A Holy Work - The Three Hives Rebellion

[JackDaw]

Exactly how it should be Kobrakei - nobody should want the Astartes to jump in and get involved straight away. People forget that they aren't human, not any more.

[Montuhotep]

Sounds more than a little Iron Hands to me, perfect finish!

[deathspectersgt7]

Yup that is how it should be period.

[marine7312000]

Please tell me there is more. I would be very hard-pressed to choose between your fluff and your models.

[Daemon2027]

I am very late to this, but fantastic read, you really captured the spirit of space marine, I especially like the human view as they discover what their angels really are. On top of all that there are some fantastic models with a cracking paint job. Now bring me more HH Blood Angels :p

[JackDaw]

Evening chaps, hope you are all well here. Only a few more posts to go before this plog is wrapped up, so hope you enjoy.

 

Paladin7221 - pff the Iron Hands are weak sauce compared to the callousness of Varras and the Fifth. Besides, there's another Legion the Iron Talons are closer to in nature...... ;)

 

Deathspectresgt7 - glad you think so mate

 

Marine7321000 - um, only a little more to go, sorry bud. You get one of each though, one model and one fluff post.

 

Demon2027 - better late than never fella ;) Glad you liked what you've seen though, and been enjoying the story. Oh, and more HH Angels are on the way.

 

Ok then, lets get things wrapped up here...

[JackDaw]

Lords of War – Praetor Corvin Varras of the 5th Company Blade

“We finally met the Astartes commander after clearing the Stane township. Quiet bastard he was, still covered in blood from the clearance, leaning on that spear like he was just admiring the view instead of debriefing Tac-command. Didn’t even have the good grace to remove his helm, not that any of his other bloody Astartes had. Only spoke when we reviewed the casualty figures, how many of the Secessionists we’d killed. A good start, he called it. I swear, even through that helm I knew the bastard was smiling.”
First Captain Morlan Assant, 3rd platoon 131st Malaz Heavy Infantry
 

“I met one of the vaunted First Foundings once, a noble Ultramarine. He called me a murderer and a coward, and accused me of lacking even a basic code of honour. I laughed in his face and asked him what he was expecting.”

Corvin Varras, Praetor of the 5th Blade of the Iron Talons Adeptus Astartes


***Begin Record

To become a company captain of the Astartes is to be a hero amongst heroes, a veteran of countless wars, a lethal killer and a keen tactical mind. Each Astartes captain is able to orchestrate planetary invasions, void wars, defensive actions and a myriad of other tactical engagements in the blink of an eye. They are the figureheads of their companies, the envoys of their Chapters and the leaders of their brothers. Few Astartes can balance their humours perfectly and rise to this rank, but each is a hero worthy of legend in his own right. A review of the current Praetors commanding the Company Blades shows that fully four of the seven commanders of the Talons are drawn from the Veteran Assault cadres and their tactics on the field of battle reflect this heritage. It is not uncommon for Talon Praetors to take to the battlefield borne upon Astartes assault bikes or jump-packs and to engage the enemy hand-to-hand, seeking out enemy commanders to challenge, proving their valour and position in such acts of glory. Critics of this somewhat archaic method of command have cited the lack of an overall tactical view of the conflict, sacrificed for the potentially vainglorious pursuit of personal glory, has resulted in the increase of casualties suffered by the Iron Talons. The near death of the Chapter during the Blackmaw Subjugation would seem to support this view, however many within the Talons decry this view as lacking in courage and fire.
 

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Corvin Varras of the Fifth is one of those dissenting voices. Reaching the rank of Praetor from the heart of the Tactical cadre of his Blade, Varras is an altogether colder and calmer warrior than many of his brothers. It has been stated before that his blood runs cold rather than hot, said in both mockery and support by Astartes of his own Blade and the others of the Talons. Seeing the route of slow erosion that his fellow Praetors will take the Chapter down, Varras has endeavoured to bring a calmer tactical view to the wars waged by the Fifth, earning a reputation for victories won in a clinical and swift manner. However, to think of Varras as a true honourable Astartes is a folly. At his heart, he is a Talon and as cold and brutal a killer as any of his brothers. Examination of his role of victories unearths evidence of methods and actions that other Astartes Chapters would find questionable at best and unbecoming of Astartes at worst. Varras has stated on several occasions that fear is the greatest weapon he wields and will take any opportunity he can to break the morale of his enemy, leaving them reeling and vulnerable to the final killing blow at their throat. An ancient adage of Old Earth states that the quiet ones always need watching – in Varras’s case this is certainly true.

