those on the walls mounted a ragged defence, consumed by the fighting raging through their ranks. The remnants of the 3rd Company seemed doomed to fall.

Like the vengeful hand of their Primarch, the Defiant Sons' crusading force burst into realspace above Sigma Primaris, and flight after flight of Thunderhawk gunships were soon reinforcing the grounded forces. The Sons' fleet engaged both the Alpha Legion and Jain-Ya spacecraft and, commanded by Chapter Master Hrundin Goro aboard the battlebarge Indomitable Will, dispatched elements of their Battle and Reserve Companies to engage enemy forces across the Prades Belt.

Goro and his honour guard, a squad of 1st Company veterans clad in blessed Terminator armour, were to teleport down onto the planet despite the disruptive presence of Chaos seeping from the Alpha Legion's rituals.

There is some confusion as to the events of the next hour, even among the Chapter's dedicated archivists, as the newly-bolstered Imperial forces commenced an incredible martial response to the insurrectionists and the war on Sigma XVII came to a terrible conclusion.

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The Destruction of Sigma Primaris

The Chapter's librarians reported an incredible psychic burst from the planet's surface which heralded the appearance of a colossal Eldar ship: the Jain-Ya Craftworld. The Craftworld unleashed a lancing beam of incandescent power focused entirely on Sigma Primaris, before vanishing once again and taking the remainder of the traitorous Eldar fleet with it.

The aftermath of the blast was horrific. Although the Alpha Legion insurgents were thoroughly destroyed by the Chapter's remaining forces, the Hidden Evil crippled and executed in orbit and the Eighth Maw fled to the embrace of the warp, only six Astartes bodies were recovered from the wreckage of Sigma Primaris. The last to be found was Captain Octavian, his armoured body slumped to its knees in the torpor brought about by his Sus-An membrane. He knelt alone before the entrance to the Palace catacombs, the Company standard pole fused to his gauntlet. Chapter Master Goro was eventually found, his armour sundered by the witchblade of the treacherous Farseer Aeron, though in death he had snapped the alien psyker’s neck in one mighty fist.

In the following turbulent months, Octavian was chosen by the Chapter Council to take on the mantle of Chapter Master, owing to his incredible tenacity, his zealous defence of Sigma Primaris and the strategic distribution of his small force across such a massive theatre of war. Under Octavian's command, the Defiant Sons have slowly rebuilt their forces and adopted new heraldry; that of a skull gripped in a silver fist and crested by a golden halo, a memento mori for the brave warriors lost during the Rebellion and a symbol of the Chapter's refusal to fall in the face of betrayal and utter destruction.

HOMEWORLD - The Prades Belt

~ Sigma XVII ~

"Here, traveller, cover your face. The desert sand gets through even the thickest of our tents and it'll tear your eyes from your skull if you set foot outside tonight. That's no joke, traveller. Legend says these sands were created during the Kin-War, when our people ruled from bright stone cities, like diamonds among the blasting desert winds; that these sands are not just stone, but the very remains of those who fought and died during the Kin-War.

That's just what it is, too; legend.

The old men grumble and drone on about their damned 'storm-warriors' and their 'Defiant Flame', but as far as I'm concerned it's all hooey. They send their best young 'walkers out to follow that flickering torch every twelve years, thinking they'll become some sort of incredible warrior in service of the Sunlord, may His light brighten our path, but all they're really doing is sending 'em to their deaths.

This desert's full of danger; greatscorpions, reaperwings, serpents and worse. Mind you, you can't see most of that when you're busy trying to keep the grit from turning you blind.

Bloody sand..." ~ Sigmarite Sandwalker, discussing his native land.

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o the far north of the Segmentum Obscurus, on the very edge of Imperial space, lies a secluded set of worlds – the Prades Belt. The system has had its fair share of wars and alien encounters, though none to rival the Chaos incursion of 373.M41. One of its worlds, Yaxin, is a desolate graveyard world covered in towering monuments and labyrinthine tombs where the upper class of the neighbouring Imperial planets inter their highborn or honoured military dead.

