Alexis Polux

Alexis Polux was the first Chapter Master of the Crimson Fists Space Marine Chapter. He was a Battle-Brother of the Imperial Fists Legion who had won the Primarch Rogal Dorn’s respect countless times. Known as much for his massive physical size and prowess as his leadership and tactical expertise, Polux led the Crimson Fists for the first 800 standard years of their existence. During this time, he did much to shape their interpretation of the Codex Astartes and their combat doctrines. His character traits show the legacy of Rogal Dorn, Primarch of the Imperial Fists.

The Trial of the Twins
Like his future Primarch, Alexis Polux was born and raised on the frigid Ice World of Inwit in the Inwit Cluster star system by a tribal ice-caste native to the Ice-Hives of the world. Shortly after the rediscovery of the Primarch Rogal Dorn by the Emperor of Mankind during the early years of the Great Crusade, Alexis and his twin brother Helias underwent the rigorous trial as potential Aspirants to become Legiones Astartes of the Imperial Fists Legion. They had to cross the Splintered Lands, the night-soaked side of Inwit which has never seen the sun. A place where the cold is as constant as the night. The warriors of the ice caste normally only ventured here in metal-plated environmental suits, but those who wished to join the VII Legion had to cross this desolate place in rotting pelts and rags. It was a test, a journey through a midnight realm of agony, forcing the potential candidates to endure harsh weather, frostbite and the dangerous indigenous wildlife that stalked these frozen lands.

During the Polux brothers’ journey, Alexis was gravely wounded when one of his calves was punctured clean through by the razor sharp claws of an unidentified six-legged beast. Though he escaped the initial attack, he became separated from his twin brother. Alexis trailed red across the ice-dunes, trying to shut out the incessant pain, trying to ignore the numbness and to keep moving. He felt that he would fail as the bone-numbing cold sapped his will to live, leaving the beast that continued to stalk him with what was left. Somehow, despite the deplorable weather conditions, Helias managed to locate his erstwhile brother and helped him to his feet. Helias offered Alexis words of encouragement, despite suffering from the severe frostbite on his own hands which left them swollen and black with frozen blood. Alexis felt that despite their close genetic bonds, they were twins in all ways except one; Helias was stronger than him, both physically and mentally. Alexis felt he would not have made it even this far without him. But Helias refused to let his brother give up hope.

Unfortunately fate intervened once again in a most unexpected fashion as the six-legged creature had finally found his missing prey. The twins were effectively trapped, their backs towards a large crevasse and the creature in front of them. As the creature attempted to pounce on the wounded Alexis, the wounded twin managed to dive to the side, but was too slow. The beast’s jaws closed on his trailing left arm. It turned as it landed, dragging Alexis across the ice. Teeth tore through my flesh causing joints to pop and sending searing pain up Alexis’ ravaged arm. The beast then slammed Alexis back to the ground, releasing his arm, and placed a clawed paw on his chest. Ribs cracked, and needle-sharp claws touched Alexis’ skin. Helias yelled, distracting the creature, his back towards the crevasse, his body poised, his arms spread like a wrestler. The beast coiled on its six legs and pounced towards Helias, its jaws wide. Moving at the last instant, Helias pivots as his arms come up and grip the beast’s neck. He then turns and the beast’s momentum spins it through the air towards the waiting crevasse. The beast manages to gain purchase fastening to Helias’ leg with its long hooked claws as they both tumble together into the crevasse.

Despite his own agony, Alexis launched himself towards the crevasse and just barely reached his brother in time to grab him as he fell. The weight of him pulled Alexis off his feet. The beast’s claws came free and it vanished into the crevasse. Hanging from his brother’s hand, Alexis attempted to grip a ridge in the ice with his good arm as he held his brother in place with his severely ruined arm. Alexis’ arm was a lacerated ruin, the flesh punctured and chewed in the beast’s jaws, and Helias’ weight pulled the wounds open. Despite his grievous injuries Alexis attempted to pull his brother up from the threshold of the black abyss below, but he was unable to lift him. Locking eyes for an instant, understanding quickly dawned on Alexis; Helias knew that his twin’s grip had already broken. It was his hand locked around Alexis’ that was holding him from falling into the black void below. Looking into his eyes, Helias made the fateful decision for them both and opened his hand, falling to his death. This tragic event deeply affected Alexis and would continue to plague him for the rest of his life.