 

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As with many of his Chapter, Varras is clad in a hybrid suit of several marks of warplate, pieces of MkIV, MkVI and MkVII clear to see. Despising the gaudiness of some of his peers wargear, Varras would prefer to make war in plain warplate, however some concessions have to made to his rank. His helm bears the command Aquila, while the artificied breastplate bearing both the Aquila and a personal honorific was a gift from a battle-brother of the Argent Crucifers. Held comfortably in the now familiar red right hand of the Talons is the chain-glaive favoured as a melee weapon by Varras. Seen as somewhat archaic compared to the various powered blades and axes wielded by other Astartes captains, this relic chainweapon is nonetheless a potent tool of bloodshed in his hands. The adamantium teeth are easily as capable of sundering Astartes plate as flesh and the unique fighting style adopted by Varras has left several foes confused and reeling before their lives are lost. As a veteran, Varras has earned the right to display his own heraldry in place of the Chapter symbol, the additional plate here displaying his rank in the combat-markings adopted by the Talons.

 

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http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac145/Jackdaw1982/Iron%20Talons%20Adeptus%20Astartes/20140902_171737_zps854cd0b8.jpg

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From the rear, we can clearly see the power source for his protective shielding contained within the power plant for his warplate, along with several litanies of operation affixed by Chapter Techmarines. This personal shielding allows Varras to shrug off even the heaviest fire and most brutal blows, though the consequent drain on his warplate’s power supply is taxing when used for more than brief periods. Varras’s right pauldron bears the slash marking of the Fifth Blade, as well as an ornate Aquila decoration – again, much to Varras’s chagrin as he states constantly that this pauldron marks him as a prime target for the enemy. The keen eyed will note that his left arm is a bare brass and plasteel augmetic, able to bear the weight of his customer bolter with ease. Infected with a foul xenos plague that vitrified his flesh into a glass-like substance while battling Eldar raiders as a mere Edge Veteran, Varras severed his own arm at the elbow with a meltagun before routing the xenos at the head of his brothers. Of particular interest is the non-standard bolter weiled by Varras - based on the venerable Tigrus pattern, this bolter bears a reinforced muzzle and extended magazine containing experimental monofilament burst rounds. While other heroes of the Astartes may wield exotic plasma or fusion based weaponry, Varras has always wielded the humble bolter, believing that reliance on fancy projectile weaponry simply reveals a short-sighted and vainglorious attitude to a commanders role in war. Suspended from each pauldron are more of the barbaric kill-tokens favoured by the Talons, each ripped from the maw of an Orkoid clan-chief during the Blackmaw Subjugation and marking Varras as a chillingly effective killer. Varras’s helm also contains an enhanced tactical suite, allowing him to orchestrate and direct his brothers in the field at a moments notice and with all the speed of the augmented Astartes mind. It is this calculating tactical brilliance that has cemented Varras as Praetor of the Fifth and his reputation for marrying the precise application of force in a precise area with the fast-moving and fluid combat tactics of the Iron Talons. A cold, smiling killer, willing to do anything to achieve victory and break the enemy, Varras is perhaps the future of his Chapter.

 

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At first an unknown presence during the Aren Prime Reclamation, it was only after the Stane Service Township clearance that Imperial Military Command came face to face with the callous Praetor of the Fifth. Later meetings would do little to improve relations between the Imperial factions, with Guard commanders finding Varras’s cold and mocking manner, as well as the chilling actions of his Astartes during battle, not conducive to cooperation or particularly inspiring to the non-augmented men of the Guard. As ever, Varras only responded to criticism with dry mockery, stating that he was not one of the Space Marine Heroes paraded in the penny-dreadful lit-papers – he was the red right hand of the Throne, a killer made exceedingly good at his job. The actions of Corvin Varras and the Astartes of the Fifth on the Namas Highway as the close of this conflict would only prove this assertion as correct.

***End Record
 

 

 

 

[JackDaw]

Engagement Aftermath – picking up the pieces

 

“As a community, Aren Prime was near-dead. The Northern Hives were gone. Almost a third of the trans-continental highways were wrecked. No power, no fuel, no light across the Northern Territories. Countless millions dead. Yeah it was compliant, in the same way a corpse is.”
Third Captain Morlan Assant, acting commander of the 131st Malaz Heavy Infantry.

“What do you wish me to say? Compliance was achieved. That is the end of it.”
Shield-Father Armin Brukhalian, 5th Company Blade of the Iron Talons Adeptus Astartes.

“Looking at the physical cost is such a simplistic way to see things. If I told you that we had been monitoring several sympathetic Recidivist and Secessionist groups on neighbouring planets in the Logros Sub-syst, each of which had conspicuously disappeared once news of the actions of the Talons spread…Well. Would that not clarify things for you? We sacrificed one, to protect many. Aren Prime was an example. A simple, brutal example. It all worked out rather beautifully…”
Inquisitor Sholen dan Raf, Ordo Hereticus

***Begin Record

*48 hours post Namas Highway Incident
All Iron Talons Astartes void craft slip their high orbit moorings around Aren Prime or abandon patrol sweeps of the local system. Coalescing into a single battlefleet at the edge of the Logros Sub-syst, the Astartes void-force heads towards the systems Lagrange Point, preparing for warp-entry. All communications and hails from Imperial forces are met with silence. The 5th Company Blade are not seen again in the Logros Sub-syst for another century, until the unfortunate events of the Assant Reprisals.

