Fire Keepers (Icarion Insurrection)

Fire Keepers armorial with Legion iconography.

Fire Keepers Tactical Legionary of Tribe Esus.

"*...the people of this world have spurned our offer of brotherhood. They have called us thieves and brigands and my father a petty tyrant.
They do not see the wisdom that is a united humanity standing together against the horrors of the void.
Those that reject brotherhood with humanity are not worthy to be called human. And those that are not human are not worthy of existence.
Go forth my sons..where there is flesh on this world, leave nought but ash and where anything stands that was built by the hands of men, leave nought but dust.
His legion answered, "ASH AND DUST..ASH AND DUST..ASH AND DUST!*"
— Primarch Niklass, before the Scouring of [Add Planet Name]
The **Fire Keepers** are the renowned siege specialists among the Legions. No keep nor stronghold has ever withstood the methodical discipline of the Fire Keepers, while their own redoubts are some of the strongest fortresses throughout the galaxy. This unrelenting discipline does not hide the heart of artisans. Many intricate weapons of war were created in the shops of the Fire Keepers. Although loyal to the Imperium, the relationship between the legion and the Emperor has always been a mixed one. For though the Fire Keepers have fought with duty and honour throughout the Great Crusade, like their gene-sire, Niklaas, they distrust the witch and the psyker. To be a Fire Keeper psyker is to be condemned to a life of suspicion and confinement. The Insurrection would provide the spark that would temper the Fire Keepers in the forge of war.

## **Origins and History**

### The Embers are Lit

Of the 18 Legions of the Legiones Astartes, the majority would enter combat during the Terran Unification Wars. A lesser number would only be ready after the Emperor's conquest of Terra had been completed. Amongst these would be the Tenth, who after an inexplicable delay in deployment would nevertheless display exceptional professionalism in their first battle, and the last one to take place in the Sol System until the coming of the Insurrection.

Recruited primarily from Franc, and in lesser degrees from across Europa and Nordafric the Tenth would not fight until late in the liberation of the Sol System. Part of the reason for this late deployment has been attributed to the unstable atmosphere in Franc itself, whose people's had proven resistant and rebellious. It has even been supposed by some that after Havuleq D'agross's revolting army was destroyed at the Massacre of Gaduare that the entirety of the still forming Tenth and its future recruits are subjected to a level of scrutiny that served to slow its preparations substantially. However other, albeit unsubstantiated, accounts speak of sizeable detachments of prototype Astartes bearing the sigil of the Tenth being fully outfitted for war and undergoing training maneuvers along the very route took by the Thunder Warriors when they made their final March into immortal glory at Mount Ararat. This would indicate that the Tenth was at least partially readied for war far earlier than they were deployed, but attempts by remembrancers to gain testimonies or footage of the last March of the Thunder Warriors have been firmly rebuffed. If units of the Tenth did witness such an event it will be a treasure they will hold till their graves.

The first battle of the Tenth Legion would be the Destruction of Sedna, a massive nine Legion endeavour that not only cleansed the Xenos construct but one that destroyed the false planet in its entirety. Although it was the First Legion that masterminded, lead and are rightfully credited with undertaking the most daring actions of the campaign, the Tenth were also praised for maintaining excellent tactical coordination and proficient uses of supporting vehicles, artillery and heavy weapons in dispatching their foes. Detractors - and detractors there were, both within the Legions Astartes and the mortal generals of the newborn Imperial Army - claimed that they seemed unwilling to operate without these elements, or to engage their foe in close assaults at all. Neither could deny that for their first campaign the Tenth fought with consummate professionalism, never balking at the nature of their prey. This professionalism did not seem to extend to off the battlefield, for comments about glory and honour seemed to be received at best as unwitting barbs. One unnamed captain simply stated, "I have witnessed the truth behind what others claim to be glory and what befalls those who earn it," and commented no more. Destroying Sedna was the final step in the liberation of the Sol System. These observations would come to describe the Legion aptly as it began its voyage across the stars.

