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This article, Ashen Clad, was written by The Pale Kestrl. Please do not edit or 'acquire' this fiction without the writer's permission. |
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This article, Ashen Clad, is currently under active construction. The author, The Pale Kestrl, apologizes for the inconvenience. |
| "Scarred and Penitent" | |
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| Ashen Clad | |
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Founding |
25th Founding |
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Progenitor |
Imperial Fists |
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Primarch |
Rogal Dorn |
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Homeworld |
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Fortress-Monastery |
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Strength |
1000 (approx) |
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Specialty |
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| [Source] | |
- "Our enemy may seem without number, endless and undefeatable. But in this galaxy that has seen the fall of gods nothing is beyond death, and we are its Angels"
- ―Lord Castellan Garrick Cavlock
Amongst the brotherhoods of Space Marines there isn't one chapter that hasn't felt its share of tragedy and loss. Such is the way of the Emperor's chosen warriors, their endless duty ever driving them into the heart of the darkest battles. Some however suffer more than others; the noble Crimson Fists who were nearly rent apart by invasion and accident, the Celestial Lions rendered down to but a handful of warriors and other chapters that have been wiped wholesale from the annuls of the Imperium. Within this band of Chapter's laid low stands the Ashen Clad, a proud band of warriors scarred by the cruelty of fate and circumstance.
Astates of the Ashen Clad are stoic and unyielding, like any of scions of Dorn, though they carry with them a deep soul wound which manifests throughout the chapter as quiet, tempered rage. This rage is born from the great shame they must share, that their old chapter world was overrun by a Genestealer cult and in order to halt the aliens machinations they were forced to destroy their own planet. A slow and gruelling orbital bombardment that turned their forest world to a land of ash. In the wake of this devastating loss the chapter become the Ashen Clad and swore to avenge themselves on the creatures who had laid them so low. They now campaign across the galaxy on an unending crusade of penitence, striking out at the Tyranids at any opportunity. To some this seems an almost impossible task, as the vast Hive Fleets of the Tyranids are without number. For the warriors of the Ashen Clad its not even a question of possibility, each battle brother takes an oath upon his ascension that he shall bear the torch of his hatred into the darkest of places no matter the chance of survival. As long as the threat of the Tyranids exist the Ashen Clad will never relent, for their cold fury is as endless as their enemies numbers.
Whilst the chapter will respond to any threat they deem worthy of their attention, no matter their personal wishes they are astartes and will answer when called, they never the less are always on the search for the Tyranid threat. Striking at still slumbing tendrils of the Hive Fleets, aiding other Imperial forces in blocking the larger fleets assaults or searching for ancient technology to help in their endless quest for atonement. As such there are few space marine chapters, outside of the legendary Deathwatch, that can boast so many skilled xenos hunters. Indeed the Inquisitions Ordo Xenos has begun regularly calling on the chapter to deal with large scale purification operations. With their home world rendered to ash the chapter now travels as a fleet and very rarely spreads itself across multiple battle zones. Instead the chapter travels as one force, making them a highly powerful and direct tool in dealing with large scale threats.
With the coming of the Indomitus Era the chapter has seen both good and bad fortune. On the one hand the expansion of the Great Rift has made their mission much harder than it already is and multiple threats are now grabbing at the chapters limited attention. However the return of the Primarch's and the introduction of the Primarus Space Marines have finally returned the chapters ranks to full, allowing them to strike at bigger targets and inflict more damage. But the Great Devourer isn't an enemy like any other, the recent galactic events may have driven them back for a time but already the forces of the Tyrands are evolving and attacking again. But where ever the Tyranid menace appears, where ever the alien hordes scuttle over the Emperor's domain, so too will the Ashen Clad. Arriving like the hand of Rogal Dorn to choke the life from their endless evil.