Carusca, the system’s verdant agri-world and chief supplier to both Aleph VII and the stores of Grakkus, is only recently recovered from the damage caused by the Prades Rebellion, and great tracts of sundered rock are filmed with new, burgeoning plantlife.

Nearby hovers Forgeworld Grakkus, where over 75% of the planet’s surface has been transformed over centuries into a colossal series of manufactorums used to provide arms and armour. Grakkus is also the final resting place of the dormant Imperator Titan, Wrath Omnis.

Defiance (Imperial designation: Sigma XVII) itself is a world with two major landmasses divided by a great ocean. The northernmost continent is an endless, utterly uninhabitable field of massive glaciers and shifting ice floes, bordered by cruel mountain ranges that guard the coastline like dragon's teeth, while the southernmost continent is a vast desert whose sands were created from the rubble of the civilisation which called it home. Riddled with treacherous, shifting dunes, vicious monsters and scattered with Imperial ruins from the pre-war era, great sandstorms whip and tear at the landscape, forcing those few brave or foolhardy humans who still inhabit it to take up the life of the nomad, shifting from ruin to ruin and trying to eke a living out of their shattered homeland.

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Pict-capture of the Prades Belt, taken in-system

At the centre of this vast desolation lies the Indomitable Spire, a mountainous fortress constructed from the ashes of Sigma Primaris, the city where the Defiant Sons fought the deciding battle of the Prades Rebllion. The foundations of the Spire were begun on the spot where Chapter Master Hrundin Goro fell, as a tribute to his bloody-minded defiance.

The Spire is a gargantuan structure composed of many levels and descends beneath the sands so far that it easily accommodates the Chapter's armoury. The very lowest levels are dedicated to the heroes of the Chapter. Here, in a monumental tomb, lies the body of Chapter Master Goro, still encased within his Terminator armour. Each new Chapter Master is expected to perform the Rite of Remembrance here, and when they fall in battle their bodies will be interred in one of the alcoves encircling the tomb.

At the Spire's highest point lies the Defiant Flame, a searing light that pierces the sky every twelve years and provides a beacon visible for hundreds of miles. The people of Defiance, made up of melded bloodlines from the refugees of the Prades Rebellion and the nomadic tribes native to the planet, are proud and hard, unflinching in their practicality and strength. The horrors of the Prades Rebellion, an event they refer to as the Kin-War, are so far behind them that the events have passed into legend. They believe that to reach the beacon is the highest honour amongst the tribes and they hold a gathering every twelve years to send their finest young warriors off into the desert, to seek the Defiant Flame.

Those who survive the ordeal are accepted as initiates to begin their training and the process of becoming a living weapon, an angel of death; a Space Marine.

CHAPTER ORGANISATION - Forces of Defiance

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he Defiant Sons are led by Chapter Master Gaius Octavian, hero of the Prades Rebellion and the most beloved commander since Valiar Avitus himself. Octavian is a master strategist and an advocate of massed firepower. He takes to the field in artificer armour and bears the Black Banner, a standard covered with memorial texts devoted to the battle-brothers lost during the Prades Rebellion. On occasion he dons the Armour of Remembrance, a truly ornate suit of Terminator armour supposedly worn by the Chapter’s founding father.

He is aided in his leadership by the Chapter Council; honoured and trusted warriors who are traditionally the oldest serving members of the Chapter, with notable exceptions. These marines are part of a select circle chosen personally by the Chapter Master to advise him in matters of war.

The Defiant Sons number ten proud Companies arranged according to the Codex Astartes, each with its own colourful history and honour roll mounted upon the walls of the Hall of Brotherhood within the Indomitable Spire. Foremost among these is that of the 1st Company, black-armoured veterans referred to as the Cursors, for they are the Emperor's messengers and their message is death.

