IA: Ultramar's Fist

[Insacrum]

Ultramar's Fist

"We are not death in the Emperor's name. We are not his bloodied right hand. We have not been beaten and broken.

We are the Emperor's Chosen Warriors. We are the Imperium's Hope! WE ARE ULTRAMAR'S FIST!" - Gaius Vinicius Proximus, Newly Appointed Chapter Master, After the destruction of Gudrun II 975.M41

Origin

The chapter that is known as Ultramar's Fist was one of the many chapters created during the 26th founding in 738.M41. As the chapter has been short-lived, they are not well known among the Imperium of Man, but they are not strangers to strife and tragedy. Their origins start with the Aurora Chapter

The Aurora chapter had been sweeping through the galaxy bringing several worlds outside of the Imperium of Man back into the fold. Upon Gudrun II in the Cygnus Arm of the Segmentum Obscurus, they found a planet of sweeping wastelands sprinkled with oases. These oases were highly prized by the inhabitants of Gudrun II, to the point where battles were fought, and battlements created around them. The planet's main form of entertainment revolved around gladiatorial matches forced upon the losers of these Oases battles. It was quite common for the winner of such a match to dip his hand in the blood of his opponent, lifting it into the air as a declaration of victory.

After sweeping through the planet, bringing it under Imperial rule, the Aurora chapter found that the planet, while bereft of any visible resources on the surface, was actually a planet rich of metals and coal. Gudrun II was quickly converted into a Forgeworld for the Imperium. While this drastic change of the planet quickly brought new industry to the planet, it didn't bring new forms of entertainment, as the gladiatorial events continued, but in greater fashion now.

When the 26th founding was announced, and the Aurora chapter was given the privilege of a successor chapter, Gudrun II was initially chosen as the home world where this new chapter would reside from. The Forgeworld would now turn its exports towards producing armor and weaponry for a new Chapter of the Index Astartes. The recruits were chosen from the winners of the gladiatorial events. The slaves and dregs of the Forgeworld now fought along volunteers from the hierarchy of the population hoping to become space marines.

The Aurora chapter provided the first Master of the Chapter, Quintillus Otho Cnaeus, who brought with him Master of the Forge Plinius to convert the planets foundries toward the chapter’s end, Chaplain Iulius to assess the recruits and to instill the teachings of Guilliman, Apothecary Vergilius, Librarian Quintillus, as well as 2 veteran squads to help mold the chapter in the image of the Aurora and the Ultramarine. Along with the manpower, Master of the Forge Plinius brought with him the components for 2 precious suits of Terminator Armor, as yet to be properly combined and reused by the Aurora Chapter (relics in their own right), as well as a Land Raider, a Predator, a Razorback and a Rhino, from which the Forgeworld would pattern their creations. From this beginning, Ultramar's Fist was born.

The chapter was initially involved with several minor incidences, but nothing recorded in annuls of the Imperium. Their first major action was during the Badab war, where they were initially brought in to help ferret out minor pockets of traitor legions. The long trek to Badab required that some of the chapter stay behind to continue with the recruiting process, as well as ensuring the production of armor and weapons. To this end, the Master of the Forge and the Third Company was left behind.

Ultramar’s Fist never made it to Badab though. During their trek to Badab they received a distress call signaling that Gudrun II was under attack by the Forces of Chaos. The attack on their homeworld dictated that they return immediately. Upon returning, the chapter was forced into its greatest set of battles, after discovering widespread demonic corruption on the planet.

Cleansing of Gudrun II

"The Imperium of Man belongs to us! We are the Emperor's soldiers! His declaration of death! His bloodied right hand of justice! We are Ultramar's Fist" - Terentius Avitus Brutus, former chaplain of the third company

It was the source of the demonic corruption that was most disturbing. Within the newly created chapter was a chaplain who heralded from Gudrun II itself. Terentius Avitus Brutus was a survivor of uncounted gladiatorial matches before being chosen to join Ultramar’s Fist. He reveled in the sport, always emerging with his hand bloodies to the elbow in victory. His battle prowess ensured that he rose swiftly in the ranks of Ultramar’s Fist, and his faith in the chapter and the Emperor showed him as a perfect candidate for Chaplain of the Third Company.