Where other Legions might have relied upon or exploit their transhuman nature at least in part the Xth regarded these traits as far less of an advantage. They seemed always to wait in expectation of an enemy that was either faster, stronger, or simply more ferocious than themselves. Shunning typical Astartes shock and awe tactics, upon occasion they would be decried by others for such methods upon the grounds that they slowed Compliances needlessly. Even when their target appeared utterly helpless or when a successful shock assault could finish a war in days the Xth demurred to break from its standard stratagems.

At the same time they maintained tactics of close coordination and concentrated fire allowed them to face physically superior foes such as elder Khrave with comparatively low casualties. A prime example of this was joint compliance of the planet of Miraalton alongside the Storm Riders. While the Storm Riders burst through the defences of the mainly baseline human population, the Tenth advanced at its own pace and never placed one element outside the supporting range of the other. When the planets doomed rulers released the stasis locks upon their ancient vaults and unleashed gene horrors that they had preserved from a darker age the over extended Storm Riders were initially forced back with heavy casualties. The Tenth on the other hand were able to maintain their prior rate of advance with only acceptable losses as they calmly concentrated firepower and attempted to minimize the effects of head on engagement.

Other than such tactical tendencies the early Xth Legion remained mostly compliant with the *Tactica Bellicosa* except in one regard. Early on the psykers of the Tenth, never known for their potency, had banded together into a conclaves in order to focus their strength. Even tutelage from First Legion librarians failed to dispel this. At some point it became mandatory for each Xth Legion librarian to have a mastery of the Pyromancy discipline, selected as being the most fitting with accepted doctrine and tactics. As such, Pyromancy became the predominant discipline of the Tenth.

The Xth were also the only Legion prior to Pionus' discovery that was able to build any form of rapport with the Legion which had become known as the Drowned. United by a shared cynicism and low level disregard for their fellow Legions the two would commonly share tactical doctrines, most clearly seen in the similarities between the two Legions Terminator elite. Hennasohn, Legion Master of the Sixteenth, would serve directly alongside the Tenth upon numerous occasions before the discovery of their Primarch wrought myriad changes upon their nature.

### The Fire in the Forest of Night

Obsailes, like most of Humanities ancient holdings, was hard hit by Age of Strife. Reduced to reproducing feudal technology alone the native tribes venerated the few technological heirlooms of their past for two reasons; firstly their immense power — compared to their primitive devices — and secondly because they were untouched by witch taint. Warp tainted weapons were common on Obsailes, for as long as could be remembered it had been plagued by covens of malicious psykers. Nor could it be told when their leader, the Witch King, had first risen to terrorise the tribes.

Spread across Obsailes' northern continent, its tribes-peoples had sequestered themselves within cities akin to fortresses, each one with walls strong and tall. Watchmen armed with muskets and pikes patrolled the ramparts watching warily for threats. By day they could hold such foes at bay and armed convoys would cautiously sally forth from their walls in strength. By night however the Witch King ruled, and the nights upon Obsailes were long and dark.

Not only do day and night upon Obsailes last far longer than on than Terra, but in addition the nature of its orbit means that for a third of the year a 'Long Night’ prevails. Between Obsailes and it's sun lies a vast debris field, the remains of some long forgotten battle from the Age of Strife. Thanks to its density and some unfathomable form of half functioning shielding technology commonplace among the wrecks this could shroud the sun for months at a time. The debris field's chaotic nature means that such periods are unpredictable and of indeterminate length and the only warning was a strange dappling of the light that sent foraging parties, no matter how numerous or well armed, flying in terror to their cities before they were cast the anomaly's shadow. For this time the tribes were constantly under siege. Countless holdings fell as warp fuelled monstrosities with unbreakable hides tore down their walls, or as sorcerer’s used their foul arts to beguile the minds of gate sentries so that their doors swung open. Others moved as shadows unhindered by any barrier, caring not for wall nor watch fire, murdering where they pleased. The night was for them both as concealment and a weapon, for humanity has ever feared the dark.

