Iron Hands

"Only when by the power of our hate we have truly shed the prison of our own flesh, shall we be judged worthy to stand at the side of the returned Primarch. Every foe I slay, every stone I cast down, makes my hatred purer, and the day Ferrus Manus is restored to us a day closer." -- Iron Father Klaanu Johar

The Iron Hands are a Loyalist Space Marines Chapter and one of the original First Founding Space Marine Legions created from the gene-seed of their martyred Primarch, Ferrus Manus. Like the other Loyalist Astartes Legions, the Iron Hands would later be divided up after the Horus Heresy into multiple different Chapters, as required by the Codex Astartes, although one Chapter of the original Legion remained known as the Iron Hands and is described below. Although unwavering in their faith in the Emperor of Mankind and his dream of human unity as embodied in the Imperium of Man, the Iron Hands also believe that human flesh is weak and easily corruptible, and strive to replace their organic bodies with more "pure" bionic substitutes, thus closely emulating the faith of the Adeptus Mechanicus' Cult of the Machine.

The Iron Hands were born as the X Legion of Space Marines, engineered by the Emperor of Mankind to bring his light to the long lost human colony worlds scattered across the stars. When the Horus Heresy first erupted and plunged the newborn Imperium into a galaxy-wide civil war, the Iron Hands Legion was too far from Terra to intervene directly in the climactic battle of the conflict. Their Primarch Ferrus Manus was enraged by the weakness of those Legions who fell to Chaos, particularly with his closest brother amongst the Primarchs, Fulgrim of the Emperor's Children, and by his own inability to face the Traitors. Ferrus Manus gathered together his most Veteran Astartes and departed for the Istvaan System. It was during the Drop Site Massacre of Istvaan V that the Iron Hands, the Raven Guard and the Salamanders Legions were ambushed by the Traitors led by the Warmaster Horus, and though the three Loyalist Legions fought with extraordinary valour, Ferrus Manus himself was lost, beheaded by Fulgrim's Slaaneshi daemonblade. While the Traitors declared their Primarch dead upon the blasted wastes of Istvaan V, the current Iron Hands Chapter refuses to accept this, for the Primarch's body was never recovered. For over 10,000 Terran years, the Sons of Ferrus Manus have stoked their burning hatred, drawing strength from this inexhaustible well of rage as they await their lost Primarch's return.

The unique identity of the Iron Hands is forged by their belief that all flesh is inherently weak, for it is subject to mortification, decay and temptation and is thus a weakness that must ultimately be purged if the Chapter's Astartes are to best serve the Emperor. This is a belief most probably rooted in the experiences of the Horus Heresy, but the inherent character of the people of the Chapter's homeworld of Medusa, with their stoicism and patient forebearance, also plays a part. Following the apparent death of their Primarch at Istvaan V, the surviving members of the Legion returned to their homeworld and fanned the coals of hatred that would endure across the millennia. The Iron Hands chose to isolate themselves from many of their fellow Astartes Chapters after the Second Founding and slowly became bitter recluses, wielding their anger as a protective shield against a universe of growing weakness and insanity. Unfortunately, in time, this hatred was directed at all outside the Chapter. The Traitors had renounced their oaths to the Emperor and shed the blood of their brothers, but the Loyalists had also allowed this to happen, and even the Emperor had fallen after defeating Horus. The Iron Hands harbour a special hatred for the Successor Chapters of the other two Loyalist Legions that fought with them at Istvaan V, for they believe that if those Legions had been stronger and continued to fight rather than retreating, Ferrus Manus would not have been lost and the Heresy might have ended there. This belief defies all facts to the contrary.

Ferrus Manus
The Iron Hands were the X Legion of Space Marines, created from the gene-seed of the Primarch Ferrus Manus. At the dawn of the Imperium of Man, before the Great Crusade had begun, the 20 gene-children of the Emperor of Mankind, the Primarchs, were scattered across the known galaxy through the Warp in a mysterious accident due to the intervention of the Ruinous Powers of Chaos. The gestation capsules of all 20 Primarchs were stolen from the Emperor's secret gene-laboratory deep beneath the Himalayan Mountains on Terra and were flung across thousands of light years, all eventually coming to rest on backwater human colony planets. It was this first touch of Chaos before the Primarchs had even been born that may have corrupted so many of them and laid the foundation for the agonising tragedy of the Horus Heresy that was to come. One of these infant Primarchs turned up on the dark, geologically unstable Feral World of Medusa in the Segmentum Obscurus very near to the Eye of Terror, his gestation capsule burning a trail through the cloud-dominated sky as it impacted the highest mountain on the world, Karaashi, the Ice Pinnacle. The impact shattered the mountain top, burying Ferrus deep in the ice in a tremendous explosion of steam. The land shook under the impact which could be felt the world over. Mountains were toppled and great chasms were formed as the planet runbled under the coming of the Primarch. Medusa shook with such ferocity that the Medusans later said that many of the world's mountains simply shook themselves to pieces.