It was his ruthlessness in battle and bloodlust that began his decent to chaos. It started as over-aggression in combat, then a constant need for bloodshed, in and out of battle. Little by little, unknowingly to Chaplain Terentius, he was allowing himself to be corrupted by the ruinous powers of Khorne, slowly falling under the possession of a Bloodthirster. As the chaplain of the company, he was free to instill the ruthlessness and bloodlust that would eventually spread the corruption to the entire Third Company. The thrust of the company’s decent came at the hands of Chaplain Terentius and the Company Captain, Captain Thaddeus Caecilius Marconium.

Master of the Forge Plinius had managed the completion of one of the two sets of Terminator Armor, and was planning on using it to commemorate the successful return of the chapter from Badab. But, Chaplain Terentius planted the seed that Captain Thaddeus should request the armor. ‘A great weapon for a greater warrior’ he prodded. When the Master of the Forge refused to turn the armor over to the Captain, Captain Thaddeus killed him, and began donning the armor, not knowing that he was donning the wrong one. It was at this time that the Bloodthirster took full control of Chaplain Terentius, and with Captain Thaddeus’s help, began mobilizing the rest of the third company against the techmarines of the chapter, and thus the foundries and general populous.

Upon returning to Gudrun II, Ultramar’s Fist found the Forgeworld in ruins, with the entire third company having fallen to Khorne. The war to bring the planet under bear was harshly fought. Brother battling against former brother. The third company had already gone on a bloody spree of clearing the planet of the living, where possible. With pockets of marines loyal to the emperor, under command of the techmarines, were able to establish bunkers against the assaults of their brothers. They were able to keep mass amounts of armaments and weaponry from the newly afflicted third company, including the terminator armor that had been completed.

The bloodletting on the planet was great; and the casualties against the loyalist of Ultramar’s Fists continued to grow, while the traitors of the third legion at this point were gaining reinforcements from the warp. The discovery of this made the fight for Gudrun II all for naught as the command wielded by Terentius the Bloody Handed, as he was now known, and Captain Thaddeus was too great for the dwindling force of Ultramar’s Fist to withstand. It was at that moment when Chapter Master Quintillus made the harsh decision to retreat and cleanse the planet of all life, leaving Gudrun II a death world.

It is here that the chapter developed its now famous extraction process. The chapter was forced to pull out of Gudrun II with as many people and resources as possible. It was at the end where a grand battle between the demon prince, and the chapter master ensued. It was this sacrifice that allowed the chapter to carry out the rest of its mission: Destroying the planet through orbital bombardment.

Due to the casualties of war, and no longer having a recruiting planet available to them, Ultramar's Fist is extremely undermanned, slowly recovering back to full strength, and now fleet based.

Recruitment

Ultramar's Fist first gained the majority of its recruits from the newly minted Forgeworld of Gudran II. The recruits were chosen from the winners of gladiatorial matches. The gladiatorial matches were a brutal and bloody holdover from before Gudran II was a Forgeworld, and merely a world inhabited by tribes of nomads fighting for the few oases of water. These gladiatorial winners ensured that Ultramar's Fist was stocked with hearty, resilient fighters.

Since the destruction of Gudran II, Ultramar's Fleet based recruitment has been slower. When not on crusade, or in route to combat, upon encountering an inhabited planet that isn't a registered home world of another chapter, a recruitment squad consisting of The Master of the Recruits, one of the chapter chaplains, a veteran squad, and a scout squad go among the populous, searching for possible recruits. While most of the recruitment is an assessment of the population, it is a one on one fight with the Master of the Recruits, similar to the gladiatorial matches of old, that determines a prospect’s worth as an initiate or not.

Combat Doctrine

Organization

Beliefs

Gene-Seed

Ultramar's Fist's Gene-Seed traces back to the Ultramarines, through the Aurora chapter.

Battlecry

[Insacrum]

I'm planning on doing a DIY write-up, but before I do, I have some questions.

 

First, as a squad get's killed of, would a chapter automatically call up a squad from the reserves to replace them?

 

Also, would different companies, or squads have different war-cries from one another?