The tribes retaliated in the only way they could, casting out any psyker child they found amongst them into the forests to fend for themselves. However, the reach of the Witch King was long: his whispers would guide the outcasts regardless of distance, and they would invariably join the creatures that assailed their human brethren. In truth it might well have been the practice of abandonment that began the threat, with survivors building up over generations. Another possibility is that ancient cults had endowed themselves with abhorrent abilities, though some native scholars claimed that it was a curse brought with or even to them from the stars citing beastly remains and bizarre artefacts worshipped by certain cults. Such was the world that Niklaas came upon.

Fortune favoured Niklaas, for his pod landed both during daylight and within view of the sentry towers of Tribe Grannus.The patrol sent to investigate returned with a prize beyond their imagining.

As Niklaas was watched warily by his mentors. They might well have taken him to be a creation of the Witch King. Instead, they saw him as a weapon to ensure their tribe’s survival not just because of his physical prowess, but by how fast he exceeded the lessons given to him in smithing and fortification. He designed methods of reinforcing the walls and when the walls were breached he was the first to fall upon the attacker, often helping repair any damage to the defences with his own hands. While most adhered to a binary shift some sleeping at night and some at day the Primarch seemed constrained to neither, working intermittently during the day and standing sentinel during the night.

Eventually the Primarch rose until he was the ruler of the Grannus holdings. The so called nightsiders were won over first by Niklaas's leadership and skill whenever a breach was suffered. The daysiders were slower to come around, but during the Long Nights their shift too suffered the dark and they too witnessed Niklaas’ full abilities. Not all on the soldier's and builder's councils were willing to bow to the Master of the Walls, a few argued that he could not surpass their collective efforts. The next day, Niklaas was gone. As dawn had risen over the city, he had given the guards of the Western Gate orders to let him pass. They complied without word. None in the city would set out after him for of late a mutant beast they called 'the Devil’ had plagued them during night and day, slaughtering any who dared set foot beyond the walls. Yet as dusk stole across the woods and the watch fires were set alight sentries spied Niklaas approaching the Northern Gate. Behind him he dragged a corpse three times his size, its mottled hide torn pierced by a steel shafted spear driven clean through its misshapen skull. The next morning Niklaas was declared to be their leader. His first commandment was that no psyker would be cast forth from the city. Instead each and every one would suffer execution. Grannus would provide no more monsters to prey upon its peoples. Roughly a year later Niklaas would lead the first overnight expedition outside the city walls in living memory. The expedition was almost feared lost until it arrived back at the city with a cargo of nigh unfindable anti-psychic ore. This was the first sign that Niklaas would retake Obsailes from the witches.

Upon his return Niklaas took the ore to his personal forge and spent two weeks toiling. During this time the cities besiegers roused their hate once more and began again to assail its walls. In the night the Steel Prince blunted such assaults and in the day flames were seen billowing from his forge. Then one night when shadow walkers had emerged within the city Niklaas burst out of his forge wielding a great war hammer of polished night. Where mundane weapons proved useless his hammer smote them, dispersing them into mist that burnt away as light fell upon them. The surviving shadowkin fled.

