Iron Seraphs

The Iron Seraphs is reportedly an Ultramarines Successor Chapter of the 23rd Founding. Defined by their dedication to the defense of the Imperium and its people, the Iron Seraphs have grown a reputation more akin to the Imperial Fists and Salamanders rather than their progenitors. Despite this, the skeletal mutations of the Chapter has drawn much suspicion from the Inquisitor and more dogmatic Space Marine Chapters but this has done little to dissuade the Iron Seraphs from their sworn duty. 
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==History==
===Origins===
The origins of the Iron Seraphs dates back to M38 with the commencement of the 23rd Founding to bolster the number of Space Marine Chapters available to defend the Imperium, it would also be known as the Sentinel Founding. Like other chapters of the 23rd Founding, the Iron Seraphs from their inception were designed for the defense of the Imperium and were one of the most staunchly committed to the goal. This commitment saw many of their first deployments under Chapter Master Gabrathiel Orious, a veteran Ultramarine, as large force deployments with multiple companies deploying together or even the whole chapter at times to ensure victory.
Despite the effectiveness of these deployments and commitment to their duty, the Seraphs lacked any significant lore of themselves beyond their heraldry as successors of the Ultramarines and their adoption of similar units and practices. This was not a significant hinderance to the chapter in combat but outside of it the lack of any such rallying cry or lineage left some Astartes of the chapter feeling alienated when fighting alongside older and storied chapters, something which was noticed and greatly concerned Chapter Master Orious. Feelings of alienation, frustration, these were the things the forces of Chaos fed on and he would not allow them to harm his Chapter. 
The defining battle for the Iron Seraphs was the Campaign on Arkouric IX, a long neglected world whose forces had come under attack and been routed by a Chaos Warband known as the Bloodsingers, formed of Word Bearers and World Eaters. In one of the engagements, the Seraphs would manage to rout the traitor lines through sheer weight of assault but throughout the battle, the Chapter Master was subject to a strange harmonic ringing in his mind which he disregarded as some failed mind trick by the traitors. Advising his forces to tend to their wounded and lost, Chapter Master Orious made to follow the sound, ordering his Honor Guard to scour the area as he attempted to track it down. He would eventually find an entrance to an underground cavern, the ringing shifting to a faint harmonic pulsing sound. 
Despite the concerns of his retinue, he ventured inside and followed the humming until he entered a large cavern, devoid of any feature aside from a curious looking piece of metal. While the rest of the cavern was dull rock, this piece of metal somehow held a shine even caked in muck and dirt and age old damage. Upon reaching out and raising the piece to eye level he was struck with an overwhelming psychic barrage of visions, images, and words, strong enough to make him fall to a knee and drop the item. 
The affect of the visions on Chapter Master Orious was profound. The duty and beliefs of him chapter was clearer to him now than ever before. To stand as the unbreakable defenders of the Imperium, not just its borders or its worlds, but its people. They would do this to honor the Emperor as he was, not a God but a man charged with grand purpose and whose life and internment on the Golden Throne sought only to unify and protect humanity in its entirety. They would carry that mantle forward like a burning beacon in the darkness.
==Chapter Beliefs & Traditions==
Despite being Ultramarines Successor and initially following the Codex Astartes closely, the Iron Seraphs as of M42 have developed a number of specific traditions owing to their beliefs, homeworld, and Chapter Relics. 
===Beliefs===
Like many Astartes Chapters, the Iron Seraphs hold no worship for the Emperor of Mankind as a God. A notable difference is that they fervently hold to this belief to the extent of seeing religious worship of the Emperor as an outright insult to him and what they have dubbed 'The Great Dream'. These beliefs originate from the visions experienced by Chapter Master Gabrathiel Orious upon contact with the chapter relic on Arkouric IX. 
===The Great Dream===
Chapter Master Orious, upon interacting with the relic, was subjected to an intense psychic barrage in the form of visions of the Emperor. He was clad in gold armor but carrying the face and behaviours of a simple man, followed by words outlining what he sought for humanity, for the people of the Imperium, to protect them against the evils of xenos around them. Following this were shining Astartes with wings holding shields around the Golden Throne, their statues standing vigil on all the worlds of humanity, an enduring promise to protect all under their gaze. Finally were the echoes calling him to defend the Imperium and what was called 'The Great Dream' of the Emperor which was accompanied by images of a humanity so advanced he barely recognized it. 