Betrayal
During the Great Crusade, Polux rose to the senior rank of Captain, commanding the 405th Company and became one of Rogal Dorn's most senior officers and a position on the Primarch’s advisory council. When Dorn had seen evidence of his brother’s treachery in the Istvaan System, he had wanted to go and confront Horus himself, to hear the traitor’s confession and bring retribution with his own hands. But duty had held him back: duty to the Emperor and the Imperium that Horus now sought to destroy. He and his First Captain Sigismund had returned to Terra, but Dorn had sent his sons as emissaries of his anger. He had named it a Retribution Fleet. Thirty thousand Imperial Fists Legionaries comprised of three hundred companies and over five hundred warships had struck out towards Istvaan III, a third of the VII Legion, a force great enough to subdue a hundred worlds, bearing a brother’s wrath. Captain Polux was attached to this Retribution Fleet under the command of veteran Captain Yonnad, Master of the Retribution Fleet.

When the fleet had translated back into reality on the edge of the Istvaan System, the power of the Warp Storm caused Geller fields to fail as hulls sheared into fragments and burned in the fires of their own reactors. Some ships had reached safety, but many had died, their corpses spat out of the Warp to freeze in the void. Two hundred warships lost, their remains left spinning in the light of a forgotten star. They had found Captain Polux in the remains of one of those broken wrecks. He was one of the few survivors. Ten thousand Imperials Fists were gone, a staggering loss that was difficult to grasp. Now only three hundred and sixty-three warships remained - a force that was still a fifth of the VII Legion’s full strength. Yonnad had not survived, and since Polux had been designated as his successor, the right of command of the remaining Retribution Fleet fell to him. Though he felt deeply honoured he also felt completely alone. The truth was that he did not fear the responsibility of such a heavy burden for Yonnad was the Legion’s finest fleet master and Captain Polux his best pupil. But the new Fleet Master had doubts that he was the best choice, for there were other men that had survived the wreck of the fleet that were more worthy: commanders with more campaign experience, higher in the rolls of honour, and more skilled at arms. But the Imperial Fists followed form and order to the letter, something not so easily set aside.

Battle of Phall
The Imperial Fists’ warfleet established a base of operations in the Phall System. The two habitable planets of Phall were unremarkable agrarian worlds, lightly populated and of no great strategic importance. For reasons they could not ascertain, the Warp was calm in this region and the Imperial Fists found that they could navigate to and from the system with some surety. With their Astropaths blind and as time wore on, the Legion’s commanders had grown increasingly frustrated. Though a few amongst the senior captains and battlegroup commanders might chafe at Polux’s orders, the majority of the fleet’s commanders could not fault the young fleet master. The fleet was vulnerable, and an attack was likely. In such a position one needed to create a solid defence and conserve fighting strength. Polux’s deployment addressed all of these needs with a direct elegance. The Retribution Fleet formed a sphere close to the ocean world of Phall II. Each commander in the fleet led a battlegroup of smaller vessels. Every battlegroup moved on a precise looped course. Together the whole resembled a cage spun from the tails of comets.

Captain Polux quickly established a routine. While regular scouting missions were launched into the Warp, the Legion’s Astropaths busied themselves with trying to break through the Warp-Storms and make contact with Terra and in particular the Loyalists at Istvaan III. The fleet was kept at full battle-stations and Polux relentlessly drilled his shield-equipped Breacher squads, honing their skills at war like a blade edge made sharp only by harsh practice. They wanted to be prepared in case of any inevitable boarding actions. When an enemy came the Imperial Fists needed to be ready. The opinions of others, whether they agreed with Polux or not, were of no consequence -- strength required obedience, not thought.

