Ashen Hawks

Ashen Hawks armorial with Order iconography

An Ashen Hawks Heretic Legionary.

### Specialty

Search and destroy legions of traitor Astartes, the protection of free traders, and government officials.

### Battle Cry

"We are the orphans of war, we are the wrath of the Emperor!"
"For the Emperor and Terra!"

### Colours

Orange, Brown & Gray Camouflage

The **Ashen Hawks** are an order of renegades from the Raven Guard, who are classified as a Blackshield force. The Ashen Hawks are distinguished by their wayward nature and desire to achieve their goal only by their efforts, so it is a very closed order. The main combat tactics of the Ashen Hawks are sabotage and terrorist attacks, asymmetric attacks from the air and sudden disappearance after the end of the battle. The master of the order is the former captain of the 9th Order of the Raven Guard - Zeeman Arne.

## History

At the time of the Great Grusade, the Ashen Claws were the 9th Order of the Raven Guard Legion, consisting mainly of Terran legionaries who had been conscripted into the Legion before being reunited with Primarch Corvus Corax. After the battle of Gate Forty-Two during the Akum-Sotos Cluster campaign, those Terran legionaries who had survived the nightmare of the near-suicidal assault on the Gate were assembled by Corax into a single unit and sent to the northeastern borders of the Ghoul Stars to carry the Emperor's light into the Outer darkness.
The purpose of such an act on the part of Corax is still not clear. However, Arne was not going to fully comply with the primarch's orders. As if sensing something bad in the future, he ordered the ships to turn in the opposite direction halfway through. Finding their homeworld completely devastated, the warships moved on to Terra. When Arne's battle group arrived at Segmentum Solar, they were suddenly attacked by the Blood Angels. At first, this greatly shocked the captain of the 9th Company, because he had not yet fully realized the extent of the betrayal. In the course of many bloody battles, suffering huge losses, the Astartes broke through the blockade ring, joining with the Night Lords. It was this factor that saved them from complete destruction. On board the Night Lords' battle barge, Zeeman Anre met with Captain Iago Sevator, who told him about Dorn's treachery and the events on Istvaan III and Istvaan V.

Having suffered serious losses, the newly created Ashen Hawks were not capable of further combat operations. By this point, the heresy was already ending in the defeat of the traitors.

After the Heresy, they were classified as "blackshields". Currently, most of the Astartes of this order serve as mercenaries in the service of free traders.

It's hard to tell if the Ashen Hawks consider themselves loyal. Perhaps, having lost faith in the Emperor of Mankind, they began to make new decisions only based on their personal interests. What is also strange is why the Inquisition is not wary of this order (which would seem very illogical, since the Hawks are descendants of the Legion of traitors of the Raven Guard, and should have been destroyed immediately after the end of the heresy).

   A special feature of this order is its differences from the usual loyal legions. Hawks prefer mobility to strength, so they never stay in a particular place for long. Because of this, the order has conflicts with Abbadon's command, but this does not escalate into something more global and dangerous, as the Ashen Hawks play a very important role for the Imperium. This order does not specialize in the introduction of conventional warfare, the hawks are engaged in an eternal, never-ending war with their former traitor brothers. With the primary task of destroying them, Hawks can often ignore signals for help from nearby worlds.

## Notable Campaigns

* **Badab War (780.M41)**
* **Maelstrom's Hundred Years Wars (450-550.М38)**
* **Nightmares War (001.M42)**
* **Nebulas Compaign (992.M41)**

## Organisation

The structure of the Order differs significantly from the rest of the Astartes formations. Ashen Hawks don't have a home world, their headquarters is located on the Ranger - monastery "Platinum Stronghold." The Order is run by a master. The Magister obeys the Council of Commanders ("Strategium Ordos") under his control. The Council consists of the captains, apothecaries, and supreme cappelans of all companies of the Order, representatives of the Adeptus Mechanicus, and admirals of the Order's space fleet.

## Vehicles & Equipment

Although the core of any Legiones Astartes army remains the Space Marines, armored posthuman infantrymen, all the great legions reinforce their troops with a variety of equipment that performs special tasks on the battlefield.