Years later that special infant, later named Ferrus Manus (High Gothic for "Iron Hand") by the Medusans, walked unscathed and already fully grown from the uninhabited moutain ranges of the far northern wastes where the Ice Pinancle lay. The legends of the roaming clans, taught from father to son throughout the ages, revolve around the early exploits of Ferrus, who came to be regarded as a great warrior amongst the nomadic clans of Medusa. No one could match his strength of arm, try as he might to find a worthy opponent. He sought out every physical challenge that he could, always returnign victorious. According to one oft-recounted myth, Ferrus once challenged a Storm Giant to a competition of strength. The giant lifted a mountain between his hands and set it back down a mile away. The giant's laugh died when Ferrus lifted the entire mountain range on his back, carrying it to a neighbouring island. The poor, humbled giant was never seen again. Ferrus travelled the length and breadth of Medusa, becoming well-known by all the clans and comign to know the land itself as no ever had. He travelled areas that any other man would have found inaccessible. He climbed the highest mountains, he swam the deepest oceans, always pushing his levels of endurance and strength to levels unfathomable to mortal men. His strength and fury made him renowned and feared amongst the people of the clans who valued such qualities highly in their harsh environment. Ferrus was eventually adopted by the Medusan clans as one of their own. He never interfered in the various clans' conflicts, believing that such competition was healthy for his people and should be allowed to thrive. Because of this impartiality, Ferrus Manus was ultimately accepted universally as an honourary member of every Medusan clan, and great (often exaggerated) legends like the one above were told of his deeds.

One such legend was of the titanic battle between the Primarch and Asirnoth, the Great Silver Wyrm. This tale is recounted in the Canticle of the Travels, an epic Medusan poem of unknown origin that is still taught to the children of the clans at their parents' knees. The Wyrm was said to possess a skin of living metal that was stronger than any armour. It was said that Ferrus spent many days spent tracking the beast through the legendary Land of Shadows, the fearful homeland of the ancients, a place of mystery and terror. This place, long since lost, was said to be a land forged of metal and stone relics of giant proportions, the remnants of a forgotten age in the galaxy's history. The ghost-spirits of the clans were said to roam there once they left the world of the living. Imperial academics now believe that the description of the Land of Shadows given in the Canticle makes it sound very much like the Necron ruins later encountered by the forces of the Imperium in the late 41st Millennium. As such, Asirnoth may actually have been a C'tan or Necron construct created from their necrodermis material, which is known to act as a type of "living metal." Ferrus was unable to defeat the beast with raw strength alone, his punches and blows having no discernible effect. Ferrus was eventually able to slay the creature, drowning it in a river of molten lava despite the agonising pain this caused him, and he bore it stocially. When Ferrus removed his arms from the lava, the Great Silver Wyrm had been completely destroyed, he discovered that his hands and forearms were covered in the same living metal as the Wyrm's skin, which had flowed across his own flesh, protecting it, even as Asirnoth had been destroyed (or dispersed) by the heat of the molten rock. This was a substance that was as flexible as flesh yet as strong and impervious as the hardest ceramite. It is known that myths involving Ferrus and his metal hand sprecede the writing of the Canticle of Travels, but only in the Canticle is this explanation given as to how the living metal came to be fused to his body. The alien metal also altered the Primarch's physiology, for following the battle his eyes turned silver and seemed to lose their pupils, indicating that the necrodermis, if that is what the substance was, had also entered deep within his body.

The reigning hypothesis among Imperial scholars at present is that Asirnorth was a C'tan construct, some kind of guardian creature placed on the planet to protect a possible Necron Tomb or even the resting place of a true C'tan, made of the "living metal" alloy the Necrons called necrodermis. It is possible that Ferrus was in some way polluted or corrupted by the Necron technology in the process of slaying the Great Silver Wyrm.

Ferrus returned to the Medusan clans after his travels, filled with new and wonderful ideas, which he taught to all who wished to learn. He was able to craft strange and powerful tools and objects out of metal, shaping them with his living metal hands without even the need for a hammer or forge. Under his tutelage, the clans of Medusa became much stronger than they had been before his arrival and became capable of wonders that they never could have imagined possible. It was a time of greatness for the people of Medusa -- the civilization of the clans advanced at a tremendous pace and the Medusan people became strong and proud.

The Coming of the Emperor
When the sky was split for a second time in the history of Medusa, the clans were confused, unsure of what this sign might represent. Without a word, Ferrus left the clans immediately and traveled to the landing site of the phenomenon. Weeks passed with no news of Ferrus, but before the clans decided what they should do in regard to discovering the fate of their saviour, the sky erupted with titanic electrical storms and the ground shook to savage earthquakes, terrifying everyone. These events lasted for eight days, after which the entire world was said to have fallen unnaturally silent.

A single day later, Ferrus returned to the site of the clans' great meeting, escorting an awe-inspiring figure. Stories concerning what acts the two great men performed vary, but most revolve around the common theme of a battle or trial of powers, responsible for the unnatural storms. Whatever had happened up in the mountains, it was clear to everybody present that there was now a close bond of mutual respect between Ferrus and the Emperor, who had arrived in search of his son.

