Morlocks

The Morlocks, were the elite Space Marine Battle-Brothers of the Iron Hands Legion that served as Primarch Ferrus Manus' personal bodyguard. These elite veterans of the Iron Hands' 1st Company were so-named for the fearsome visage they presented like the vengeful predators that howled across the frozen tundras of their Legion homeworld of Medusa. The Morlocks were the deadliest and most experienced warriors of the X Legion, and whatever force was arrayed against these black Terminator armoured warriors, could not hope to survive their wrath. These elite veterans often stood as the bloody tip of the spear that drive hard into their foe's vitals.

As the personal bodyguard to Ferrus Mannus they often stood sentinel aboard the Primarch's flagship, the Battle Barge Fist of Iron, the mightiest of them protecting the gates of the Primarch's inner sanctum, the Iron Forge, located within the ship's Anvilarium, the large audience chamber where mighty deeds were planned and unbreakable bonds of brotherhood were forged. The Morlocks were led by Gabriel Santor, the X Legion's First Captain and Equerry to the Primarch. Santor hailed from the Avernii Clan on Medusa.

Shortly after the corruption of the Emperor's Children's Primarch Fulgrim, he was ordered by the Warmaster Horus to rendezvous with the Iron Hands' Primarch and attempt to sway his closest brother towards their cause. The two Primarchs met aboard Ferrus Manus's flagship. Great bonds of friendship and brotherhood had long existed between them, and Fulgrim felt that he could convince Ferrus of the righteousness of Horus's cause. Fulgrim's hope proved disastrously wrong and the meeting of the two Primarchs in Ferrus' private inner sanctum in his flagship's Anvilarium did not go well as Ferrus was outraged that his brothers would turn against their father the Emperor.

The meeting ended in violence as The Gorgon made his difference of opinion over continued loyalty to the Emperor known to the Phoenician with his weapons, determined to stop Fulgrim's betrayal of the Imperium before it could begin. Ferrus used his silvery necrodermis hands to attempt to destroy Fulgrim's sword Fireblade, but the resultant explosion knocked him out. Fulgrim intended to kill his brother with his own weapon, the warhammer Forgebreaker, but proved unable to kill his oldest friend despite the promptings of the Slaaneshi daemon that now throttled his soul. Instead he took the Gorgon's beloved warhammer, a reminder of the bond the two Primarchs once shared. When Fulgrim emerged from Ferrus' inner sanctum, he gave a signal to his Phoenix Guard who instantly, and in perfect synchronicity, beheaded all ten of the Iron Hands' Morlock Terminators who served as Ferrus Manus's bodyguard with their Power Halberds. The Emperor's Children's First Captain Julius Kaesoron struck out against his Iron Hands counterpart and very nearly killing him with his Lightning Claws. Fulgrim successfully fled the Iron Hands' expeditionary fleet in his personal assault craft, the Firebird, when he ordered his flagship, the Battle Barge Pride of the Emperor and its Escorts, to open fire upon the ships of the 52nd Expeditionary Fleet. This surprise attack crippled them and provided a distraction while Fulgrim and the Emperor's Children fled into the Warp to rendezvous with the rest of their 28th Expedition in the Istvaan System.

Things eventually came to a head at the Drop Site Massacre of Istvaan V. Led by Gabriel Santor, ten full companies of Morlocks hungered to confront the Emperor’s Children and make them pay for the dishonourable murders done to their number in the Anvilarium of the Fist of Iron. The Iron Hands' elite Morlock Terminators, led by the Gorgon, formed the centre 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 armour and experience gave them an advantage over the rank and file Astartes of the Emperor’s Children, but they were greatly outnumbered. While Ferrus Manus and Fulgrim clashed in a final confrontation, the Traitors' revealed their trap, as the second wave composed of the Alpha Legion, Iron Warriors, Night Lords and Word Bearers revealed their true allegiance to Chaos. The Phoenix Guard answered with a terrible war cry and leapt to meet the Morlocks in a searing clash of blades. Electric fire leapt from the golden edges of the halberds and the Lightning Claws of the warriors, and a storm of light and sound flared from each life and death struggle. Surrounded on all sides, the Morlocks were circled by the Traitors and in the midst of cries of pain and roaring savage glee, the Morlocks of Ferrus Manus were slain. It is unknown whether the Morlocks were reconstituted after the events of the Horus Heresy.