Iron Hands: The Reforged.

[Calas Typhon]

Hello all, I am currently in the process of amassing my force of Iron Hands which will follow this bit of fluff in the next couple of weeks when I get a decent camera sorted and have the last pieces of gear arriving from Forge World. I have made a fair amount of story relating to a group of Iron Hands of the Clan Avernii as well as Morragul and Borragar squads. Oh and a small squad of Salamanders who I have kind of added in for a bit of a change and as a small dig to black library because of their portrayal within the Horus Heresy series.

 

-The X Legion, 'Iron Hands'-

Phobos - Iron Father, Clan Avernii, Morlock

Admeus Thanatos - Centurion, 19th Clan Company, Clan Borragar

Proteus - Contemptor Dreadnaught, Clan Borragar

Ajax Gorgos - Vet. Terminator Sergeant, Clan Avernii, Morlock

Antaeus - Vet. Sergeant, 30th Tactical squad, Clan Avernii

Deimos - Vet. Sergeant, 43rd Tactical squad, Clan Morragul

Alastor - Sergeant, 54th Tactical squad, Clan Borrgar

Valdus - Sergeant, 55th Tactical squad, Clan Borrgar

Homados - Sergeant, Medusan Immortal

 

-The XVIII Legion, 'The Salamanders'-

Vhi'gan - Sergeant, 43rd Tactical squad, 7th Company

 

 

-Chapter 1-

 

Iron Father Phobos stood as straight and solid as a pillar of Medusan steel. The hanger bay was almost empty, with the exception of the Rhino's that were unfit for use in the assault on Isstvan V and the battered Thunderhawk 'Iron Hawk' under repairs. To the left of the Iron Father stood a squad of Morlocks, patched up in temporary repairs, they looked as ruined as the Legion itself. To the right stood two squads of Iron Hands Astartes looking Grim and Resolute.

 

'Is this what the future holds for us?' Phobos thought to himself.

 

'falling apart piece by piece. The Gorgon is dead and everything we stood for has been turned and ripped apart. What future is there for us?' No. Thinking like that was not the way of the Legion, not the way of Iron and not the way Ferrus would have it.

 

'But we are shattered.' What remained of his Jaw Tightened.

 

It had been three hours since The Fist of Medusa received the signal for aid from a Thunderhawk claiming to be of the Tenth and in that time Iron Father Phobos had called all available legionaries to receive their guests. Sergeant Deimos had pushed to ignore the signal which eventually resulted in him loosing control and venting his frustrations. It had taken an extreme amount of control to not assign the sergeant to the Immortals, however he was somewhat calmed by sergeant Gorgos, who took Deimos to the side and put him in his place. Phobos would have ignored the signal in fact if it was not for an ident marking naming them self as Proteus of Clan Borrgar, demanding return of signal. The Iron Father now had no choice but to accept the hails and communicate with the Thunderhawk.

 

The ship had just touched down when the hatches were open and Legionaries marched out forming in front of the standing force of the Iron Father. Phobos was looking at a force of three squads, two in the black and steel of the Iron Hands in gleaming MkIV pattern Power Armour and one squad of emerald Astartes, Salamanders, who were battered and a mirror of the Iron Hands opposite them in all but heraldry and colour.

 

A Centurion who his optical feed identified as Centurion Admeus Thanatos of Clan Borrgar and Sergeant of the Salamanders of unknown name walked towards Phobos. Both facing towards the Morlocks standing at attention. Thanatos removed his Plumed helm showing a flesh spare face, what little flesh there was, was heavily scarred and as pale as the white of his cape. The Salamanders sergeant however was the perfect opposite to the Centurion. blacker than the plates of Armour worn by every member of the Tenth, and bright red eyes which sat blazing in his skull. Phobos had made the reference before but he could not help thinking that the Salamander looked like a daemon of old, some of the illustrators and meddling remembrancers would draw.

 

'Centur-' Thanatos began.

 

'Centurion Thanatos, Clan Borrgar, 19th Clan Company, I know who you are.'  The Iron Father turned towards the Salamander 'You however'  Phobos growled 'I do not. state your name, company and how you came to be here.'

 

Thanatos grimaced, and looked over at the sergeant.