The Great Crusade
Although torn between the people of Medusa and the greater Imperium, Ferrus eventually accepted command of the X Space Marine Legion, who were named the Iron Hands to honour the Primarch's necrodermis-sheathed hands. The Legion quickly added their efforts to the Great Crusade, becoming the heart of the 52nd Expeditionary Fleet. They were said to fight with valour across the galaxy, cutting a swathe through any that opposed the Emperor's word. New Aspirants for the Legion were now drawn from Medusa rather than Terra and Ferrus' early beliefs about healthy competition meaning that the tribesmen were more than capable of adapting to the rigours of life as Space Marines. The Legion believed deeply in the Emperor's efforts to reunite all of Humanity after the Age of Strife, believing that the greatest danger to the human race was itself, if it stood divided. The Legion also believed that any weakness in humanity should be stamped out, which resulted in many culls of those who were unwilling to accept the Emperor's rulership and the teachings of the Imperial Truth.

The Horus Heresy
As Horus made the opening moves of his rebellion on Istvaan III, Ferrus Manus's old friend Fulgrim of the Emperor's Children attempted to sway the Iron Hands' Primarch into joining the rebellion. The attempt failed and Fulgrim barely escaped with his life. Overcome with mind-numbing rage at such treachery, Ferrus and his warriors gratefully received Rogal Dorn's orders. Together with the Raven Guard and Salamanders legions, were to confront Horus and his lieutenants, and crush them utterly. A second wave, comprising the Night Lords, Iron Warriors, Alpha Legion and a contingent of Word Bearers, would follow them and support their attack.

The Iron Hands, Raven Guard and Salamanders made a full combat drop on Istvaan V and secured the drop site, but at a heavy cost. Overwhelmed with rage, Ferrus Manus disregarded the counsel of Corax and Vulkan and hurled himself against the fleeing rebels, seeking to bring Fulgrim to personal combat. His veteran troops - comprising the majority of the Legion's Terminators and Dreadnoughts - followed. Ferrus found Fulgrim, and the two former close friends dueled. It was then that Horus closed his trap. The Warmaster committed his reserves, and ordered the 'fleeing' troops to cease their feint and attack. Ferrus' force was outnumbered, cut off, and surrounded. Fulgrim defeated Ferrus in single combat but could not bring himself to slay his old friend. A daemon of Slaanesh within Fulgrim's weapon, that had been twisting his mind and perceptions, persuaded Fulgrim to decapitate Ferrus. In the following bloodbath the Iron Hands were massacred, the daemon possessed Fulgrim completely, and Ferrus' severed head was presented to Horus as a confirmation of Fulgrim's loyalty.

Soon after, the Horus Heresy ran its inevitable course. Horus' forces attacked Terra, failed, Horus was killed and the Emperor was interred within the Golden Throne. These events drove the Iron Hands to despair as they returned to Medusa. This soon turned to anger against the Chaos Space Marines and other traitors, an anger which the Iron Hands began to use as a driving force. They started destroying any perceived weaknesses in themselves and others, believing they were performing a beneficial act to Humanity. They raged at themselves for not being on Terra in its darkest hour, believing that, had they been there, Horus would have been defeated without the Emperor's sacrifice. After this, they isolated themselves from the other Legions, leaving them to their own business and holding minimal contact with their successor chapters.

