Index Astartes: The Impalers (Astartes Draculesti)

[Dredmour]

+ Index Astartes: The Impalers +

"We know no fear. The same will not be said of those who cross us."

- Chapter Master Mircea (Circa M40)

 Founding: 23rd (M38) 

 Homeworld: Tepes 

 Progenitor: Flesh Eaters (Blood Angels) 

 Current Chapter Master: Lazarov 

 

 

 

+ Origins +

- Introduction -
Deep in the forests of the planet Tepes there is a baroque fortress none dare to wander. Surrounding it is an array of metal and wooden pikes. Beneath them lies a field of indescernable bones. Black and red quartered banners drape the castle walls. Ominous figures with faintly illuminated lenses stand watch amidst the seasonal downpour. Out in the fields below them a gathering of unmasked demigods recite ancient rites. New spires are hoisted and planted firmly in the earth. Tattooed human bodies dangle impaled. The Astartes raise glorious goblets to collect the unwilling offerings of the dead. Such is the fate of the Heretic, the Alien, and the Mutant in the Tepes system.
 

 

- Homeworld -

Located in the Ultima Segmentum near Hexos and the Chalnath Expanse, Tepes is a mostly remote system that was flagged as resource rich during the Great Crusade. It has been populated by civilians and occupied in the millennia since by Imperial Guard regiments. The system is home to two inhabitable worlds, Tepes for which the system is named and Bran, as well as two inhabitable moons Carpathia and Trocar.

 

The system has gone through periods of lull and intense short-term combat as Aeldari seem to periodically pass through the system. In M38 with the establishment of the 23rd founding the Highlords of Terra ordered the creation of a chapter to defend this system in perpetuity due to its useful role in supplying planets in the ultima segmentum. Basarab the Impaler was the 3rd Company captain of the Flesh Eaters at the time of the 23rd founding and was selected with a cadre of 15 veterans to form the new Impalers chapter.

 

Tepes was originally a planet lush with forests and foliage, but that has somewhat given way to the industrialization of the planet due to its population growth over the millennia. The majority of food and essential goods are produced on Tepes itself. Meanwhile the outer worlds tend to be rich in exotic materials. The homeworld is fortunate enough to still maintain its oceans and flora which help offset the harsh conditions of the modernized population. The Impalers own fortress monastery resides in the wilderness far from the nearest major city, the planetary capital Furoviste. The battle brothers prefer this solitude to conduct their rites in relative peace. 

 

Due to infrequent contact with the greater Imperium of Man, Tepes has developed a sort of aristocratic feudalism in which the ruling clans own the majority of the land. Even wealthy artisans and trade guilds still pay fealty to the clans whose land their enterprises thrive on. This hierarchy extends through the system where interplanetary and inter-clan rivalries cause small scale conflicts. The Impalers at their own discretion try to remain uninvolved in local squabbles seeing as their duty is to the system and the Imperium as a whole. That being said, they will intervene when parties' interests conflict with their own. Earning the contempt of the Impalers is not a wise choice, lest the clans wish to witness the namesake of their guardian Chapter firsthand. Despite a clear ultimatum on behalf of the Astartes, the ego of mortal men is not so easily reigned.

 

Even with centuries of strife between the rulers of these worlds, greater threats of alien origin creep into the solar system with an increasing frequency. The task of defending Tepes and its subsidiaries grows ever more difficult. As of M41 it is now bordered by Tau expansionists and besieged by mysterious expeditionary forces of Eldar...

 

 

- Appearance -

In physical appearance the Impalers display gaunt gray skin which is common for their system. However, after full conversion to Astartes they begin to develop slightly endarkened eye sockets. The skin surrounding their orbital bones appears thin and almost translucent. Shadowy veins race across the shroud of their gaze. Centered within are albino irises of pink, violet, and gray tones. Surrounding is a deep red bloodshot sclera that worsens with age. It is unknown what causes this phenomenon, but it is believed to be an inherent flaw in the Chapter's gene seed.

 

On the battlefield these Astartes wear red and black quartered power armor symbolic of the red thirst and black rage. Their heraldry is a chalice of blood strangulated by an unrelenting fist of steel. Sergeants bear a white stripe separating the fields of red and black on their helmets. Lieutenants wear a white helmet with a half red half black stripe that matches the quartered pattern of their armor.

 

Battle Brothers fully afflicted by the grasp of the black rage don white armor with black pauldrons and red markings. White is chosen to signify the nobility of the death company's looming demise in defense of Tepes. Senior officers of the chapter are typically adorned with a dark gold set of relic or artificer armor. As for the Sanguinary Guard, they sport silver relic armor and idealized deathmasks to cover the shame of their failures.

 

                    

 

- Gene Seed -

The Imaplers trace their lineage to the Blood Angels by way of the Flesh Eaters Chapter. At the time of their founding in M38 the Flesh Eaters were dealing with severe struggles due to their notoriously unstable Gene Seed. It came as a stark surprise to their chapter leadership when they received orders that they were to tithe for the creation of a Successor. The majority of the Impalers' gene seed was comprised of vaulted Flesh Eaters Gene Seed. A small supplement was taken from other stores of extinguished Blood Angels successors to meet the required quota.

 

With the conclusion of the Indomitus Crusade, the Impalers were reinforced with a company of Primaris marines of original Blood Angels descent. These Marines were interspersed among the companies to help stabilize the Chapter. Despite this the Impalers' gene stock still remains very flawed and results in an accelerated onset of the Black Rage.