 

'Sergeant Vhi'gan, 43rd Tactical Squad, of the 7th Company. On behalf of my brothers, thank you for taking us in.' The sergeant began.

 

'I do not want your thanks, How did you come to be here I asked.. sergeant.' The last word was pushed out, through the clenched teeth of the Iron Father.

 

'We managed to escape the planet after the second wave on Isstvan, our ship in orbit was destroyed and so our vessel was trapped in space. Centurion Thanatos translated in system and we hailed him, thanks be to him, we were able to board and get out of the mess above the planet. It was a lucky coincidence that we were in the right place at the right time'  The Salamander stated in his thick Nocturn accent.

 

'I dont believe in luck, and I distrust coincidences. Perhaps all of that mess you were involved in would have been avoided if your Legion had played their part and pushed into the Traitors with the lord of Iron. The Gorgon is dead now, and our legion is all but shattered'

 

'WHAT?' A booming, artificial voice sounded.

 

'The Gorgon is dead. Felled by Fulgrim when we advanced into the forces of the traitors. We might well be the last of the Avernii and the only loyal sons to have seen it happen. Did our Salamander.. brothers not say?'  Phobos said as the Contemptor moved over to the gathering.

 

'We did not know, you had advanced far ahead, our Lord Vulkan had deemed it foolish to rush in blind and wait for reinforcing before pushing ahead. By the time you had engaged with the forces of Third we were already assaulted by the second wave of Traitors.'

 

It was quite clear that this was a shock to the assembled Iron Hands that had just arrived, many of the legionaries had turned towards the encounter between Phobos and Thanatos. Thanatos looked shocked, it was safe to say he looked devestated, Proteus however resonated fury. He roared.

 

'THIS IS ILLOGICAL, THE GORGON CAN NOT DIE. THIS IS ILLOGICAL.'

 

'He fell.' A Morlock stood forward, half his face shining with fresh augmetics, the other a burned mess courtesy of the Emperors Children plasma pistol that ruined and charred it.

 

'The Flamboyant, Traitorous brother of Ferrus removed his head. We saw it happen. We saw it all happen, the madness that took over our brothers, for it took over us too. If it was not for our Iron Father here, we would be dead aswell.' Ajax Gorgos Growled.

 

'Back in line sergeant' The Iron Father said softly, although even this sounded as deep as the pits of Medusa. 'Sergeant Gorgos however is correct, we did see it happen. The Gorgon is dead.'

[Calas Typhon]

-Chapter 2-

 

Phobos assigned quarters to the recent arrivals, including the Salamanders as much as he hated it. If he had the choice, he would have left the Salamanders in space if it was not the need for the Thunderhawks in possession and the fact that Jettisoning them into the void of space would have been illogical. He ordered a meeting of all command to be taken place in The Hammerhold, a gathering place which honored the Primarchs own Anvilarum.

 

Centurion Thanatos along with Ancient Proteus and a tall and well build sergeant by the name of Alastor arrived shortly behind Iron Father Phobos. They had just entered the room when Phobos spoke.

 

'You are the only loyal forces we have seen since the assault of Isstvan V, we would. I would. Like to know where you came from, and what exactly happened to your ship.' The Iron Father directed to Thanatos.

 

'When Ferrus Manus called the Tenth to war to destroy the traitors and take Horus' head. We were far away on Medusa, training and recruiting for our clan. The Clan Lord called us to join them in the Isstvan system. We had only been there a few years however, Six whole squads were all we could muster in time. Iron Father Pilines and his techmarine retinue along with the Ancient Proteus joined us and we made our way to the muster aboard the battle barge Iron Resolve.' Thanatos Began

 

'We reached the system and found it littered with wreckage and traitorous ships. Word Bearers opened fire upon us, and we were about to translate out of system. We received hails from Salamanders claiming that their ship was destroyed and they were close to our position. We allowed them to board the ship. Although I wish now knowing what I do, we left them in the void.'

 

'Keep your thoughts out of this, Stick to the facts.' Phobos sighed.