Notable Campaigns

 * Drop Site Massacre of Istvaan V (Circa 200.M31) - The early battle of the Horus Heresy that would become known as the Drop Site Massacre of Istvaan V was a disaster of unimaginable proportions. Fueled by anger and betrayal Ferrus Manus urged Corax of the Raven Guard Legion and Vulkan of the Salamanders Legion to launch the attack on the traitors at Istvaan V before the other four Legions assigned to the assault had arrived. So it was that the Raven Guard and Salamanders along with the Iron Hands Morlock Terminators assaulted the bloodied and diminished World Eaters, Emperor’s Children, Sons of Horus and Death Guard on the desolate plains of Istvaan V. The traitors had been greatly reduced in strength due to the fighting on Istvaan III but it would still be a tough and grueling battle, with less than three Legions pitted against four. The attack relied on the reinforcements of the second wave of Loyalist Legions assigned to bring the Warmaster to heel, the Night Lords, Word Bearers, Iron Warriors and the Alpha Legion. The Iron Hands Morlocks led by Ferrus Manus formed the center of the loyalists assault as the Primarch of the X Legion sought out his fallen brother Fulgrim. Finally the forces of the Emperor’s Children and the Morlocks came together in a riot of bloodshed and death. The Morlocks superior armor and experience gave them an advantage over the rank and file of the Emperor’s Children but they were greatly outnumbered. While Ferrus Manus and Fulgrim clashed in a final confrontation, the Morlocks were slowly cut down, one by one. In the end Fulgrim lost his soul to a powerful daemon of Slaanesh when he beheaded his former brother Ferrus Manus. The daemon took possession of Fulgrims body, defiling the head of his fallen brother and delivering it to the Warmaster Horus in a box - a symbol of where his allegiance lay.
 * Horus Heresy, Battle of Tallarn (Circa 200.M31) - To this day the largest tank battle ever conducted in Imperial history remains the Battle of Tallarn. During the Horus Heresy the Iron Warriors Traitor Legion launched a massive assault on the world of Tallarn. To soften up the Loyalist resistance, the Iron Warriors virus-bombed the former agri-world, the life-eater virus turning the once lush and productive breadbasket world into a wasteland of endless desert in short order. The few surviving Imperial citizens emerged from underground shelters to oppose the Iron Warriors attack and soon reinforcements poured in from both sides. The Iron Hands and Imperial Fists Legions arrived to oppose the invasion, the hazardous environment forcing both sides to fight within the environment sealed confines of battle tanks. Both the Loyalists and Traitors committed armored fighting vehicles of all sizes and configurations in numbers never before seen in a single battle. The resulting fighting was fierce and merciless with both sides taking horrendous casualties but eventually the Tau race. Targeted on the Lithesh Sector that stretched between the Damocles Gulf and the Perdus Rift Anomaly, the Damocles Gulf Crusade was tasked with repulsing a number of Tau incursions into the sub-sectors of the region, pushing the xenos back to their homeworlds and ultimately purging them from existence so the Imperium could claim their worlds for humanity. To accomplish these objectives, the vanguard of the Crusade was formed around twelve capital ships of the Iron Warriors were forced from the planet. In the aftermath of the fighting over a million wrecked tanks littered the surface of Tallarn, rusting in the endless dunes and wasting sands of the devastated planet. The ruination of Tallarn is a slight against the Imperium the Iron Hands and Imperial Fists have never forgotten.
 * The Damocles Gulf Crusade (742.M41) - In 742.M41 the Imperium launched a Crusade against the newly arisen xenos threat of the Imperial Navy and five Crusade Companies of the Adeptus Astartes including elements from the Ultramarines, Scythes of the Emperor, White Scars and Iron Hands Chapters. Rounding out the Crusade’s fighting strength were 19 Regiments of the Imperial Guard, 7 of which were raised from the Ecclesiarchy world of Brimlock. The Crusade was to receive significant reinforcements after establishing a foothold in Tau space. The conflict essentially ended in a stalemate, as the Imperium was forced to conclude its military offensive on the Tau Sept wolrd of Dal'yth early to deal with the encroaching Tyranid threat of Hive Fleet Behemoth while the Tau sought to open diplomatic negotiations with the Imperium. The Tau forces sensibly realized that getting in the way of an Imperial withdrawal from their space would serve no purpose and they allowed the Crusade's forces to withdraw unopposed. The first major engagement between the Tau xenos and the Imperium thus came to its conclusion. Though the objective of the Damocles Gulf Crusade had failed, the Astartes and other Imperial forces learned valuable lessons from this Crusade that would latter see use in other conflicts against the Tau on Nimbosa and Medusa V.
 * The Retaking of the Contaqual Sub-Sector (Circa 812.M41) - The Iron Hands have long been renowned and feared as a wrathful and merciless Chapter. Many would-be heretics and Traitors have thrown down their arms and renewed their faith in the Emperor rather than face the fury of the Iron Hands. The retaking of the Contqual Sub-sector was a sterling example of the consequences of inciting the retribution of the Sons of Medusa as they concluded the campaign with a swiftness and fury that has long been a hallmark of the Iron Hands. As far as Imperial scholars can determine, the taint of the Contqual Sub-sector began late in the year 812.M41 when the Contqual High Governor fell easy prey to the corruption of the Chaos God of Pleasure, Slaanesh. From ther High Governor's court the taint spread quickly and within a single month the entire Sub-sector seethed with the corruption of Chaos. The cleansing of Contqual was tasked to the Iron Hands, who have always burned with hatred for Chaos in all its myriad forms since the disaster on Istvaan V. The Chapter stormed into the Contaqual Sub-sector with a speed akin to chained lightning, seizing several planets before resistance could even be organised by the region's Chaotics. In short order, the Iron Hands moved against the focal point of the Chaotic taint, the Hive World of Shardenus, where the world's large body of Chaos Cultists, making use of forbidden rituals, had torn a hole straight through the space-time continuum and into the Warp. From this horrific Warp portal streamed all manner of daemonic monsters to pollute the realm of the Emperor. Though massively outnumbered and sustaining significant losses, the Iron Hands cut through the heretics and their daemons like an ebon-armoured storm. The world was brought to heel in short order with the rest of the Sub-sector falling to the fury of the Iron Hands with equal speed, the citizens of many worlds turning on their tainted masters and pleading with the Iron Hands for mercy. But the Sons of Medusa are not known for their forgiveness and the Chapter fell on the worlds of the Sub-sector with a cleansing wrath, executing one in every three civilians in a great and bloody purge, which the Chapter intended to serve as a righteous punishment for allowing the taint of Chaos to sweep over the worlds of the Contaqual. Just a few weeks after their arrival, the Iron Hands departed, leaving a Sub-sector that would become one of the most devoted of all those in the Imperium to the God-Emperor in their wake. For none of the survivors of the Iron Hands purge doubted the cold retribution they would face should their faith waver again.
 * 13th Black Crusade (999.M41) - When the forces of Abaddon the Despoiler spilled forth from the Cadian Gate in 999.M41 to launch his 13th Black Crusade, the Iron Hands knew that Medusa faced imminent invasion and the Chapter scrambled to prepare their defenses. While it is known that two of the Clan Companies were deployed elsewhere, the greater strength of the Chapter was used in the defence of its homeworld. The largest battle in the defense of Medusa came when all 10 of the gargantuan tracked fortresses of the Clan Companies faced the invading Traitor Guardsmen of the Haradni 13th Heavy Armoured Regiment. The plains of Medusa played host to one of the largest armored clashes the galaxy has seen since the infamous battle for Tallarn during the Horus Heresy as ten-thousand traitor tanks stormed towards the waiting Iron Hands. The battle that ensued lasted for five days and five nights, as the traitors closed within firing range the Iron Hands opened fire, reportedly destroying over a hundred tanks in the first volley, for each Clan Company commanded firepower equal to a Centurio Ordinatus of the Adeptus Mechanicus. On the fifth day the traitors broke through the Iron Hands lines, an armored company getting behind one of the mobile fortresses and firing shell after shell at nearly point blank range. The Iron Hands responded by launching a furious counter-attack spearheaded by Assault Squads armed with Melta Bombs leaping from the crenelated towers of the mobile fortress to land atop the enemy tanks. Though many marines lost their lives in the attack, shot down by pintle-mounted weapons or ground beneath armored tracks, the attack was successful in destroying the majority of the enemy armor and sending the rest into a disorderly retreat. It was then that the Iron Hands launched an armored assault of their own, whole formations of Predator Annihilator tanks disgorging from the mobile fortress to run down and destroy the heretic tanks with ravening beams of lascannon fire. The Iron Hands managed to secure Medusa by the midpoint of the war and were able to deploy several Clan Companies to the defense of the Cadian system and a task force was dispatched to reinforce the naval world of Vigilatum.