The war hammer, the Redeemer, would serve Niklaas into the Insurrection and beyond. For now it would slay a god. Again he announced his intention to leave the cities confines. He spoke clearly of intentions to find and slay the Witch King. From another this was insanity. Indeed, it was perilously near to the fall of the next Long Night. His only assurance to the tribe was that a broken vessel was useless to the Witch King. Niklaas would be gone for nearly a month. During this time they forged many weapons of the Beast Hunter's design. Caches of blasting powder and steam powered mining contraptions were cautiously repaired for their Lord’s return. The next Long Night fell and at first they despaired. Yet even as the woods raged with witchfire and was pierced by the cries of the damned, no assault came. The few intruders were battle weakened and seemed almost to be seeking refuge. They were met with fire.
They nearly greeted their Lord that way also. He had knocked upon the gate thrice, and the sentries could not believe that the shadows were not deceiving them. It took witnesses warded by Niklaas' tokens to convince the sentries that he was who he appeared to be. Rather than be enraged their actions Steel Prince praised the wardens vigilance. By now the city folk knew that the psykers were warring amongst themselves. Niklaas now confirmed their hopes. The Witch King was slain.

As they waited out the long night the tribe continued with the preparations that were now overseen personally by the Witch’s Bane. At First Light he led contingents out of the city in daytime hunts for the hidden lairs of the horrors. Where these were found blasting powder was brought to blow them open and leave their inhabitants in sunlight. These beings were lethal in nature and such forays cost the tribesmen, but the witches were weakened by their strife. For the first time in living memory the mortals of Obsailes struck back at their tormentors. Niklaas did not pick his targets without care, instead seeking to clear corridors to where other cities might stand. Soon they witnessed smoke upon the horizon.

The Nerius tribe was astounded by the mortal army before their gates, and more so at the figure leading it. A witch's spawn, some claimed, who had managed to enthrall an entire city. They would not even let his voice be heard. It took time and many dead horrors before the leaders of tribe Nerius consented to accept his aid in fortifying against the warp tainted that attacked the cities coastal border. After the work's completion they attacked Nerius from the sea direct only once and it ended in massacre for the foul beasts. Satisfied, the Nereids swore to follow the Steel Prince.

Not all cities bowed. Some fought Niklaas out of fear or pride. Others were enthralled by psykers and their cities themselves became lairs for the damned. Such holdings were costly to take but more costly to leave, for they served as seats of power and rallying points for the Witch King’s surviving lieutenants. By the time Niklaas and his armies had swept the continent clean of warpspawn and the only foes left had fled beyond Niklaas’ wrath into the waves, the Witch's Bane had twelve tribes under his control that would expand until all the old cities were retaken. Despite peace neither the Steel Prince nor his followers forgot the ancient threat: the constant culls of born psykers served as a constant reminder. Such was the state of affairs when the Emperor came to Obsailes.

A bit which I cut out of the main text due to length but which I wanted to keep noted down anyway.

What was left of the ore after it had been smelted, purified and then forged was rendered by the Iron Prince into tokens and sigils which would be gifted to his most faithful soldiers. Some were lost during the Witch Wars and more fell alongside their Astartes bearers in the fury of the Great Crusade. The rest were ruined in the chaos of the Insurrection. Niklaas would personally retrieve one the last, taken as a trophy by Traitors, but otherwise the Redeemer would be the final relic of that time.

### Tempering a Legion

When the Emperor came to Obsailes to reveal Niklaas' destiny, He was met with barred gates. Although Niklaas had slain the Witch King himself, there were fears that the Emperor represented a last weapon or perhaps even the Witch King reborn in a new form. To allay this resistance, the Emperor demonstrated patience as He waited before the walls of Grannus, displaying no hostile intent to its defenders. The same could not be said for the monsters of Obsailes. Believing a lone man to be easy prey, they assaulted the Emperor during the night and soon met death at the edge of the Emperor's fiery blade. After three days of this vigil, Niklaas sallied forth alone to meet with this strange and powerful being. What conversation passed between the two has gone unrecorded. By the end of it, Niklaas bowed before the Emperor and swore allegiance.