 

 

 

 

+ Notable Conflicts +

- Carpathia Rebellion -
The Carpathia Rebellion was spearheaded by Field Marshall Vladislav Danes. He was leader of the Guard regiments on the inhabitable moon Carpathia. The Marshall tried to undermine the Impalers strict dominion over the systems worlds. Their supreme authority was bestowed upon them during their founding by the Highlords of Terra. This was done to ensure the Impalers can secure every possible front of the system to maintain its resource production for what has become known as the Imperium Nihilus. To neglect this would be dereliction of duty. On occasion however power-hungry despots seek to take advantage of the Impalers' more spectatorial nature toward the governing in the system.

Vladislav expressed a will to remove Impaler Presence from Carpathia to undercut the imperial production tithe of the planet. His goal was to establish feudal independence for his clan to create their own police state and subdue their rivals. The correspondence between the chapter and Vladislav was tense. As a last measure of good will the Impalers deployed Konstimir, captain of the 7th company, as an emissary to negotiate on behalf of the chapter. Vladislav, unwilling to meet the chapters demands, staged a massive surprise assault on the Chapter's main garrison on Carpathia as the Captain arrived. This ultimate act of hubris could not be tolerated and when word got to the sitting Chapter Master an order was given to eradicate Vladislav, his regiments, and the entire Danes clan. 

Guard armor and artillery hailed upon the Chapter garrison for 3 days as they advanced to entrench around it. Air defenses volleyed without reprieve to defend the fortress while the Astartes planned their next move. The Impalers staged counter operations under the cover of night to raid and sabotage the Regiments siege lines. In direct combat action the Guardsmen could do little to even stall the Impalers. Morale quickly tanked amongst the attackers as nightfall bore unrelenting wails of anguish. Every daybreak revealed new ranks of corpses impaled over what were previously fully manned encampments. Surgical orbital strikes eventually pinpointed the Guards indirect fire systems and eliminated them one by one. By the time 2 weeks of fighting had passed the Regiments were proceeding knowing they either met their fates at the hands of the Astartes, or their own Commissars. Reinforcements from Tepes finally arrived in the form of 3 additional battle companies. With the mortals' spirits finally crushed the Company mobilized from their garrison with haste. An armored column supported by light infantry and protected on the flanks by fast attack support tore out through the enemy siege lines and split their force in two. Meanwhile, Chapter reinforcements rained down from drop pods behind their positions. All of their preparations were now folly. Nothing could prepare them for the coming slaughter.

 

Within 24 Terran hours the Guard surrendered en masse and the pompous Marshall was turned over by his own officers, hoping this would spare their lives. Vladislav and his clan were supplanted by the Impalers. The rival Illidus clan were subsequently appointed as the new heirs to Carpthia. This was immortalized with an infamous coronation under the bodies of the rebellion's architects in which imperial citizens were obligated to attend. The Guardsmen reserve on the moon would need time to be replenished in full. In a brutal irony, the result of the entire ordeal was an increased presence of the Chapter on Carpathia to oversee the reconciliation.

 

 

- Trocar Campaigns -

The Trocar Campaigns are a series of offensives fought over the barely habitable moon of Trocar. Located in the outer frontier of the system, Trocar is a world rich with rare isotopic materials useful in maintaining interstellar vessels. Its surface is begrudgingly livable with only small pockets of vegetation and moisture. The majority of the moon is a barren desert scarred by vicious lightning storms carried by heavy dry dust clouds. Residents live in meticulously curated mining colonies built around the more hospitable zones of the northern and southern hemispheres. The equatorial regions create a no man's land marred by desert storms.

 

Vile Tau invaders have set their sights on Trocar as the first victim of their imperialist agenda in the region. While the Impalers have been aware of their presence in relatively nearby subsectors of the Imperium, they had not expected them to be so bold as to challenge a system entrenched with a Chapter of Astartes.

 

 

- Devastation of Baal -

Generally, the Impalers are a very solitary Chapter. Instances of them working alongside other Astartes are rare and the Chapters they do maintain relations with are few. When Baal fell under siege of the Tyranid threat the Impalers were surprised to find they had been called upon as sons of Sanguinius to defend their Progenitor's homeworld. This presented them with a difficult choice. The Chapter was not in a particularly strong position having suffered attrition from previous campaigns and facing an overflow of Marines entering the Death Company. There was much deliberation over whether the chapter could afford to commit resources to Baal. With the Masters Court failing to come to an agreement, the 6th company captain of the Impalers bravely volunteered to lead the Death Company on an arduous journey to Baal that would likely be their last.

 

The company was gifted a retrofitted cruiser to carry out their crusade. The Chapter assembled in an honorary ritual in which the 6th company was anointed with the blood of fallen heroes. They were to wear this blood throughout the campaign to ignite the red thirst in them. More than 250 Marines were appraised as they boarded the Sepulchre of Intrepidity and set off for Baal never to be seen again.

 

Recolor done in GIMP. All credit to Klaher Baklaher for the amazing original piece.

 

 

 

+ Combat Doctrine +

- Organization -

The Impalers operate as fully self-sufficient companies that are often deployed as a force to specific areas of operation. They also tend to divide into demi companies of roughly 50 marines to increase operational flexibility and increase presence. The chapter prefers assault tactics and uses their Death Company as a vanguard force to pave the way for more generalist companies to operate.

 

Sanguinary Guard: The Sanguinary Guard of the Impalers is a penitent assignment. These brothers bear the deathmask as a mark of shame and maintain the role indefinitely unless interred into the Death Company. It is their duty to defend their officers and the Sanguinor with their lives. Marines of the guard can be sentenced to service by a council of their superiors for failures in the field. Volunteers may enter for a personally perceived dishonor. An automatic assignment is given to any marine that slays a brother of the Death Company, even in self-defense.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 13 by Dredmour
Lore and content updates, proofreading edits