*96 hours post Namas Highway Incident
An Adeptus Mechanicus bulk-hauler is reported as lost with all hands seconds before entering the warp at the Lagrange Point of the Logros Sub-syst, apparently subject to a catastrophic warp-engine breach. Cargo manifests list the bulk-hauler as carrying “biological and mechanical scrap-refuse and recoverable assets from Aren Prime. Both the Adeptus Mechanicus and Imperial Inquisition refuse to comment on this otherwise unremarkable incident.

*720 hours post Namas Highway Incident
A month after Aren Prime is declared compliant, the remaining strengths of the 131st Malaz Heavy Infantry remain in-system, helping to re-establish Imperial rule on Aren Prime and participating in counter-Recidivist actions on neighbouring planets. The 131st Malaz Heavy Infantry would remain in the Logros Sub-syst for the next dozen years, their numbers slowly declining, with all requests for recruitment denied by Imperial Command. Third Captain Morlan Assant continues to submit formal complaints regarding the conduct of the Iron Talons to the Adeptii Terra and Administratum, as well as the Inquisition until his apparent death a decade after Compliance is achieved. The 131st Malaz cease to exist as an Imperial regiment approximately two years after Assant's death and all trace of any surviving members is lost.

*No timescale is available for the cessation or downturn in Inquisitorial activities in the Logros Sub-syst.
A highly visible element of the Inquisition notably establishes a permanent presence on Aren Prime itself. The Logros Sub-syst finds itself the focus of concentrated monitoring and policing activity by agents of the Holy Inquisition on a highly visible basis for the next four-score years. Inquisitor Sholesh dan Raf, now recognised as the architect of the Aren Prime Reclamation action and suspected of far greater involvement in certain events leading to, during and resulting from, the Reclamation, disappears from view for several years. Inquisitor dan Raf and his agents are next exposed publicly during the Gothas Unrest.

[Transcribers note: This entry marks the formal end of the record of the Aren Prime Reclamation and all associated events and parties. Further reading on the individuals referenced in this work is available to those with the appropriate security clearance. Praise and glory to Him upon the Throne.]

*Additional: Image records retrieved of 5th Company Blade of the Iron Talons Adeptus Astartes in parade formation, reason unknown.

 

http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac145/Jackdaw1982/Iron%20Talons%20Adeptus%20Astartes/20131016_224238_zps8885d8b7.jpg

 

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Lords of the Talons: Temudjin Ironbound, the Oncoming Storm. Shield-father Armin Brukhalian. Lucio Ilm, the Bonecaster. Praetor Corvin Varras, First of the 5th.

 

 

***End Record
***Access further material? Yes/No_


 

[markham82]

++Priority Transmission: Coding/Delta/Rouge++

++Recipient: JackDaw++

++Subject: Further information on Iron Talons Chapter++

++Author: Markham82- Master of the Awakened++

++Clearance: Magenta++

++Thought for the day: Against the alien and the traitor there is no dishonourable action.++

[deathspectersgt7]

Very Cool this was great to read.

[Daemon2027]

That was some good bed time reading. Well done sir, well done.

[JackDaw]

Thanks chaps, glad to hear you liked the end of the plog.

 

Markham82 - Traitors deserve everything they get, but loyal guardsmen just doing their job? Regardless, you call in the Astartes, you deal with the consequences.

 

Deathspectresgt7 - cheers fella, hope you enjoyed it.

 

Demon2027 - thanks man, glad you enjoyed it.

 

So that is the end of the Three Hives Rebellion and my Iron Talons army - they clocked in at just over 2500pts in the end. No real plans at the moment to do anything extra for them, though a few thigns are being tweaked now that I'm using the Blood Angel codex to represent them. The Predator is getting a weapon refit, replacing the autocannon with an assault cannon, and a new Storm Veteran with a heavy flamer may be in the works along with potentially a Stormraven at some point. Who knows.

 

Anyways, thank you to everyone who has checked this plog out and enjoyed it - please join me in the WiP section for the Fall of Seraph, my Heresy-era Blood Angels project. And if you want more Iron Talons action, keep an eye out for November's WiP thread as he takes on another of the Iron Talons Company Blades.

 

Cheers all,

 

Jack

[Raziel-TX]

Job well done!

[Pearson73]

Lovely models, lovely fluff!

[BrotherCaptainArkhan]

This log has been a joy to read. Great fluff and great models. Would love to see them in some battle reports some time. Thanks for posting!

[JackDawSaleington]

Hi Everyone, 

I'm afraid I have some bad news. JackDaw's family have unfortunately fallen on some very hard times. I won't go into details as it is of course a personal matter. Apologies if this is against the rules - but thought some of you may want to help a community member out.

However, long story short there is a house to keep and kids to feed, as such they've decided to sell some of his collection. We're still digging through everything but right off the bat we have some stuff. You can see a list of the 'for sale' items here. We'll be keeping it up to date

 

Posted here specifically because this army is for sale. Message me if you're interested.