My Red Corsair warband fluff.

[Trevak Dal]

Warlord

Giselburtus is the defacto leader of the warband.  A sorcerer-I've played around with his background, sometimes with nuttier backgrounds than others, but I've settled with this one-of which everyone I've told it to has applauded.

He was an Astral Claw-fought in the Badab War as a Librarian.  He also was a deep cover Alpha Legionnaire who-at key points during the war, instigated further hostilities.  I based this off of the mysterious events that happened where the Mantis Warrior's Chapter Master and the Red Scorpion's Chapter Master (Not Cullen-the guy Cullen replaced) got killed.

 

Giselburtus was there-and ensured things went "according to plan".

 

His legate commander-during the fall of Badab, had pieced it all together after years of watching the Librarian act in peculiar ways-and betrayed him, leaving him critically wounded to die in the burning Palace of Thorns.

 

But that was not to be.  An 'overly idealistic' Astral Claw-who'd only ever fought against the Imperium saw the wounded-but still alive Librarian and brought him aboard their thunderhawk and boarding one of the Astral Claw fleet ships, they braved what they'd call The Gauntlet Run.

 

Over 60% of the Expanded Chapter's casualties happened during the Gauntlet Run.

 

Giselburtus was too damaged to survive outside of a dreadnought.  He wanted to die rather than be put in one of "Those things" but his wishes were put aside and he was entombed, he and those who saved him assigned under the very same Legate Commander as Raider Six.

 

Over the next few decades, they raided worlds within the Maelstrom, occasionally doing missions for the newly crowned Blackheart.  One such task, saw the former Legate Commander-now Khornate and calling himself 'Carnage', to acquire some sort of chaos artifact known as "the well of souls".  Giselburtus-his powers blunted-but not gone had learned of the Well's power and upon facing down it's former owners-a Warp Smith, he engaged the Techno-Mage in combat.

 

His Dreadnought chassis was horrifically damaged-and Giselburtus's form was infected with some of the techno-virus.  He grabbed the writhing form of the Warpsmith, a spell from his mouth as he drove both of them into the Well's fiery waters.

 

What happened next, is unclear-if academic.  Giselburtus was reborn, and had somehow gained the knowledge of the Warpsmith.  Carnage attacked him-"the Damnable Snake" but when they emerged from the ruins-Carnage was a Possessed Space Marine, and Giselburtus sauntered forward and assumed control, and has led Raider Six ever since.

 

 

The Silent Step

Giselburtus's Red Corsair's home away from New Badab, it's a heavily modified Infidel class frigate.  She's been overhauled so that captured goods can quickly be loaded, and has a host of sensor spoofing arrays so that their emissions appear as anything besides an Infidel class until they are right on top of their prey.

 

The ship is crewed largely by humans, Astartes deemed too important to run a ship-though they can of course assume control if necessary.

 

 

 

Raider Six

 

The Red Corsairs known as "Raider Six" specialize in asset recovery.  Giselburtus as well as being a son of Alpharius, is a student of the Tyrant of Badab as well.  His unconventional tactics have done much to inspire how Giselburtus himself prosecutes his raids.

 

They helped to acquire the Marines Errant geneseed, as well as playing a minor role in the Tyrant's trapping of the Vengeance Force on the Hollow Worlds.  They were part of the Spearhead in acquiring a Sisters of Battle Cannoness for the Blackheart's schemes, and have at times during their 'Free Raiding' hired themselves out to other entities and warbands.

 

A relic of some importance was taken from the Flesh Tearers and delivered to the renegade Knights of Blood-this itself was a contract arranged by the Corpsemaster, so that he could acquire Knights of Blood organs.  Giselburtus sweetened the deal by throwing in some Flesh Tearer scouts they'd captured.

 

Raider Six has been repaid in that, they have received a small batch of "New Types", Chimera Space Marines made from the various organs of a number of space marines and implanted in some of the hardiest stock they could find.

 

At it's core though, are veterans of the Badab War, though only two squads remain.  A never ending supply of human cultists and marauders culled from the Maelstrom worlds are used as expendable fodder to cover the mission of Raider Six.

 

Among their "ex-patriot brethren" are a mixed squad of former loyalists who haven't earned their flags just yet.

[the jeske]

But didnt astral claws have 1 astral claw librarians left alive when entering the storm and he ended up hooked up to a dread sarcofagus  with a psy dampers and went mad, Or was that fluff changed ?

[Trevak Dal]

Don't know, I thought that guy was a White Scar infiltrator or something.  I took what liked from the badab war background and added to and expanded it with my "Own Guys".