 

Last, would a chapter decended from one Founding chapter, use iconography similar to a second founding chapter?

 

Thanks.

[Brother Tyler]

First, as a squad get's killed of, would a chapter automatically call up a squad from the reserves to replace them?

What is the context of this question? There is really no single answer to this question as it depends upon the situation. My initial interpretation of your question is that a squad in a Battle Company has been wiped out and you're wondering how the Chapter would replace that squad in order to get the Battle Company back up to full strength. If that is your question, then moving a squad from one of the Reserve Companies is a viable option. That doesn't mean that it's the only option, however. What you might see is promotion within the company - a senior battle-brother that is ready to be promoted to sergeant might be promoted to fill the vacancy, with other battle-brothers shifted around to preserve some continuity. This would reduce other squads, creating gaps, and those gaps might be filled by transferring suitably prepared battle-brothers from the Reserve Companies. Alternately, the replacement of the squad might be held off for awhile for some reason (perhaps no replacements are available). There are really lots of ways that a squad might be replaced, dependent upon the situation at hand and the traditions/doctrine of the Chapter.

 

Also, would chapters have different war-cries from one another?

GW provided different battle cries for the various Chapters. That doesn't necessarily mean that each Chapter has its own unique battle cry, however. Some Chapters might have the same or similar battle cries. Essentially, you can use whatever battle cry you want.

 

Last, would a chapter decended from one Founding chapter, use iconography similar to a second founding chapter?

Chapters aren't limited to iconography based on their heritage, and it isn't unknown for Chapters to have similar badges. So it would be possible for an Ultramarines Legion Successor to use a fist as (part of) their Chapter badge. Multiple Chapters use the bull head logo, the maltese cross, etc. There might be themes that are typical of certain lines, but those themes are neither limited to those lines nor are they mandatory for all Successors of those lines.

[Insacrum]

Brother Tyler: Thanks for the response. I think I actually asked the second questions wrong. I didn't mean to ask about different chapters, obviously they have different war-cries, I meant to ask about different companies within a chapter.

 

Thanks,

[Insacrum]

Added Origin.

 

C&C welcome!

[Insacrum]

I've added the recruitment.

 

To add a bit of background to what I'm trying to create: I wanted my chapter to be coming out of a tragedy of internal betrayal. What I want to have happened is that as the main force went to the Badab war, the third company which was left behind, ended up turning to Khorne, lead by the company's captain and chaplain. There were a few pockets who resisted the turn, but most were quickly eliminated. Upon the main forces return to Gudran II, they were forced to fight a newly minted force of chaos space marines who used to be their own brothers.

 

I was thinking that the 3rd company captain became a deamon prince, while the chaplain became a Harold of Khorne. I was thinking that the start of it all surrounded a suit of terminator armor that had been put together by the Master of the Forge, to be presented to the chapter master upon his return. The 3rd company captain wanted it, and rebelled to khorne to get it. The Master of the Forge created a false set that the captain got his hands on, while the real set was hidden.

 

the majority of the fighting was an attempt by the chapter to evacuate pockets of survivors, as well as get as much of the forgeworld armaments possible, including the real terminator armor. The Original Chapter Master was slain by the Deamon Prince.

 

The Chapter Master's successor, say a company captain (either 2nd or 4th) managed to kill or banish the Harold of Khorne, and thus gained the terminator armor. I'm not sure if I want the deamon prince to have survived the orbital bombardment, and thus be the only traitor survivor of the chapter. I know I don't want to have an issue of them searching for and killing off 'fallen brethren' a'la Dark Angels.

 

Given this background, should I only hint at the fall of the third company in the Astares (as now), or should I provide more information about it?

 

Aside from that, any other C&C would be great.

 

Thanks in advance.

[Andrew J]

Hmm... Well just read through it and I dont think that the Aurora Chapter would give so much to the chapter right at founding. 20 terminator suits is a lot. Some chapters may only possess 20 suits all together. Along with all the other things they give over it seems like too much. Remember a chapter is not really that big and tends to use everything at their disposal as they are constantly at war. Also every piece of equipment is precious and hard to come by. If I understand correctly a chapter usually only gives a new leader and a small cadre of veterans to help the new chapter train up. Many times the cadre goes back to the old chapter. Also you have just been given a forgeworld to make all your stuff so why would the Aurora Chapter give so much equipment to a newly formed chapter that they could use themselves?