Chapter Organisation
During the Second Founding that took place early in the 31st Millennium after the Horus Heresy, the remaining Astartes of the ravaged Iron Hands Legion split into 3 separate Chapters. Two new Chapters named the Red Talons and Brazen Claws departed Medusa forever and went to establish their own homeworlds and fortress-monasteries. In time both Successor Chapters became increasingly reclusive. One of the 3 Chapters retained the original name and heraldry of the X Space Marine Legion and remained on Medusa. Since its inception, the Iron Hands Chapter has increasingly diverged from the standard Codex Astartes-compliant organisation, changing to reflect the culture of the native nomadic clans of Medusa who provide all of the Chapter's Astartes. Slowly contact between the three Successor Chapters of the X Legion deteriorated as all three became increasingly insular in nature, while simultaneously contact with other Chapters drawn from the other First Founding Space Marine Legions virtually ceased entirely as the Iron Hands became ever more insular following the terrible defeat at Istvaan V.

The Great Clan Council
The Chapter drew much of its organisation from the political structure of the clans of Medusa. Each of the 10 Clan Companies of the Chapter is a single entity, possessing its own command hierarchy, Veterans, beliefs and clan traditions. One warrior of each Clan Company is nominated to represent their peers at the Great Council of the Iron Hands. The Iron Hands have no Chapter Master and are instead led by the Great Council of the most senior and respected members of each Clan Company. The Iron Hands view the council as a strength, for no individual can lead the Chapter astray like they have seen happen all too often. It is common for members of the council to be ancient and revered Dreadnoughts who have long been free of their frail mortal flesh. This precaution was implemented so that no one man could ever lead the entire Chapter astray, as happened during the Horus Heresy.

Clan Company Autonomy
Each Iron Hands Clan Company is a roughly self-contained unit not dissimilar to a standard Space Marine Battle Company; however, each Clan Company is responsible for its own recruiting and maintenance of its equipment and vehicles. Each Clan Company, in addition, possesses a mobile Fortress-Monastery on Medusa called a Land Behemoth which they consider their base of operations. Some materials do pass between the Clan Companies, but for the most part they are autonomous and often in open competition with one another. The Chapter's fleet disposition and how the starships are administered, whether they are pooled to serve the entire Chapter or each Clan Company has its own separate vessels, is unknown.

Specialist Ranks

 * Iron Father - A further departure from the doctrines of the Codex Astartes is the Iron Hands Chapter's complete lack of Chaplains. This position is instead filled by an Astartes known as the Iron Father, who combines the roles of Chaplain and Techmarine. The Iron Father is considered the representative to the Chapter of both the Emperor of Mankind and the Adeptus Mechanicus' Cult Mechanicus. Unlike the Chaplains of other Chapters, however, the Iron Fathers do not receive a Rosarius from the Ecclesiarchy. because of the perceived heresy of the Iron Hands' belief in the doctrines of the Omnissiah rather than the standard Imperial Creed.

Equipment Shortfall
The disastrous Drop Site Massacre on Istvaan V cost the Iron Hands many, if not most of their Dreadnoughts and suits of Terminator Armour. The limited number that remained became important relics to the Chapter, particularly the mighty Dreadnoughts who symbolise the epitome of the symbiosis of man and machine. Because of this ironic deficiency for a Chapter so dedicated to the pursuit of high technology, the Iron Hands rarely field squads of Terminators, preferring instead to equip Clan Company officers and Veteran sergeants with the precious Terminator Armour to spread its inspirational and uplifting influence to the Astartes of the entire Chapter. It is also rumoured that there may be as few as 8 Dreadnoughts in the entire Chapter, but it is unknown if this is actually true or merely a myth.