The attack led by Perturabo was sudden and overwhelming. From his flag ship the Iron Blood the Iron Warriors Primarch commanded the first one hundred ships burst into reality at the same moment. The Iron Warriors vessels brought their weapons to bear, firing as one upon the Imperial Fists vessel Hammer of Terra. The doomed vessel exploded spectacularly as the enemy salvo set off a chain reaction in the ship’s plasma engines. Within seconds of the death of the Hammer of Terra twelve of its sisters followed, consumed by nova-shell explosions and torpedo spreads. The Imperial Fists’ grand cruiser Sulla fired a single salvo before macro-shell fire stripped its shields and its hull became molten slag. The six destroyers clustered around it ended in the explosion of its plasma reactor. The Crusader and Legate lasted scant seconds longer. They and their escorts took a trio of vortex warheads and vanished into the hungering dark. Twenty-four grand cruisers and battle-barges made up the tip of the Iron Warriors fleet. In close formation around the capital ship Contrador they moved as one. They rammed through the debris of their kills, fire and molten metal smearing their prows. Around the Iron Blood hundreds of warships followed in close formation. Behind them hundreds more pulled themselves from the warp to add to the Iron Warriors fleet.

Initially, the Imperial Fists fleet fragmented under the attack. Flame-wreathed battle-barges pulled back, trying to outpace the guns of the Iron Warriors. Heavy cruisers staggered their flight, first one taking fire then the next, while faster strike cruisers tried to cover the heavier warships as they pulled away. As the golden fleet broke into pieces the Iron Warriors continued to press forwards. Smaller ships crippled targets, and then larger ships delivered the killing blows. It was methodical and merciless, like a siege drill eating through rock. Plunging his fleet into the midst of the Loyalist fleet, Pertuabo’s strategy was to scattering the Imperial Fists’ fleet formation and then to destroy it piecemeal. His plan was dependent upon the loyal ships not being able to fight back quickly enough to break the momentum of his thrust. However, Captain Polux and his fleet commanders quickly recovered from the shock and suddenness of Perturabo’s attack and fought back. Despite their long sojourn at Phall, they had been kept in a state of constant battle-readiness. This policy paid off for the Imperial Fists as they began to concentrate their fire at the leading ships of Perturabo’s fleet.

It was what the months of planning had been for, the hundreds of hours of training. The Retribution Fleet was ready to resist an attack, but they faced an enemy far greater than Polux had ever planned for. The Iron Warriors had taken losses, but their strength remained. If the Imperial Fists had broken in the first moments they would have died. If they attempted to fight the Iron Warriors head on they would have been slaughtered. The Iron Warriors knew their weaknesses, the Imperial Fists theirs. The Iron Warriors had hoped to find the Loyalists unprepared, but they had not cracked after the first attack. The Imperial Fists defence had snapped back into place like the cogs of a clockwork mechanism. It was an unfixed fortress made of moving strike groups, fading resistance and punishing counter-attacks. Slower battleships drew fire, pulling Iron Warriors ships out of formation, while on the edge of the battle sphere fast strike groups looped around and through the margins of the Iron Warriors fleet. They struck again and again, crippling, destroying, trimming ships from the edge of the enemy fleet like fat carved from meat. The Iron Warriors fleet was pulling itself apart as it tried to engage the Imperial Fists, and it bled at every turn. The Imperial Fists rallied and began inflicting casualties, significant casualties. The Iron Warriors still had greater numbers, but that margin quickly diminished.

The Imperial Fists concentrated their fire at the leading ships of Perturabo’s fleet. The impact of this was devastating to the Traitors as their lead ships were torn apart in the firestorm. As the lead ships were battered the following ships of Perturabo’s fleet broke off their attack to regroup. This gave the Loyalists the chance to go on the offensive but before they did so, the fleet’s Astropaths relayed a critical message to the loyal commanders. Finally, they had succeeded in making contact with Terra and the Imperial Fists had urgent orders to return there, by the will of their Primarch Rogal Dorn. These orders came with the highest priority. They Imperial Fists were not to let anything delay them. Coincidentally, a passage seemed to have somehow opened up in the storms, though the Imperial Fists were not sure how long it would last. If they were to obey their Primarch’s orders, they had to withdraw while there was a chance of making it through the storms. Embattled against the Traitors of Perturabo and his Iron Warriors Legion the Loyalists had an opportunity to force the issue and launch a counterattack against Perturabo’s fleet, perhaps dealing a wound to the enemy so severe that the Iron Warriors might never recover. But they had their orders; it was the will of Rogal Dorn that they return post-haste. And so, sustaining horrific losses, the Imperial Fists Retribution Fleet withdrew from the massive void conflict and made good their escape.