 

I think what you wrote in your newest post is much better than what you have now in your main post. I like the internal tradegy idea. I dont know if your reasoning works all that well as maybe a slaanesh demon would work better to tie into the jealousy theme. I dont really know if you need much of an explanation either, the chapter left to fight at badab and when they returned their own brothers had turned against them. thats pretty good by itself. You could also lend an air of mystery by not going into too much detail about it, just that the chapter had to save what they could and then firebombed their own world to save it. Pretty dramatic in itself in my opinion. You could also say they were enroute to Badab and were called back by distress signals from their homeworld, never really getting there so they lost out on the glory of battle and then came home to find their own world taken over by chaos. Double whammy of bad in my book.

 

From there a good idea would be to explore what that event did to change the chapter, if at all.

 

Hope that helps.

[Sun Grilled Bacon]

If one company turned to chaos, wouldn't the whole chapter then be placed under Inquisitional scrutiny?

[Insacrum]

@Sun Grilled Bacon: As an answer to your question, the reason that I was debating whether to reveal everything in the index was because of that same problem.

 

But on the other hand, I was also thinking that if the only survivors of the battle were the chapter, then how would the Inquisition know? As they say "History is written by the victors".

[NightrawenII]

I was thinking that the 3rd company captain became a deamon prince, while the chaplain became a Harold of Khorne.

Becoming a Daemon Prince is quite arduous task, it involves a lot of bloodletting and skull-taking and it's not certainly something you get after sign up. He could be possessed by Bloodthirster, though.

Second, the Chaplains are the guys, whose duty is keep your marines from Chaos. If Chaplain has fallen to Chaos-worshipp, then there is something wrong with Chapter Cult itself.

 

The 3rd company captain wanted it, and rebelled to khorne to get it.

Really?! Just because of TDA?

 

the majority of the fighting was an attempt by the chapter to evacuate pockets of survivors, as well as get as much of the forgeworld armaments possible, including the real terminator armor. The Original Chapter Master was slain by the Deamon Prince.

Eh?

Appearance of single daemon does not require Exterminatus. You will need Daemonic Invasion to justify such thing.

 

Given this background, should I only hint at the fall of the third company in the Astares (as now), or should I provide more information about it?

Meh, you should ask yourself; What is the point of this? The Fall of Caliban is interesting inclusion into DA background because it has everlasting effects on Chapter. So... what are the consequences of this event?

 

 

~NightrawenII.

[Insacrum]

@Andrew J: You're right about the Terminator Armor, so I'm going to change that detail slightly. I'm planning on adding more detail about the fall of the 3rd company. I also like the idea of them not actually getting to Badab, and having to turn back, so if you don't mind, I'm going to use it.

 

@NightrawenII: 1: Possession rather than conversion sounds like a interesting idea that I'll have to look into. I'm trying to link the fall of the 3rd company to be similar to the World Eaters, in that gladiatorial combat and bloodletting as a way of initiation brings about the link to Chaos and Khorne. The link is fostered (either knowingly, or unknowingly) by the 3rd company's chaplain. I understand that it's the Chaplains duty to root out possession and corruption. That was my reason for choosing the chaplain as the one who falls first. If he's not doing his duty to root it out, then perhaps he's the one urging it on, the the entire company falling to chaos. Granted, after this happening, the rest of the Chapter is going to be extra careful not to let it happen again (or let it be known publicly that it happened in the first place).

 

2: I was thinking of the TDA as being a weapon to achieve greater kills, and by the time the captain/chaplain went to get it, they were already tainted. This was just the final straw in their decent to chaos. If you think I should go more into the possession/corruption and how it started and didn't get detected, let me know and I'll see about expanding that part.

 

3: I was trying to justify the Exterminatus in that by the time the decision was made, the only ones left on the planet (assuming the rest of the loyalist chapter had evacuated) would be the 3rd company, either as converts to Khorne or possessed marines. the rest of the planets population would have already been evacuated or killed by the 3rd company.