Known Clan Companies
There are 10 Clan Companies that comprise the Iron Hands Chapter. Only 5 of those are already known to Imperial records and include:
 * Garrsak Clan Company
 * Kaargul Clan Company - Led by the Venerable Dreadnought Warleader Bannus.
 * Raukaan Clan Company - Captain Dozeph Imanol is the current commander of the Raukaan Clan Company.
 * Sorrgol Clan Company
 * Vurgaan Clan Company - The Vurgaan are based out of the Weyland Land Behemoth and led by Captain Pelles. The Clan Company Badge is a lightning strike within a cog.

Chapter Fortress-Monastery
As the volcanic and earthquake-prone geology of Medusa is too unstable to support and maintain a structure the size of a fortress-monastery, the Chapter has been forced to create massive, nomadic bases for each Clan Company. These mobile fortresses, called Land Behemoths, continually traverse the surface of the planet, and are fully automatic, allowing the Behemoth to stay on the move while the entire complement of the occupying Clan Company is off on one of their many crusades across the galaxy against weakness and corruption.

Chapter Recruitment
There is no Scout Company for iron Hands Neophytes, instead each Clan Company must recruit its own Neophytes from the Medusan clans linked to the company to remain at strength. Upon indoctrination, the left hand of each Neophyte is replaced with a cybernetic replacement, the beginning of a process of augmetic replacement that will continue for the rest of their lives.

Chapter Combat Doctrine
The hatred the Iron Hands feel towards weakness and corruption has an effect on the Chapter's doctrine and operations, a belief that even extends to their own bodies. As an organic body, even the superhuman flesh of the Astartes, can be injured, broken, or led into the temptations or corruptions of the flesh caused by Chaos, the Iron Hands seek to eliminate any perceived fault within themselves through any means possible, usually cybernetic replacement of the body part. In the minds of many Iron Hands, the machine is the ideal. The hatred of all weaknesses is harnessed and focused by the Iron Fathers for use in battle, where the Chapter will fight with renowned intensity and determination, regardless of the opponent. The bitter Marines will advance in a machine-like and relentless fashion, throwing themselves violently at the enemy. Dreadnoughts and Terminators are rarely used by the Iron Hands because many of these Veteran cyborgs and the ancient suits of Tactical Dreadnought Armour used by Terminators were lost in the Drop Site Massacre of Istvaan V at the start of the Horus Heresy. Due to their combination of the organic and mechanic, the ones that remain are treated with great respect. Entire squads of Terminators will rarely be fielded, but the inspirational feeling they create among the rank and file is harnessed by allowing Veterans equipped with Terminator Armour to lead squads of Tactical Marines. For similar reasons, Dreadnoughts will lead forces when the occasion demands, and several of the Clan Companies Leaders are contained within the armoured sarcophagus of a Dreadnought. Needless to say, the Iron Hands' reclusiveness, obsession with replacing their flesh with bionics and their unusually close relationship with the Adeptus Mechanicus are often viewed as unhealthy by other Astartes Chapters and other Imperial organisations like the Inquisition and the Ecclesiarchy.

Chapter Beliefs
The Iron Hands are ultimately defined by their hatred of weakness of any kind, a hatred that extends to their own bodies, for they hold that all organic bodies, even those of a genetically-enhanced Space Marine, is ultimately frail and subject to the weaknesses brought on by age and disease. The Iron Hands are compulsively driven to replace their own biological flesh with cybernetic replacements, a practise that begins as soon as a Neophyte is initiated into the Chapter. The Initiate's left hand is surgically removed and replaced with a Bionic prosthesis in a ritual inspired by the tale of Ferrus Manus' own hands becoming encased in "living metal" after the mythical battle with the great serpent on Medusa composed of the same material. Some Initiates choose to sever their own hands during the ceremony, whilst others plunge it into the searing lava that flows from the volcanoes on Medusa, bearing the pain as their hand is burned away, and transforming it into the first brick in their wall of hate.

Throughout an Iron Hand's lifetime, he grows ever more angry towards his foes and even more resentful of his own remaining organic flesh. He appears to actually come to hate himself, or at least his biological form, as if he were forcibly garbed in filthy, unclean garments. More of his organs and limbs are replaced with Bionic Augmetics, each of which is inherently superior to the biological original. To many outsiders, this process can even be considered a form of blasphemy, for many of the organs that have been discarded are those that make an Astartes the genetically-engineered marvel that he is and which are derived from the sacred genomes of the Emperor and his gene-sons the Primarchs. However, a Veteran Battle-Brother of the Iron Hands who has served the Chapter for several Terran centuries is likely to be almost entirely inorganic in nature with every visible swathe of flesh replaced by gleaming metal. Many Iron Hands officers' biological bodies consist of nothing more than the brain and a few remaining major organs like the heart. It is believed by some Imperial savants that the oldest Iron Hands, who survive countless battles and the strains of their own self-hate-induced transformation into cybernetic beings, are no more than a human brain encased within the Ceramite shell of their Power Armour.

