Fire Hawks

“Burn them all; the God-Emperor will know His own.” - Stibor Lazaerek, Chapter Master of the Fire Hawks during the firebombing of Sacristan The Fire Hawks are one of the Loyalist Space Marine Chapters created in the 36th Millennium during the Cursed 21st Founding, from the Ultramarines' gene-seed.

Chapter History
The Fire Hawks were a Loyalist Space Marine Chapter who came to a disastrous end. This Space Marine Chapter has long been a byword for devastation and wrath, the story of the Fire Hawks Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes is a shadowed one. Noted in several classified resources as belonging to the 21st Founding (the so-called Cursed Founding) of the 36th Millennium, the Chapter itself has always claimed descent from the renowned Ultramarines gene-seed, although certain defects and variations in the samples held in the archives of the Adeptus Terra speak against this, and the Lords of Macragge have never publicly acknowledged their kinship. Regardless of their actual direct lineage, in organisation and structure the Fire Hawks have always only broadly adhered to the Codex Astartes, and have sometimes come under deep suspicions by other Chapters who obey its tenants absolutely. The Fire Hawks, in contrast to almost all other Space Marine Chapters, have also long been notably strict adherents of the Imperial Cult, believing in the Emperor’s divinity and the divine right of Mankind to dominate the stars. This Chapter has seen its fair share of victories and triumphs, but also more than its fair share of tragedy as well. The Fire Hawks are one of only a very few Chapters on record known to have survived the destruction of two separate homeworlds, and have been brought to the brink of extinction numerous times.

Notable Campaigns

 * The Age of Apostasy (Ca. 378.M36) - The Fire Hawks distinguished themselves from their beginning, when they bravely entered the conflicts of the Age of Apostasy, fighting alongside the Black Templars, Imperial Fists, Soul Drinkers, and the Adeptus Mechanicus' Skitarii against the Apostate Ecclesiarch and Master of the Administratum Goge Vandire. They did not escape such action unscathed, as during the battles their homeworld of Zhoros was destroyed by nuclear thermal bombs. At the conclusion of the Age of Apostasy the Fire Hawks were rewarded for their actions in support of him by the new Ecclesiarch Sebastian Thor, who issued the Chapter the right to use the Great Crusade-era mobile void-fortress (space station) Raptorus Rex as their mobile Fortress-Monastery. The Fire Hawks became a fleet-based Chapter as a result. In the closing days of the war, the Fire Hawks participated in the Assault on Terra at the end of High Lord Goge Vandire's Reign of Blood in the 36th Millennium.
 * The Badab War (901-908.M41) - The Fire Hawks were one of the first Loyalist Chapters to become engaged in the Badab War after one of their vessels, the Red Harbinger, was attacked and captured by the Seccesionist Mantis Warriors in 904.M41. The Fire Hawks quickly became embroiled in the conflict, with nearly the entire strength of their Chapter and its extremely powerful fleet assets committed to the war effort against the Secessionists. Despite the power of their fleet, the Fire Hawks suffered terrible losses in the early years of the conflict, both in terms of personnel and starships. The Chapter's total fighting strength was reduced to 22% by the third year of the war. The Fire Hawks were relegated to the sidelines lest the Chapter's extinction be risked. The Fire Hawks' Chapter Master Stibor Lazaerek successfully petitioned the High Lords of Terra for his Chapter's involvement in the final years of the war, using the Raptorus Rex, the single most powerful warship in the Maelstrom Zone, as a lynchpin in the Angstrom blockade.

Combat Doctrine
The Fire Hawks tactical doctrine has always erred toward the use of shock tactics, close-quarters combat and above all, the brutal application of focused and overwhelming force to obliterate the enemy. They have a tendency to deploy the majority of their Veteran 1st Company as Vanguard Squads where a Terminator assault is not warranted. Even the Fire Hawks' Tactical and Devastator Squads prefer to engage at point-blank range when possible. Despite their avowed defence of the Imperium, their religious zeal and strength of purpose, a shadow has long hovered over the Chapter and allegations of excessive use of force by them against civilian populations have often been leveled, as have accusations of desertion in the face of their foes by their allies. In numerous battles they have been observed to have withdrawn their forces from situations where their ranks might become needlessly depleted by attrition, or where a tactical advantage has been clearly lost in favor of a later devastating counter-attack. This callous disregard for the fate of others has proven less than popular with their allies, and on one such occasion the decision to withdraw from what the Fire Hawks considered an untenable position in battle was the cause of a three-century-long feud with the Iron Hands Chapter that ended only with the death of the Fire Hawks’ Force Commander in the disputed battle in single combat to settle the matter.

Chapter Beliefs
The Fire Hawks, unlike most Space Marine Chapters, have long been notably strict adherents of the Imperial Cult, believing in the Emperor’s divinity and humanity's manifest destiny to dominate the stars. For example, in the early 36th Millennium, such was the fervour of their faith that they became deeply involved in the wars of the Age of Apostasy, whereas many other Chapters stayed on the sidelines of this vicious religious civil war, paying in blood for their convictions in support of the Thorian reformers. This Chapter are also rigid believers in the Imperium of Man’s established status quo, and they take a singular interest in the destruction of renegade Imperial commanders, apostate Cardinals and other wayward Imperial lords, regularly consigning entire cities and colony worlds to the fire in order to achieve their aims. The Chapter has often been held in higher regard among the High Lords of Terra and their agents than by many of their wartime allies, particularly among other Astartes. Because of this, it is known to be the case that several other Space Marine Chapters consider the Fire Hawks as darkly tainted, over-prideful and wanting in brotherhood, some going so far as to suggest that they have been corrupted by some flaw in the Chapter’s collective psyche or gene-seed, though none would gainsay their effectiveness in battle.

Notable Characters

 * Stibor Lazaerek - Chapter Master of the Fire Hawks

Chapter Disappearance
The Fire Hawks' mobile Fortress-Monastery, the Rapturous Rex, disappeared into the Warp in the year 963.M41, and the Chapter was ultimately declared Lost in the Warp. It is thought that some of the surviving Fire Hawks became the ghostly "Legion of the Damned."

In regard to the Legion of the Damned, all that is known is held by the Adeptus Administratum on Terra and by the Fire Hawks themselves. It has been confirmed that the Legion's members are, or once were, the Fire Hawks that made the Warp jump in 963.M41, though the origin of their seemingly supernatural abilities and mysterious interventions on behalf of beleaguered Imperial forces remain exactly that, a mystery.

To date, a number of items have been recovered relating to the Legion of the Damned; 2 coffins with dead Space Marines inside, both in an advanced state of decay. Their armour serial numbers tally with those of equipment originally issued to the Fire Hawks Chapter by the Adeptus Mechanicus. The equipment was further identified as belonging to 2 great Chapter heroes; Chapter Master Aeneas Mortis and Chapter Champion Tecton.

Further items such as the Chapter Banner, miscellaneous sundries and a flight recorder have also been recovered. The flight recorder was identified as from the Absolute, the lead Battle Barge of the Chapter. The flight recorder revealed little in way of an explanation of what had happened within the Warp, only that the fleet had indeed been ravaged by a Warp Storm and ship after ship within the Fire Hawks' fleet destroyed.

Chapter Colours
The Power Armour of the Fire Hawks is predominantly yellow, trimmed with red flames.

Chapter Badge
The Chapter's original badge was a mushroom cloud. The Fire Hawks' updated badge is a Phoenix made of fire rising from flames. The Legion of the Damned's Power Armour is black and marked with symbols of death and damnation: skulls, bones and flames.

Gallery
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