Although Niklaas would serve, he would do so on his own terms. Up to this point, it had become tradition for each Primarch to spend a period of time under the mentorship of the Emperor, either on Terra or on campaign. Niklaas, however, refused. He took immediate command of the Tenth and ordered them to Obsailes for a complete inspection. As elements of the Tenth Legion trickled into the system from other battlefields, Niklaas turned his attention to learning about the Imperium, technology, and the galaxy as he waited. Once the last unit had arrived, Niklaas thoroughly examined his new Legion. Although Niklaas approved of their professionalism and shared their spirit of pessimism, he found the Tenth wanting. It is said he was disappointed with their limited purpose and chose to expand it.

No longer would the Xth be simple slayers. They would be builders, crafters, and protectors. For, in his cynical way, Niklaas was an idealist. While he was all too aware of the dangers of the night and the weaknesses of Man, he would not shirk his duties as guardian. He instructed his sons in the ways of fortification, both in body and mind. Not only was the Tenth to learn on how to build the walls that separated humanity from physical threats, but also to stand watch against the deprivations that lay dormant within humanity's collective soul. According to the Primarch, he and his legion would keep the fires lit to ward away both evil within and without. It would not be long after that Niklaas would formally rename the Xth Legion as the Fire Keepers.

Words were soon matched with deeds. Before the Legion returned to the stars, it had to prove itself on the earth. Commanding the power of an entire Legion, the first task Niklaas set before them was the complete and utter annihilation of the foul creatures that lingered in Obsailan shadows. This served three purposes. First, it would render Obsailes a safe redoubt, a final keep the Fire Keepers could always fall back to. Second, it exposed the Fire Keepers to the horrors that had long plagued Obsailes and humanity in general, letting them learn the nature of the 'true enemy' as Niklaas called them. Third and final, Niklaas used the campaign to measure his own sons' strength of spirit. Forty days and nights passed as the Fire Keepers methodically destroyed the last threat to Obsailes. Niklaas would soon learn that for all of their transhuman gifts, the soul of Astartes differed only somewhat from the soul of a mortal. A Space Marine could be bewitched or be rent by sorcery. Niklaas studied all of this and prepared. In turn, the Fire Keepers learned in the campaign and discovered that among all of mankind's tools, it was fire that proved most effective against the monsters of the night. Gradually, fire became imbued within the Xth as much as their new name suggested.

After this time of destruction, a time of creation followed. Niklaas set his sons to building fortifications, combined with Imperial technology and his own insights. While no Legion homeworld lacked in defences, Niklaas' zeal would not be satisfied with any less than perfection. Walls were raised, void shields were installed, and gun emplacements stood sentinel over inch of Obsailes. When the last macro cannon groaned to life, Niklaas extended his efforts to the entire system. The debris field responsible for the Long Nights became a sphere of protection as it was seeded with mines, ambush sites, and sensor relays. During this process, the Fire Keepers discovered several archeotech designs and devices that were soon made to serve the Legion in the form of relic warships.

Years passed as the Fire Keepers' followed through their gene-sire's exacting details. All through the physical process of fortification, Niklaas oversaw the reinforcement of his sons' mental defences. The Lord of the Tenth wrote catechisms to reinforce lessons learned during the extermination campaign and to protect the mind from influence with zealous devotion. The former professionalism of the Legion was weaponised and strengthened to create barriers of the soul that would confound sorcery and witchcraft. Nor did this go on without notice. A portion of the War Council were offended by what seemed to be almost naked religious teachings disguised with a secular face. Combined with Niklaas' subtle suspicion of the Emperor, few would go so far as to whisper that Niklaas' true intent was secession. These most hostile of critics saw the intense fortification of the Obsailes system as merely another hint that Niklaas would act against the Imperium's interests. If there were such dissenting voices within the Legion, they go unrecorded. For all intents and purposes, the Tenth submitted itself entirely to their Primarch's will, no doubt the instinctive loyalty bred into their genetics made them all too pliable to Niklaas' authority and persuasion.