 

'We left the system, it was illogical to stay and fight for we would just be dooming ourselves. We arrived here, however we were followed by a vessel named The Litany, a Word Bearers Vessel. They proceeded to board us, we were vastly outnumbered yet we fought and diverted them away from the enginerum and bridge, however our brothers in the other parts of the ship did not fair so well. It was quite clear we were being overrun and it was a loss. Iron Father Pilines ordered us to remove ourselves from the ship, and an evacuation was sounded. Pilines rammed the Iron Resolve into the Word Bearers ship destroying both. We then set the Signal for help and you arrived in system 32 standard hours Later. No other survivors were found.'

 

Phobos stood silent in contemplation before speaking.

 

'I will be straightforward Centurion for that is the way of Iron. I will be taking command of the forces aboard the ship, You shall keep your rank and you shall also be my right hand in the coming time. My initial plan was to return to Medusa, however this changes things, we might not be the largest outfit. However we are at an optimal strength to do something.'

 

Thanatos nodded sharply. He knew full well why this was happening, furthermore he knew full well this would happen. The Iron Father had more than a Century of warfare on him and the experience that gave, Thanatos could not match.

 

'I have not just assembled us to take over and assert command. I also wish to talk about the supposed withdrawal to Medusa. I want to hear your views on the matter and how you all wish to prosecute this war. This was not the way of the Legion before, however things have changed, as much as we all hate this fact, we have to change too. Perhaps with more discussion as we are about to have, things on Isstvan would have been different. Perhaps we could have avoided this... Destruction.'

 

'Sergeant Alastor?' Thanatos suggested.

 

'Yes Centurion. I was not fully apart of the Legion when this heresy, as the legionaries of the Salamanders have started to say. I did not know Ferrus Manus, only what was told to all of us as children and what I knew from my brothers within my training to become Astartes. Which gives me little right to talk about what he would and would not say or suggest. Myself and my collegue Sergeant Valdus will follow the orders of Centurion Thanatos and yourself to the letter and wherever you deem us fit to fight.' Alastor said. Phobos liked him, although there was far too much flesh for his liking.

 

'I HOWEVER KNEW FERRUS, IF HE WAS ALIVE OR DEAD, HE WOULD WISH FOR US TO FIGHT THE TRAITORS, I SUGGEST WE DO JUST THAT. IN THE NAME OF THE GORGAN.' Proteus bellowed.

 

'I fully agree' Deimos added. 'You know my view on things relating to this madness Iron Father, for I have stated it since the murder fields and I will continue to do so now. The Iron Tenth has broken. Our Gene Sire is dead, he who brought us strength. We must fight the enemy. It is what he would wish of us, retreating to Medusa is the wrong course of action.'

 

'Deimos has said what I would also.' Antaeus added.

 

'Deimos speaks correct. Although I hate to admit it. The enemy needs to be destroyed and must be opposed, for if they are not, who knows what other atrocities they will commit. We might be fighting a loosing battle, and all I see for us is a future of war, but we are the Emperors weapons and we will carve the heart out of Horus and his kin. Fighting is all there is for us, as it always has been. Its just a different enemy. Death to Horus.' Sergeant Gorgos exclaimed.

 

'Aye, we may not have the force and retreating is the wrong move for us to make as we have stated. I will raise another point however, with the turning of the Word Bearers, Iron Warriors, Night Lords and Alpha Legion, it is quite clear we now have no idea on the last of the legions loyalties. The Salamanders and Raven Guard are Loyal as us we can be assured. The Imperial Fists no doubt as well for they were taken with the Emperor to Terra. We could be the only Loyalist force left in the Imperium that is able to fight, however shattered we are. We might do little damage to Horus, but doing something is better than running home. We might even find our brothers in the stars.' Thanatos finished.

 

Phobos took all of this in and weighed his options.

'Very well. We shall take the fight to the Enemies of the Emperor. It is clear that our future is all but war. So we will fight. In the name of The Gorgon/'

 

'IN THE NAME OF THE GORGON!'  The assembled repeated.

[Calas Typhon]

-Chapter 3-

 

The world was named Verris II, originally designated 1-9-4-6 in the Verris Sector. It was a forgeworld mainly manufacturing small munitions and Imperial Army troop transports. This fact made it a prime target for the forces of Horus. Under the orders of the Warmaster, the 408th expedition Ottosan Rifles with support from the 27th Company Sons of Horus and Chapter of the Burning Cross, Word Bearers, laid siege to the planet. The Iron Hands aboard the Fist of Medusa has arrived one Terran week prior to the invasion hoping to resupply, rearm, repair and with a small amount of hope, regroup with Astartes forces on planet. What they found however was a planet making ready for war.