Because of this unique drive towards the replacement of their own flesh with the mechanical, many of the Chapter's leaders are entombed within the metallic sarcophagus of a Dreadnought, which is considered a great honour of the Chapter and the primary path to leadership. These Dreadnoughts form the Chapter Council, as the Iron Hands have no individual Chapter Master. Each company of the Chapter is actually a semi-independent body of its own, maintaining a mobile Fortress-Monastery that trawls across the endless volcanic wastes of Medusa to protect its people from their own weakness and recruit the strongest amongst them into its ranks as Neophytes.

Some claim that the Chapter's hatred for the flesh is the manifestation of a strange psychological corruption to be found within their gene-seed and certainly the Iron Hands Legion sired only two Successor Chapters that can be definitively linked back to the get of Ferrus Manus. Whatever the cause of this strange affliction, the Iron Hands' determination and effectiveness as defenders of the Imperium cannot be questioned, as so many of the Emperor's foes have learned to their regret over the centuries.

Chapter Gene-Seed
The extreme hatred the Iron Hands hold for the weaknesses of the flesh is believed to gloss over an underlying psychological fear of their physical form. As an Iron Hands Space Marine matures, that hatred and fear grows ever stronger, resulting in ever increasing and more extreme mechanisations of the Astartes' body. It is unclear from where this fear may originate, though many in the Adeptus Mechanicus believe that the source is a flaw in the gene-seed of the Chapter that originated some time after the death of their Primarch on Istvaan V. This flaw seems to be controlled or at the very least made moot by the increasing mechanical augmentations Iron Hands Astartes undergo.

The Iron Hands Chapter has become increasingly reclusive and hostile towards outside interference since the Horus Heresy. Though the Inquisition continually investigates the Iron Hands, the Chapter bears such scrutiny with unconcealed disdain. Strangely, the Inquisition does not appear very concerned with the Iron Hands Chapter's many deviations from standard Adeptus Astartes and Imperial practice. Despite having apparently identified some aberrations within the Iron Hands, the Inquisition has chosen not to act against them, seeing their existence as a useful way to later enforce their will upon the Chapter, if necessary. The Inquisition seems to have decided the flaws within the Iron Hands are not particularly dangerous to the Imperium and the effectiveness of the Iron Hands as defenders of the Imperium cannot be questioned. The Iron Hands formed 2 Successor Chapters during the Second Founding, the Red Talons and the Brazen Claws. The peculiar traits of the Chapter have precluded the Adeptus Mechanicus from making use of the Chapter's gene-seed in new Foundings and so only a few other Iron Hands Successor Chapters have been created in the centuries since the Horus Heresy.