The visions experienced by Chapter Master Orious formed the foundations of the beliefs of the Chapter with many of the Astartes of the Chapter openly accepting the visions as Orious espoused them. The central tenants of these beliefs were
*The Emperor is a Man, he is not a God.
*The Great Dream is the idealized Imperium that all Iron Seraphs should strive in the name of.
*To protect the people of the Imperium is to pay honour to the Great Dream and the sacrifice of the Emperor.
*For an Astartes to worship the Emperor as a God is an insult of the highest order.
*There are no Gods or Demons in the Warp, merely creatures born of twisted energy.
There were some issues with these beliefs when it came to the Techmarines of the Chapter which had a strong belief in the Cult Mechanicus and the Omnissiah. Initially this posed little issue, but over time the divide between Techmarines and regular Astartes grew to a near breaking point. Dubbed the 'Routeth Break' after the planet where this conflict reached its peak, the conflict between Techmarines and Astartes of the chapter had reached a point of near constant and open hostilities with a large proportion of techmarines being focused into a single company despite the detriment it caused in others. 
A resolution was only reached thanks to the efforts of senior chapter leadership including Chapter Master Orious but most significantly Master of the Forge Odaenel Sydix. This was done by lengthy consultation between the two and even allowing Odaenel to read his had written accounts of his visions before the two left to deliberate. The result of the 'Routeth Break' was an unexpected but successful solution by the Master of the Forge. He had reinterpreted the Seraphs beliefs within the context of the Cult Mechanicus which saw the Omnissiah needing to be but a simple man rather than a deity so that he may lead those of the Mechanicus in the material realm. 
==Organization==
===First Company===
===Battle Companies===
===Reserve Companies===
===Scout Company===
===Chapter Fleet===
==Geneseed==
The geneseed of the Iron Seraphs has long been a mystery for a number of genescientists and inquisitors that has earned them no small amount of distrust. By all accounts and even by their tithes, the Iron Seraphs are Ultramarines Successors yet the genetic and physical abnormalities of the chapter seem to stand in sharp contrast to this. The result has been numerous inquisitorial investigations following a number of rumors and assumptions.
===Questionable Origins===
The first of these is the assumption that the geneseed of the Ultramarines has become less stable over time. The most commonly voiced concern that stands primarily on the evidence of the Iron Seraphs and Sons of Antaeus who, despite being seemingly normal Ultramarines successor chapters, have shown notable mutations with regard to their skeletons and physical size. Despite the evidence, these concerns are far outweighed by the number of Ultramarine Successors who face no such issues. 
The next and more hushed accusation surround the Iron Seraphs possibly being born of geneseed from the Sons of Antaeus. Several inquisitorial investigations into both the chapter and genescientists handling gene tithes from chapters of the Cursed Founding have been conducted to find some evidence to connect the two beyond their physical mutations. Beyond the dangers of using geneseed of a cursed founding chapter, the much greater concern is for other chapters being raised cursed geneseed without notice due to the emergent nature of the Sentinel Founding. 
The final accusation, only voiced in the darkest and most private halls of the Inquisition, is the use of traitor geneseed in the creation of the Iron Seraphs. While the number of individuals who have pursued such lines of questioning are few, they have cost the chapter many battle brothers through tests of duty and allegiance. This has only widened the gulf between the Chapter and Inquisition made worse by the formers beliefs and leading to ever more suspicion from the latter.
Inquisitors pursuing the chapter based on this concern have often found similar sets of evidence. The somewhat gaunt and sharp features of Astartes of the chapter along with their pale and green colours have been used to suggest a connection to the Death Guard. This connection is only furthered by the physical durability mutations prevalent in the chapter drawing similarity to the stories of the unflinching march of the Death Guard. Some have hinted at a connection to the Iron Warriors due to their siege and mechanized warfare acumen but these have never been seriously considered.
However heretical these concerns may have seemed at the time, the arrival of the Primaris Marines in the 42nd Millennium and the unrestrained creation of Marines by Belisarius Cawl have catapulted concerns around traitor geneseed to the forefront of the minds of inquisitors targeting the chapter. Even in spite of their exemplary combat records and the blessings of Guilliman, the mystery of the geneseed of the Iron Seraphs continues to stand as an unacceptable gap in the halls of the Inquisition.
==Chapter Relics and Artifacts==
Category:Ultramarines Successors
Category:23rd Founding