 

The Mechanicum forces had received word of a substantial force from the Warmaster and began raising defenses and calling the forces to war. Three days into the raising of defenses and muster, The Iron Hands translated in system, after a large amount of confirmations of who exactly each party were, and more importantly what side of the war they were on. The Iron Hands made planetfall and almost immediately took control of Imperial Army forces on the ground. They were the Verrisian Guard and relatively new when it came to the formations of the Army, this was a major concern to the leadership of the Iron Hands, for the Verrisian Guard had little to no real combat experience outside of the sector. They were predominately a guard force for the Forge World, and they were about to fight combat tested Army and more importantly, Astartes of the most Aggressive and famed Legion of all. 

 

The Iron Father and Centurion Thanatos assigned and bolstered the weakest points of the planets manufactory sectors with the Verrisian Guard as well as Squads Deimos and Antaeus. The rest of the Iron Hands were put in reserve as an emergency deployment and counter to Traitor Legionary forces. Lines of defenses were built around strong points, important positions and manufactories including fields full of mines, miles of razor wire and auto turrets set in place.

 

By the 7th day of building defenses and organizing Army forces, the forces of Horus arrived in the sector. By the 8th day, the bulk of the forces of Horus were on the ground. And by the 10th, a large amount of the world was in the hands of the Traitors. The Iron Hands had taken light damage overall in the fighting, and seen a substantial amount of action, two Legionaries were dead and one was missing in action after a fight with Word Bearers on the first day of the assault. Centurion Thanatos had organized a search for the Astartes, however it came up with no trace at all and so was called off. On the 11th day Iron Father Phobos had received information on a large force heading for the Eastern sector of the main manufactorum sector which was clearly a sword thrust directed at the heart of the planets defenders. He had ordered the intimidate deployment of Centurion Thanatos along with Squads Valdus and Alastor as well as Homodos' Immortals, Vhi'gan and Sergeant Gorgos' Morlocks.

 

'One minute Centurion' the pilot voxed

Centurion secured the blade he had been sharpening to his leg, checked his bolter over, and then sealed his plumed helm. The Iron Father had deemed it of paramount importance that the position was defended and secured and Thanatos certainly knew the implications if that did not happen. The commander of the Sons of Horus saw the perfect opportunity to thrust a spear point into the defense and took it, which irked the Centurion immensely. Phobos was radiating cold fury that he missed the opening. The line was weakened from the moving of Imperial forces to front lines which left very little in defense, and without support for long they would crumble.

 

'Thirty seconds, Anti Air is light but however heavy air support on the radar. This will have to be a fast deployment.'

 

'Confirmed' Thanatos responded. 'Twenty seconds brothers, Flesh Is Weak!'

 

'Flesh is Weak!' the Astartes repeated.

 

As the Thunderhawk landed, the Tenth spread out immediately around the defenses, the Salamanders moved to the furthest reaches and Gorgos' Morlocks stood with Homados' Immortals in the dead center of the wall and moved fully half of the infantry along the lines. They had arrived at the perfect time, for the Ottosan Rifles had just started their charge. Within moments they were in reach, the order was given, and the Defenders opened fire. The first lines of Traitors were completely savaged under the firepower set upon them, the second and third lines followed them in death, the forth however took less of a beating but still did not manage to make it to the walls. Already, minutes into the charge one fifth of the Ottosan forces were killed, but they kept their advance. It was clear by the numbers they had that once they reached the wall, Astartes or not, the Defenders would be in trouble.

 

Thanatos growled. This was not looking great. The traitors were almost at the lines of defense and already the Verisian Guard were already looking shaken, he had seen it before, hell he had been the cause of it more than enough, so knew what it looked like and he knew how it smelled. The place reeked of fear.

 

'All forces be ready for close quarter fighting, save ammunition for Astartes targets if deployed. Once the enemy reaches the wall, equip knives and steel.' he voxed to the Iron Hands.