 

4: I hadn't fully fleshed it out, but I was seeing the affects being:

 

- A hatred for Chaos Marines (which shouldn't be anything out of the ordinary).

- Their tactics revolving around objective capturing/retrieval.

- A stricter focus on weeding out possibly afflicted marines by chaplains and librarians.

- Scouts are advanced from company to company, being trained under several chaplains. Thus there is no 10th scout company as in the Codex Astertes. So the 10th company takes on the roll of what was the 9th company, the 9th is what was the 8th, and so on until the 3rd company. The Third company is left empty except as noted next.

- The lack of a complete third company. It now only consists of the Original Chapter Chaplain (after stepping down for not seeing the taint in the 3rd company chaplain) a librarian, and possibly a captain. Their roll is as a almost final look into the psyche of the 1 scout squad under their command temper them against possession and corruption.

 

 

 

@Everyone: Thanks for all of your questions/comments/criticisms. Please keep them coming, as it'll only help me make this a better Index.

[Insacrum]

I updated the origin a lot. I still need to update it to include Chapter Master Quintillus's death at the hands of Terentius the Bloody Handed.

 

Let me know what you think.

[NightrawenII]

Weel, I for once believe the elaborate stories are bane of IA's. But if you keep it simple then there is nothing with it. Now...

 

ForgeWorld is sanctuary of secretive Adpetus Mechanicus and home of Titan Legion(s). It's off limits for Space Marine Chapter. The Gudrun II is Industrial World like the Vostroya.

 

Which brings me to another point, Vostroya has population of 9.3 billion people, that's not something you can evacuate over night. The inevitable sacrifices will be made. This could result in feelings of guilt, desire to repent and a lot of funny stuff á la Imperial Fists.

Also, blowing your own homeworld won't go unnoticed for long. Both Ordo Malleus and Ordo Hereticus will be interested in such mystery and you could expect the Penitent Crusade.

 

Next, Khorne is about fury, wrath and rage. To distance themselves from him the Chapter could adopt more cold-hearted, steady approach. The difference between bushfire and flood, so to speak. Also, you could introduce various practices of ritual cleansing after each battle. After all, the blood desecrates Marine's purity.

 

Just sidenote. The Aurora Chapter is known for its armored assaults, and as such possesses unusually large pool of Predators and Land Raiders.

 

 

~NightrawenII.

[Insacrum]

NightRawenII: I'm loving your feedback and questions. It's making me dig deep to figure out the origins of this chapter, to not only make believable, but also fit the environment already put forth by Games-Workshop.

 

As a bit more of what I'm hoping is acceptable background. I have a few additional nuggets of information for you.

 

You are correct, in that I meant for Gudrun II to be an industrial world, rather than a Forgeworld. That was my mistake.

 

I chose to have them pick an Industrial world due to the fact that the Aurora chapter is heavy in armored combat, thus an industrial world would be better geared towards that end.

 

Gudrun II started as a feral world. Initial population of about 1 million. The layout of the planet due to the the limited water supplies, resulted in about 20 cities planet-wide focused on the most abundant oases. These 20 aren't the only oases, just the biggest. Other Oases exist and are used as stopping point for travel between cities, or places where bandits would gather.

 

I would expect the planet to have been rediscovered sometime between the 25th and 26th founding, so I chose about 132.M41

 

with the chapter founding happening at 738.M41 that give a little over 600 years of population growth while as an industrial planet. I figure that would raise the population to about 700 million.

 

By the time the fall of Gudrun II happened, between 901.M41 and 912.M41, the population would have probably reached about 6 Billion.

 

I would think that given the background of the population, the planet would stay focused in the 20 cities, now industrial hive complexes.

 

Now the next question would be how long it would take for a fleet to travel from the Cygnus Arm of the Segmentum Obscurus to Badab. I was hoping that 3 months would be an appropriate time, and that after about a months travel, they would have turned back. So that would give a Chaos war-band of about 100 CSM about 30 days or so to destroy 20 cities.