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The better part of a Company attends the Indomitable Spire at all times, providing a constant vigil against the dangers which threaten their star system. Lone marines are also sent to assist with the training of PDF regiments throughout the Prades Belt, as well as visiting Forge World Obeisance to receive minor Techmarine training and conducting recruitment rituals on their homeworld of Defiance.

COMBAT DOCTRINE - Give Them Nothing

" Only forward, brothers! To the bitter end!"

~ Assault Sergeant Kratos, 4th Company

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n the attack, the Defiant Sons make great use of the "armoured fist" tactic, punching into the enemy formation with devastating vehicle charges and supporting them with Rhino-borne tactical squads who disembark to form a gunline of withering bolter and plasma fire.

The Chapter's assault squads often have a dedicated melta-trooper to cause extreme damage to any enemy armour if the battleforce's own vehicles are otherwise engaged. Dreadnoughts are deployed infrequently, although when they are, the rest of the force treats them as a rallying point, following these venerable warriors into the fray with a fervour to rival that of the fallen defenders of Sigma Primaris.

The overriding feature of any action taken by the Chapter is simple: No ground will be given to the enemy. To retreat is the greatest of shames to a Defiant Son and they would rather reap a fearsome tally in a last stand than turn their back on a foe of Mankind.

CHAPTER BELIEFS AND THE CULT CONTEMPTIO - Defy the Enemy, Honour The Fallen

"A Defiant Son will never give up. He will never surrender. He will defy the enemy to his very last breath and beyond. Where other Chapters falter in the face of overwhelming numbers or firepower, a Defiant Son will look to the judging eyes of his ancestors and march on into death's embrace, making the enemy pay tenfold for each step he takes.

Where another Chapter deems a position too weak, a Defiant Son will look to the arms of his brothers and forge a wall of steel and faith that will destroy the enemy that dares to crash upon it."

~ Vortega Thurol, Master of Sanctity

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he Sons' greatest tome of collected scriptures and doctrine, Chapter creeds and ancestral honours, the Liber Contemptio, is kept chained to the armour of the Chapter's Master of Sanctity, Chaplain Vortega Thurol. This ancient, metal-bound book was first created by the Chapter's Founding Father, Valiar Avitus, as an echo of the Codex Astartes laid down by the Brazen Claws' spiritual inspiration, Roboute Guilliman.

The Liber dictates that no matter what the situation, a Space Marine should be able to defy his constraints, be they physical, mental, tactical or circumstancial, and overcome adversity. If assailed by an unnumbered, undefeatable legion of monstrous foes, a Space Marine should defy them to the last; he should spit in the face of both his enemy and the doom that fate has seemingly thrust upon him. It is these ideals that gave birth to the Cult Contemptio.

The Cult plays a part in every level of Chapter heirarchy, from the initiates who dedicate their initiation ritual to a fallen Son, to the mighty warriors of the Chapter Council and the elite 1st Company. The primary teaching of the Cult Contemptio is that of the Liber - Defy the enemy. The greatest of the Chapter's heroes are those who have overcome seemingly insurmountable odds and those who have sacrificed themselves to allow other Imperial servants to withdraw unscathed, for by doing so the Defiant Sons prove their courage, strength and superiority over both the enemies of Mankind and their own mortal allies. To stand filled with utter defiance in the face of death is an honour and an ideal for warriors of the Cult Contemptio.

The Chapter venerates the Emperor in the aspect of the Immortal Defender, ascended to the pinnacle of humanity by virtue of His prowess in battle and revered for his unending defiance of death itself. They believe that as He defies the touch of death, so shall they defy the will of any enemy of Mankind.

GENE-SEED - Iron and Blood

"Machines break. They rust, they fail, they need constant repair. Our flesh heals itself, becomes tougher; our bones reknit, growing stronger and harder to break. Our senses put a mortal man's to shame, and we will not willingly replace parts of ourselves without reason. We are Astartes, each a masterpiece in flesh, created by the Emperor in His divine image. What right have we to defile His glorious design with needless cogs and wires?"