Notable Iron Hands

 * Captain Kardan Stronos - Though the Iron Hands technically have no true Chapter Master, the Veteran Captain Kardan Stronos serves as the Clan Council's emissary when dealing with outsiders, including other Space Marine Chapters and Adepta of the Imperium, and so is listed in many official Imperial sources as the Iron Hands' Chapter Master.
 * Veteran Brother Avidan - A respected and legendary warrior within the Iron Hands Chapter, Brother Avidan wears one of the Chapter’s revered suits of Terminator Armour and holds a seat on the Clan Council.
 * Venerable Dreadnought Axagoras - The third Dreadnought serving on the Clan Council. Axagoras is a legendary figure in the Chapter whose most notable accomplishments include his battles against the Kartha and Sheed xenos of the Durian subsector and his command of the Xerxes Campaign. The tactics Axagoras developed in the Xerxes Campaign are now mandatory study for new initiates to the Chapter. Axagoras favors a Plasma Cannon weapon mount.
 * Captain Balhaan - Captain of the Iron Hands during the Great Crusade and commander of the Strike Cruiser the Ferrum.
 * Venerable Dreadnought Bannus - Bannus served his Chapter as a Captain of a Clan Company for many centuries, nearly losing his life on the industrial world of Kaladrone, he was saved by the legendary Iron Father Paullian Blantar. Eventually Bannus was interred within an ancient Dreadnought sarcophagus and now serves as one of the most respected figures in the Iron Hands Chapter, a voice of great wisdom on the Great Council and a war leader of supreme skill.
 * Iron Father Paullian Blantar - Blantar is an Iron Father from the Kaargul Clan Company. His knowledge of bionic enhancement is unparalleled, and his refinements of the augmentation process distinctly affected the direction of the Chapter. He led the dramatic counter-attack against the insidious Dark Eldar on the industrial world of Kaladrone, rescuing the badly wounded Warleader Bannus. Blanter personally performed the augmetic surgeries and augmentations that enabled the crippled form of Bannus to survive and go on to lead his Company for many centuries to come and in fact Bannus still leads his Clan Company as an ancient Venerable Dreadnaught and is an integral part of the Great Council. Bannus’ wisdom and experience continue to serve the Chapter to this day. Of equal legendary status was Paullian’s disdain for his own organic body. Blantar constantly enhanced and augmented his body and towards the end of his extremely long and successful life-span there was very little of his organic body remaining. Only his brain and a few patches of exposed flesh remained and what little flesh could still be seen was regularly scarred and punished by the extremely zealous Iron Father. To this day Iron Fathers ritually scar their flesh in honor of one of the Chapters most renowned Iron Fathers of all time.
 * Dreadnought Comech - Dreadnought of the Iron Hands Legion during the Horus Heresy.
 * Iron Father Gebren - Ever since the dawn of the Great Crusade the most technically adept members of the Astartes Legions have been sent to Mars to be trained as adepts in the Cult Mechanicus and Iron Father Gebren was one of the first and best. Gebren served during the Great Crusade and on through the dark days of the Horus Heresy, one of the best of his age Gebren was trained by none other than Fabricator Locum Kane, who would later become the Fabricator General of Mars with the betrayal of Kelbor-Hal.
 * Iron Father Anatolus Gdolkin - Iron Father Gdolkin was given command of the Strike Team sent to aid Magos Omega Thule during the 13th Black Crusade. Gdolkin was accompanied on the mission by his blessed combat servitors Gibeon XII, Joab XIII, Gibal 674, and Ishmael 192. While critically wounded in combat against the Word Bearers Dark Apostle Iscariot Gdolkin survived his mission and was interred within a venerable and sacred Dreadnought of the Chapter.
 * Venerable Dreadnought Talumech - A member of the Chapter Council and a revered Dreadnought-Brother of the Chapter, Talumech goes to war armed with a mighty twin-linked lascannon in addition to the Close Combat weapon born as the left arm of all the Chapter’s Dreadnaughts.
 * Captain Dozeph Imanol - Commander of the Raukaan Clan Company.
 * Librarian Madeus - A member of the Clan Council, Madeus has the honor of wearing a suit of modified Terminator Armour.
 * Librarian Melchor - Librarian attached to Iron Father Gdolkin’s Strike Team during the Thirteenth Black Crusade. Melchor sacrificed himself to teleport the survivors of the Strike Team to the bridge of the Ajax. Melchor had the honor of wearing a suit of revered Terminator Armor.
 * Captain Pelles - Commander of the Vurgaan Clan Company. Pelles was recruited at the same time as Gdolkin and sports two service studs denoting over two hundred years of service to the Chapter. Where his fellow recruit showed an aptitude for machines, Pelles showed an innate understanding for tactics and command, leading to his rise to Captaincy of the Vurgaan Clan Company.
 * Captain Rumann - Given overall command of the Astartes elements of the Damocles Gulf Crusade.
 * Captain Sien - Captain Sien commanded the small Iron Hands force during the largest armoured battle in Imperial history at the Battle for Thranx in M36.
 * Iron-Captain Strake - Captain of the Ajax since the Grailsword Campaign. Captain Strake lost his legs three years ago during a battle with a Tyranid Hive Fleet when the Ajax was crippled and nearly destroyed. Strake survived but instead of having his legs replaced with augmetics he requested he be fitted to an anti-grav platform with technology based on that used in servo-skulls.

Chapter Fleet

 * Ajax - Strike Cruiser attached to Iron Father Gdolkin’s Strike Team during the 13th Black Crusade.
 * Armourum Ferrus - Strike Cruiser that participated in the engagement with the Diasporex.
 * Ferrum - Strike Cruiser that participated in the engagement with the Diasporex.
 * Fist of Iron - Battle Barge, former flagship of Ferrus Manus himself
 * Heart of Gold - Strike Cruiser destroyed during an engagement with the Diasporex xenos.
 * Iron Dream - Strike Cruiser destroyed during an engagement with the Diasporex xenos.
 * Medusa’s Glory - Strike Cruiser crippled during an engagement with the Diasporex xenos.
 * Metallus - Battle Barge destroyed during an engagement with the Diasporex xenos.
 * Omnissiah’s Might - Strike Cruiser of the Iron Hands.

Chapter Colours
The appearance of the Iron Hands has remained constant since the Legion's foundation. Their Power Armour is painted black, with white insignia and squad markings. Each Clan Company has an individual symbol, which is worn on the shoulder plate opposite the Chapter's badge, while squad markings are placed on the lower left leg. Apothecaries of the Iron Hands have the entire right arm including the shoulder guard painted white as well as the backpack. A white stripe is also painted vertically down the helmet.

Chapter Badge
The badge of the Chapter is an iron gauntlet, symbolic of Ferrus Manus' metal-covered hands.

Chapter Notes
Strong links are suggested between the Iron Hands and the C'tan and their Necron servants, largely because Ferrus Manus' hands may have been covered in the same necrodermis living metal that makes up the C'tan's physical bodies and the armoured shells of the Necrons. Their close links with the Adeptus Mechanicus and their devotion to cybernetic and mechanical augmentation possibly link them with the Void Dragon, a C'tan (that may or may not be the true Machine God of the Adeptus Mechanicus) who is believed to lie dormant beneath Mars. Some within the Imperium believe that Ferrus Manus is not only still alive, but resting deep within the Red Planet himself. This belief is violently refuted by the Iron Hands themselves as Ferrus Manus is known to have been beheaded by his brother Primarch Fulgrim during the Drop Site Massacre on Istvaan V at the start of the Horus Heresy.