 

I figure the first line of attack would be to remove all communication channels in the planet, so that each city wouldn't know what's happening to the other, and make the resulting assault on each city more effective. So I would think that this chaos war-band would be able to take out 20 cities in 20 days. By the end of this time you would be left with about 1 million people how are trying not to get killed. So probably by the end of the 30 days, a majority of that 1 million would either have turned to chaos in order to survive, or have been killed off.

 

I would think that a majority of the survivors would be several Techmarines overseeing bunkers and stores of munitions/Armour, and gear. Upon the death of the master of the forge at the hands of the 3rd company, the would have gone on lock-down with whatever servitors, pilots, drivers, and possibly civilians, that were with them. Thus the evacuation process would have been a little easier for the loyalist chapter when they arrived.

 

Now for the issue of the Chaplain. I'm not sure if his current corruption process will work. I think it might be better if I had him become corrupted by taking a wound from a demon possessed weapon, thus transferring the possession to him. If the 3rd company took loses during chapters previous campaign, it would help give a reason for the 3rd company staying behind. They might have been in the process of indoctrinating the recruits when the summons to Badab came.

 

I would suspect that by this time the chapter would have had a full 2nd, 3rd and 4th company, with about half of the 1st in place. So the 1st, 2nd, and 4th left to Badab. I believe that would put either 4 chaplains going to Badab with 1 left behind, or 3 going to Badab, with 2 left behind.

 

I would prefer the 4 leaving, to make it easier for the corruption to take place, but correct me if I'm wrong.

 

I like the idea of the chapter going through ritualistic cleaning after each battle, removing all traces of blood from themselves. As for the investigations, I'm not sure how the deal with that. At the time of the fleets return to the planet, The Techmarines would know the truth about what happened, but those guys would be seen as a bit psycho anyway (cult of the machine and all). I would wager that a couple of the higher ups would figure things out, but would they keep things quite like the DA, or divulge to the inquisition and end up on Penitent Crusade. I suspect they would grudgingly divulge info. If that is the case, would a chapter be allowed to recruit during this period, or would they be a dwindling mess of Marines?

 

To bring us current, they would have been on crusade for about what, 75-100 years?

[Andrew J]

Just read the new update. Works better. Still a couple things I think you could work on though.

 

Sidenote: I had to look into your timeline for population growth to be sure but color me purple you must have looked it up already. That is pretty insane how much the worlds population has grown in the last 200 years.

 

Back to your IA.

 

I like the new idea for the chaplain to get possessed from a wound from a demon weapon. Be careful though because I am sure he would get tested out the yin yang for corruption. I dont think the imperium even takes a chaplain's word about anything to do with chaos. Its a really harsh universe where they shoot first and dont even bother asking questions later.

 

Another thing I thought of would be that Gudrun II has a PDF and possibly Imp Guard regiments which would number in the hundreds of thousands or millions on a world with 6 billion people. Being an industrial world they would have ready access to tanks and other heavy weapons. One company of space marines with no orbital access would be hard pressed to take over a world with 6 billion people in 30 days. Maybe instead of taking over the whole world they took over a hive city and swayed their population. That would give them the access to some traitor guard and pdf forces and barricade themselves in the city. A distress signal could be sent out from that city to others. Another thing to think about is the Fortress-Monastery. I dont think you mention anything about it. That would have a large impact on what happens too. Maybe instead of a city, they take over the Fortress monastery and launch weapons onto the cities to make them comply with the new demon lord. Also could justify killing millions as a sacrifice to Khorne. Just a thought.

 

As for the investigations dont worry about it. You are at the current time. Remember the current time is 999.M41, less than a hundred years from the fall of Gudrun II. Just mention something about how because of their actions Ordo Hereticus and Ordo Malleus has deemed they go on a penitent crusade for 100? years. I guess you could look into how long they usually are. I would think that would be long enough but maybe 500 years?

 

Maybe they just sent themselves on a crusade to atone for their failing? That could work too.

 

Hope that helps.

[Insacrum]

Sidenote: I had to look into your timeline for population growth to be sure but color me purple you must have looked it up already. That is pretty insane how much the worlds population has grown in the last 200 years.