Second Founding
After the Horus Heresy played out to its inevitable tragic conclusion, Roboute Guilliman, Primarch of the Ultramarines Legion, penned the Codex Astartes. With its creation, the Primarch demanded that his brothers accept his example by dividing their own Legions into 1,000 member Space Marine Chapters. Initially, Rogal Dorn opposed such a notion. He felt strongly that it was even more crucial for his Space Marines to remain consolidated so that they could continue to work closely together so that they could protect the Imperium from the remnants of the Traitor Legions. The issue became an increasingly critical point of conflict between the two Primarchs, as their arguments grew in intensity. Ultimately, Dorn chose that it was more important to concede to Guilliman’s demands and divide his Legion than to run the risk of another civil war. After he accepted the decision, the Primarch divided his Legion. Two of the Chapters formed from the Imperial Fist Legion were the Black Templars, and the Crimson Fists. The Crimson Fists Chapter's members were selected by Dorn from those Astartes who had been most recently initiated into the VII Legion, with the exception of its leaders, who were all Veterans. While these Battle-Brothers were thoroughly trained and loyal men, they were among the Legion’s most levelheaded members. Because of this, the new Chapter Master would be able to more effectively implement the teachings and new traditions of the Codex Astartes. Alexis Polux was selected by Dorn to be the newly Founded Chapter's first Chapter Master. The Great Father, Polux would go on to lead the Crimson Fists for the first 800 years of their existence. During this time, he did much to shape their interpretation of the Codex Astartes and their combat doctrines.

Chapter Master Polux reorganised his Battle-Brothers in a format that followed closely with the structure proscribed by the Codex Astartes. However, he continued to follow many of the tactics and traditions that he had learned at the hand of the Primarch as a member of the Imperial Fists. For this reason, the Crimson Fists remained expert at defensive actions, just as their Progenitors. The Chapter maintained the tradition of permitting a single warrior to assume the heraldry and status of the Emperor’s Champion prior to entering a major conflict, but this practice has only been invoked upon rare occasions. Similarly, the Crimson Fists are one of the twelve Chapters that participate in the Feast of Blades, alongside the Imperial Fists. Through the centuries, as the Chapter continued to develop and build its own traditions, they began to maintain a series of sacred days within each year. These were devoted to honouring and commemorating, but not worshiping, the Emperor, Primarch, and Great Father Polux. The Chapter has come to embrace the Codex Astartes, including much of its core philosophy as regards preparation for battles. Their use of oral history as a reminder of their ancestors actions, their ability to adapt to battle against hundreds of different races of xenos, and their aptitude for all phases of warfare all leave the Crimson Fists as a Chapter that is capable of facing with a broad range of different opponents - a lesson that they had to learn through the course of their extended crusades.

Death
Polux fell eight centuries after the founding of the Crimson Fists, during the battle for an unnamed system, codified as HR8518. The system was occupied by a previously unknown alien race, which came to be referred to as the Scythians. These deviant xenos warrior monks made war using terrible venom-based weapons, and it was such a poisoned projectile that struck the Chapter Master in the temple and brought about his death. It is said he fought the deadly poison for many days before his superhuman physiology was finally overcome, though before he Scythians from HR8518 to his warriors. After his death, his forces enacted his plan, and the aliens were repulsed from the system after a short but extremely bloody campaign of xenocide from which the Scythians learned the true power of the Imperium. The xenos have since rarely engaged Imperial forces in open battle preferring instead to mount stealthy raids and assassinations where their deviant, underhanded and dishonourable ways can prevail.

Characteristics
Alexis Polux was known as much for his massive physical size standing taller than all his battle-brothers, and even without his armour he still dwarfed most Astartes warriors. Besides his physical prowess he was also well known for his astute leadership and tactical prowess and was a formidable Fleet Commander when it came to void combat. Polux’s rise through the ranks was meteoric as his superlative combat skills saw him raised to command other Space Marine Veterans with far more practical experience than he enabling Polux to excel as a warrior and a leader.