~ Attributed to Valiar Avitus, the Founding Father of the Defiant Sons.

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"It looked like nothing less than a city of ghosts in the twilight.
We found corpses everywhere - heretics and loyalists, side by
side. We discovered eldar bodies amongst the wreckage, as
well, even arch-traitors of the Alpha Legion. The commander
insisted we destroy them all. We burned the heretics of course,
but he had us take an unusual measure when dealing with the
aliens. We were to destroy the glowing gems the creatures
wore on their armour. We said nothing, of course, but the
librarian with him looked satisfied as we went among the eldar
and smashed their precious stones..."

Damage Control

T

he gene-seed of the Iron Hands was chosen for the creation of the Defiant Sons. As a result the Chapter’s recruitment statistics are free of mutation or genetic deviation and samples are regularly tithed to the Mechanicus compound on Forgeworld Grakkus, where they are stored and prepared for dispatch to Mars.

Unlike the Iron Hands, the Sons do not display any overt preference toward bionic augmentation. This is thought to be a combination of both their nature, which leads them to fight on despite grievous damage, and the teachings of Valiar Avitus, who was taught by the Brazen Claws to put the inherent desire for augmentation aside through rigorous training and indoctrinated abstinence.

There are some who believe that the hard-line hatred of weakness, which is also rumoured to be an effect of Ferrus Manus' gene-seed, has not been destroyed but rather refocused - the idea of retreat is anathema to a Defiant Son, even more so than other Chapters of the Adeptus Astartes.

There have been two recorded occasions during the Defiant Sons' history where a battle-brother has been executed for apparent cowardice. In both cases allied Imperial Commanders put forth a defence of the accused's actions, citing a need for tactical withdrawal due to the presence of, in their words, "an unbeatable foe". The Chapter Council decreed that this was no excuse for withdrawing from the battle, for it is the duty of each and every Defiant Son to hold the line until death's embrace, and to never give even an inch of ground to the enemies of Man.

BATTLECRY - Is That The Sound of Death I Hear?

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he Defiant Sons have maintained several battlecries since the Prades Rebellion, often incorporating the losses suffered there, but the most popular remains the cry used since the Chapter's inception, words first spoken by Valiar Avitus at the Chapter's first muster:

"Ever defiant!"

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~ Remember Prades ~

“And when the taint of Chaos descended upon the worlds of the Emperor, only His angels of death could stand in the face of their onslaught. When the vile Eldar revealed themselves as base traitors and thieves, only His angels of death could deny them any victory. Our loss was the greatest manifestation of the superiority we have been blessed with. The near-decimation of this system is no weakness but a testament to our fortitude, for we are ever defiant!”

~ Chapter Master Gaius Octavian’s First Address

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Images created using the B&C Marine Painters or taken from various Google images modified using the Gimp. The faded picture under the title is a coloured and modified version of an original created by NachoMon on deviantArt. These credits will be updated with Games Workshop's official copyright Notice as soon as I can get to a computer that doesn't block all GW weblinks. >_>;

[Odsox]

The Defiant Sons have now been added to the 1000 Chapter Index!

 

Next step: Elements of the 4th Company in the PCA > Hall of Honour!

 

Od.

[gwchaptermaster]

i like the way you dont use bionic replacements thats diffrent for ih successess nice touch

[Ediin]

WOW. Nicely detailed IA, and how can you NOT love Iron Hands successors? :blush:

[Captain Juan Juarez]

First Impression: Looking very polished and complete - I skimmed.

 

I'll give it a more thorough work through when I get home from work, but I like what i see Master Odsox!

[Odsox]

Thanks for the replies, gentlemen!

 

The only thing that's annoying me about this IA so far is that seeing it complete (as far as I'm concerned) just makes me want to write more!

 

Thanks again,

 

Od.