 

Yeah, it's amazing what industrialization did to the population of earth. But I didn't let the exponential growth get too out of hand on Gudrun II (I actually calculated the population growth myself).

 

on everything else:

 

I guess if the chapter had just returned from the mission in which the Chaplain was injured when the call to go to Badab came, that might be the reason for leaving the third company behind, rather than the incomplete 4th.

 

Your right in that I completely forgot about the fortress monastery. I would expect them to have taken the fortress monastery first, then go out and destroy the cities. It would just make it hard to keep the TechMarine bunkers intact.

 

As for the Crusade. Every one that I've seen is for 100years. So they would almost be done with a Crusade at current time.

[Insacrum]

So, it's been a while since I've posted, mostly due to RL stuff...

 

So I've been thinking about the background, and I'm thinking about changing stuff.

 

Most noticeably would be instead of a fall to chaos, I was thinking of having the world be a necron tomb world, that ends up rising up and cleansing the planet. That would remove the issue of the traitors, and the crusade. But I might have to move where the planet is from.

 

I guess I have some research to do for now.

[Insacrum]

Ultramar’s Fist

“Though a thousand may fall at my side / Though the enemy war against me

I will not fear the terror by night / I will hide in the shadow of your wings”
-Aaron Keys

Background

The Ultramar’s Fist chapter has a very tragic beginning. Its origin begins on Gudran II, a death world, whose nomadic inhabitants battled for one of the most scares resource of the planet, water. When the Aurora chapter first located inhabitants of the planet, those who made permanent residence of one of the 17 oasis on the planet, came under heal of the imperium of man very quickly, while the more nomadic tribes posed no threat, they were left to fend among the wastelands.

Gudran II was to be a blip on the imperium’s radar, if not for the mass amounts of iron, lead, copper, and gold, just below the surface of the planet. Most noticeable by the iron oxide that managed to seep up and mix with the sand of the planet to give it an orange hew.

With these mineral deposits discovered, Gudran II quickly went from death world, to mining colony of the imperium. The Mining colonies were centered on each of the 17 oasis, due to their proximity to the ores, as well as the water supply. The nomads quickly began increasing their raids upon the mining colonies, looking for food, water and supplies. The most bothersome of these tribes were hunted, but rarely dealt with.

Later, when a successor chapter was chosen to be made from the Aurora chapter, it was Gudran II that was chosen to be the Homeworld of this new chapter, named Ultramar’s Fist. It wouldn’t be the minors that inhabited the planet, and it’s many quarries, that Ultramar’s Fist would draw it’s stock from, but rather the Nomadic tribesman would posed a constant threat to the minors, by way of their continued raids.

As the ranks of Ultramar’s Fist grew, the number of raids against the mining quarries dropped, until they were almost non-existent. The nomadic tribesman quickly went from outcast, to protectors. But in contrast, the output from the quarries went down. Accidents rose in number. Rumors of monsters and ghosts abounded. Miners would turn on other miners, going on bloody rampages until they were themselves killed. It got to the point that Ultramar’s Fist was forced to send forces into the mines and quarries.

That was when the Necrons truly awoke.

Ultramar’s Fist was caught off guard. Each of the 17 mining area was destroyed within a day. The Necrons overran the existing populous. At each of the sites a Necron structure emerged from the ground, gushing forth mass amounts of their army, bent on subjugating the human populous of Gudran II.

The Necrons managed to catch Ultramar’s Fist unaware and ill-prepared. Ultramar’s fist fought tooth and nail for Gudran II, but in the end the Chapter Master gave evacuation orders. While the majority of the Second and Third Companies were lost to the Necrons, the Fourth Company, with the leadership of several squads from the First Company, managed to usher a mass exodus of the planet.

The remainder of Ultramar’s Fist, on a single Gladius Frigate, with what remained of the populous of Gudran II, planned a planet strike against Gudran II. Their intention was to stop the Necron threat then and there. Suddenly, the planet seemed to crumble in on itself. In the distance several Necron vessels could be seen leaving.

Ultramar’s Homeworld of Gudran II was destroyed. Their Chapter Master dead. And all that remained of them were left in a single vessel. Left to ruminate until the next time they would meet with a necron force. This time prepared for the encounter.