However, this is not the case with the Ashen hawks — either for reasons of necessity or tactical preference, these raiders and marauders use a variety of orbital fighters, bombers, and assault ships to support their maneuverable infantry while avoiding the slower columns of armored vehicles typical of some other legions.

Perhaps this narrow military specialization is a supposed consequence of the limited human and material resources available to the splinter faction of a larger conflict, reinforced by necessity and circumstances. If this is the case, it should be assumed that the Ash Hawks have fought in such a limited manner for a long time, as this explains their experience and skill in using these temporary formations and tactics. Probably honed in the long-forgotten worlds of the Xenos, deep in the darkness beyond the borders of the Imperium, this tactic was a deadly surprise to those they encountered upon their return to imperial space. According to the few records, their ground attacks were preceded by a wave of frontier fighters and amphibious warships, Thunder Eagles and Lightning Primaris, tasked with destroying enemy air defenses and key positions.

     They were followed by massive squadrons of Charybdis and the Dread Claw drop pods favored by the P, with maneuverable infantry squads on board. Infantry squads rarely held territory in an attempt to overcome or bypass the main force of the enemy, and dealt with them in parts. The purpose of such attacks was almost always to capture ammunition and weapons, rather than conquest or simple slaughter, which, faced with them in battle, baffled the Legiones Astartes of a more traditional worldview.An Ashen Hawks armoured vehicle.Despite their specific tactical characteristics, the Ashen Hawks do not disdain to use heavy equipment on the battlefields (usually "Rhino" a or "Landrader" from the Great Crusade). In memory of their former brothers in the Raven Guard, the Hawks put the insignia of the 19th Legion on some tanks as a sign of respect and hope for the imminent return of their battle brothers to the bosom of the Imperium. Suddenly appearing out of nowhere unmarked cars, painted in camouflage protective colors, take the enemy by surprise. While the "Hawks" Raptors are engaged in sky-to-sky combat, mobile armored units on the ground are delivering devastating blows to enemy forces at an unnatural rate.

## Notable Members

* **Zeeman Arne** - Former captain of the 9th Order of the Raven Guard, now Master of the Order.

* **Maximus Basher** - Former apothecary of the 9th Order of the Raven Guard, now apothecary of the 1st Company of the Order. The" right hand " of the master.

* **Andronikos Apessianus** - Former lieutenant of the 1st Assault Group of the 9th Order of the Raven Guard, now the captain of the 1st Company of the Order.

* **Azaleas Azor** - Сaptain of the 2nd Company of the Order.

* **U Ruk Tell** - captain of the 4th Company of the Order.

## Appearance

Ashen Hawks do not paint their armor in bright, eye-catching colors, preferring to apply camouflage colors. These Astartes hide their left shoulder pads under their skins (previously, the Ashen Hawks covered the Raven Guard insignia out of shame in front of their brothers from other legions). The right shoulder pad is usually decorated with ceramite spikes, xenos skulls, and heretic helmets.

### Iconography

The symbol of the Order of the Ashen Hawks is a bird with a lightning bolt on its tail. Usually in battle, Hawks prefer not to use this symbol and hide it on the shoulder pad under animal skins or other decorative elements.

## Relations

### Allies

The trade elite of the Imperium highly appreciates the skill of the order and immediately after the end of the Horus Heresy took the Hawks under their care. Ashen Hawks often act as bodyguards for officials or trade magnates in important negotiations. The Inquisition is also interested in the order in order to use traitors to destroy the Astartes (the Hawks are well aware of the habits of their former brothers). To the Ultramarines, the order of the Ashen Hawks applies a relatively neutral. They share with the sons of Guilliman such traits of character as pragmatism, rationality, not a tendency to go to extremes in the form of fanaticism, anger, despair.

### Enemies

The main enemies of the Hawks are their fallen brothers from the Raven Guard. Ashen Hawks are ready to start the persecution and extermination of traitors, even if at this moment already doing another mission.