Ebon Drake

The Ebon Drake was a prototype Assault Cruiser built by the shipwrights of the XVIII Legion of the Legiones Astartes on Nocturne and Prometheus. Allegedly developped and designed by the Primarch Vulkan himself, the Ebon Drake was commissionned shortly before the outbreak of the Horus Heresy. As the first of its kind and of an as yet untested design, the Ebon Drake was held in reserve and did not travel with the Salamanders' fleet to the Dropsite Massacre, thus escaping destruction. Later in the civil war, the vessel would be selected by Nomus Rhy'tan, Lord Chaplain and Keeper of Nocturne to carry a single company of Space Marines to distant Istvaan and discover the fate of their Legion and Primarch. The epic voyage of the Ebon Drake is closely linked to mighty figures of the Salamanders' history such as Cassian Vaughn and Xiaphas Jurr, but equally touches one of the darkest and most secretive parts of the Salamanders' glorious history as it is also closely linked to the splinter-group known as Disciples of the Flames. The configuration of the Ebon Drake was the first to combine carrier capabilites and the powerful firepower of the Bombardment Cannon, and stands as the pre-curser of modern day Adeptus Astartes Strike Cruisers.