History[]
Founding[]
Once known as the Castellans Adamant they were raised as part of the 25th Founding in the late 40th millennium, born from the gene-seed of the renowned Imperial Fists Chapter. Upon their formation they were charged with aiding the prosecution of the Atelonian Crusades into the Eastern Fringe. Spearing deep into the xenos choked darkness of the galaxies eastern edge they aided in the creation of a bulwark line, unseating alien warlords and burning worlds lost to the claws of mutants and heretics. During these wars they carried the stoic and unyielding manner of their gene-sires, unrelenting during offensives and implacable on the defence. Many an Astra Millitarum company owes their survival to the heroic defiance of the Castellan's, their reputation one of noble sacrifice to ensure victory and to ensure that many would live to see it.
Once the Crusades came to and end, with High General Merrin Atelonius's death, the Castellans Adamant were granted the world of Scyten Prime as their chapter world. The crusades had run from the late 40th millennium all the way to the start of the 41st, and those centuries of battle had taken their toll on the chapter. On their new world of deep forests and trackless fields they built their fortress-monastery of Castellans Keep and there begun the process of rebuilding the chapter, recruiting from the feudal societies that existed around the planet. As time passed and the chapter returned to its former strength they took the role of protectors, patrolling and protecting the the island of relative safety they had helped create within the Eastern Fringe. Their tireless vigilance ensure that the depredation of xenos and worse was contained, shielding some of the worlds of the Ultima Segmentum behind them.
Throughout the 41st Millennium the Castellans Adamant proved themselves as heroic defenders, regularly coming to the aid of embattled worlds throughout the Ultima Segmentum and beyond. The chapter won multiple battle honours in the Attraxian Suppression, engaging the Rebel Lords of Attaxis in a brutal 30 year conflict. When the daemon lord Malz'Grubnal'Yur sought to extend the Plague Gods realm into the Delmarn Cluster, the Castellans joined three of their brother Chapters in scouring the worlds clean of warp taint. It was then Captain Darton Cross, soon to be named Lord Castellan of the Chapter, who dealt the final blow with his relic bolter. And as Waaagh! Skullsnapper was bearing down on Tarn's World, it was the Castellan's who launched a punitive strike. Redirecting the Orks massive space hulk back into the warp storm that it had just exited, shredding both the massive vessel and the Orks within.
However, it was after the Damocles Gulf Crusade and the First Tyrannic War that would truly change the fate of the chapter. Due to their location in the Eastern Fringe the Chapter was swiftly called upon to aid in the assault against the Tau. The new foe proved to be unexpectedly skilled in combat and the Imperial forces took more casualties than they expected, the Castellans among them. After a protracted stalemate a ceasefire was declared and the Imperium retreated, mainly due to the sudden appearance of a new, deadly threat. The Tyranids of Hive Fleet Behemoth. This new foe proved an even bigger threat than the Tau, almost drowning in scuttling alien hordes. The Castellans, already mauled from their battles in the Damocles Gulf, fought a series of delaying battles across the the flank of Behemoth's advance. Evacuating as many worlds in the xenos path as possible. Eventually the threat was ending in the Battle of Macragge, many believing that the enemy had been fully defeated. But the Tyranid's would prove to be resilient enemies.
Tragedy of Sycten Prime[]
With the Chapter suffering so many causalities in such a short span of time the Castellans returned to Scyten Prime, to rebuild their forces. However, a few years into recruitment a worrying pattern begun to develop. Far more recruits were failing to accept their implants, with barely one in ten dying as the augments rejected their new host bodies. Investigation by Apothecary Vigil Rann revealed a catastrophic issue, the failed aspirants all contained unknown xenos DNA. The Castellans homeworld had become infected by an alien menace, one that would prove all too real and familiar. The Chapter quickly deployed the squads on Scyten Prime to the different cities, towns and villages across the planet, seeking to find out the scope of the situation.
It was swiftly discovered a Tyranid Genestealer cult had taken root on the planet, potentially brought back on one of the ships returning from the First Tyrannic Wars. With their veil of secrecy lost the alien hybrids immediately took hostile action, surrounding the small squads of astartes sent to investigate the towns and putting the Castellan's on the back foot. Worse still for the reeling chapter their, admittedly small, fleet had been deployed to deal with xenos pirate raids in the local system and would need time to be recalled. Facing a sudden overwhelming alien force on their doorstep the Lord Castellan Andron Rax was forced to take immediate and decisive action.