 

'Brace for Impact, fix bayonets and do not fail. You have been ordered to hold this line, and hold this line you will! you are warriors of the Imperium and the Guard of this planet. You will be strong and you will not succumb to weakness!' he roared for the Verisian Guard to hear.

 

The Imperial commanders echoed the command for bayonets and called to hold ground as the Ottosan's hit the defensive lines. As soon as they arrived they were vaulting the walls and assaulting the defenders. slowly the killing started to flip in their favor. Although they were maimed, they had over a century of experience over the Veririan Guard, the Ottosan had been fighting for humanity since the joining of the Imperium 160 years prior to the events of the Heresy, and fought over many battlefields and many wars,that experience showed. All of a sudden it turned to slaughter both armies fought bloody, brutal close quarters warfare but the Ottosan were far heavily build and this played heavily in their favour. Using their mass they Brutalized and beat the defending forces to the ground. Slowly at first, the Verisian started to retreat, piece by piece, they started to retreat. The Iron Hands were still fighting and causing large amounts of damage but it was not enough. And then a commander gave the order to rout and it turned to a full on escape from the carnage turning their backs on the enemy. And like the ancient Terran Shark, the Ottosan forces homed in on the the Verisian Guard and gave chase.

 

'Cowards! You will stand your ground!' Thanatos bellowed

 

He was beyond furious this showed poorly on him. These men were under his command and so were expected to stand and hold. Here they were retreating! this could not stand, the line can not fall. His fury was echoed by all the Iron Hands. Aware of the retreat of the Guard, they tripled their effort, gave into the fury set in each of their hearts which ran through all the Medusans.

 

The Tide turned almost immediately, most of the Ottosan were now focused on destroying the routing Verisian obviously believing it was a clear victory. They were wrong and they paid for it with blood. The Iron juggernaughts, ran amok in the focused traitor army, those that stood their ground or did not move out the way, were trampled down and outright destroyed. Thanatos saw the perfect opportunity to turn this in the Loyalists favor.

 

'Head of the Gorgon! Homados, Gorgos, we will be the Anvil. Purge the weak.'  Thanatos voxed to all squads.

 

Within moments the Iron Hands were in position and enclosed the mass of Ottosan forces, Thanatos with his brothers stood in between the retreating guard and their pursuers. The Ottosan's hit a wall of Black Ceramite, and were punished for their mindless and thoughtless slaughter. They had made a mistake which would be fatal for them. The Iron Hands started the butcher work. As the mortals tried to retreat from the front line of Iron Hands exterminating the bulk of the enemy in the hundreds, they met another wall, which was the Morlocks and the Immortals causing untold damage to the rear lines. The tide of the battle had turned within moments and the rout had begun. A desperate fight to escape took place, but there was nowhere to go, the floor was lined with corpses making escape treacherous and almost impossible to move at speed, the only escape lined up for those caught in between the Iron Tenth was death. And with this opening. The tide once again started to turn, this time in favor of the Iron Hands.

 

'You succumbed to weakness, you failed us and most important of all. You failed the Imperium and the Emperor, who you all swore oath to defend in service.' Iron Father Phobos said without showing any emotion whatsoever.

 

After the battle, Centurion Thanatos had asked for reinforcement and filled in the Iron Father of what had happened. Phobos had ordered reinforcement immediately and traveled to the battlefield himself. The Iron Hands had rounded up those who retreated and stood them to attention in the once courtyard of the Manufactorum they were tasked to defend. 1200 Verisian Guard in total stood in battered formation before the Iron Father.

 

'You were ordered to hold the line and not to retreat, You were ordered to not give any ground at all. You failed and almost lost us the planet. This cannot and will not be tolerated.' Phobos shouted. He turned his back on the Parade and walked away.

 

'Centurion Thanatos, Purge the Weak.'

 

'Acknowledged.' Thanatos answered. 'All Iron Hands, open fire.'

 

The Iron Hands opened fire as soon as the order was given, within a moments, the last of the once Verisian Guard were purged. This was a reminder and a message to all defenders that retreat was not a condition in the war for this forgeworld, any ground given and any weakness shown would be punished severely and in most cases, fatally.