Nor did Niklaas allay any of those suspicions with his final act in the Legion's transformation. He instituted an order of chaplains, chosen from the Fire Keepers who had devoted themselves to his teachings in mind, body, and soul. While the Halcyon Wardens were the first to resurrect the questionable position, Niklaas went much further in their implementation. Where the Fifth Legion chaplains served as guides and were viewed as a specialist officer, the Tenth Legion chaplains possessed three ranks in of themselves and had the right to assume command of squads, companies and even chapters if they were of sufficient rank. It is rumoured that at this late stage, the Emperor received petitions to intervene before the Obsailes System defences were completed. Whether or not such an event did occur, the day finally arrived when Niklaas deemed the Obsailes the perfect fortress. Only the Sol System, the seat of the Imperium and the Mechanicum, could boast better defences than Obsailes.

Upon hearing that Niklaas' work was completed, the Emperor himself sent orders for the Fire Keepers' first campaign. The orders were personally delivered by Tribune Abram Hasrubal of the Custodes, though the Emperor resisted the advice to send a larger detachment. It is said that Niklaas received the orders and uttered a single sentence in reply: "So be it." The very next day the Tenth Legion returned to the stars with their Primarch at their head.

### The Steadfast Flame

Despite early apprehensions, the Fire Keepers would prove themselves in the Great Crusade and become one of the finest siegecraft forces in the entire Imperium. Where other Legions were content to liberate a world and move on, the Fire Keepers would dedicate themselves to leaving a planet stronger than before. These seeded fortresses proved to be invaluable when opportunistic foes sought to strike behind lines only to find hard walls waiting for them. Several such redoubts were critical during the wars with the Rangda, the Qarith, and the few adversaries able to reverse Imperial gains, including the Astral Keep, the Blazing Tower, and the Labyrinth of Zehos.

The early controversies soon fell by the wayside. While a few elements would always view the Fire Keepers with suspicion, Niklaas’ infamy was eclipsed by the likes of Morro's and Raktra's own fell reputations. So long as the Fire Keepers maintained the Great Crusade's steady advance, their eccentricities were tolerated.

Tolerated was perhaps the best word to describe their place in the Legiones Astartes. Although few could complain about their history of victories, they earned little in the way of affection. Their pessimistic view of reality often proved a stumbling block to those who would be their friends, and the Tenth rarely attempted to build bonds. There were exceptions, of course. The closest Legion to the Fire Keepers were none other than the boisterous Iron Bears. Daer'dd was the rare individual who could break through his brother's dark spirits, through the use of their shared love of creation. Although favouring different styles, the two Primarchs were by far the most talented crafters of their brotherhood, a skill shared by their respective sons. In war, the Fire Keepers' natural inclination toward defence formed a perfect symbiosis with the Iron Bears' aggressive tactics. This was especially demonstrated on the fields of Panugatea in the campaign against the hated Nephilim. The Fire Keepers would establish the main line and absorb the initial assaults while supported by Iron Bear heavy support. At the climax of these battles, the Iron Bears would launch massive flank attacks that routed their foes.

Ironically enough, the Fire Keepers were also much admired by the Imperial Army and the Mechanicum. Although the Fire Keepers did not treat the Army soldiers of the Imperium with any special consideration, their professionalism was much kinder treatment than more brutal Legions. The Fire Keepers' fortification, in particular, protected mortal and transhuman warriors with equal regard. Especially in contested territories, the well-crafted fortresses of the Tenth could dramatically improve the survival chances of the Imperial regiments.

This was demonstrated amply by the [???] raid.

As such, the news of an incoming Fire Keeper expeditionary fleet or an assignment to a Fire Keepers' base was often met with great cheer.

No such overt emotional reaction ever revealed itself among the Mechanicum.

## **Legion Home World**

### **Obsailes**

Obsailes experiences a diurnal cycle much longer than that of Terra. In addition to having a longer regular 'daily' cycle Obsailes also has a pronounced seasonal cycle of light with a 'Long Night' of total blackout lasting 90 to 120 Terran days each year. Most human population is concentrated on the north continent within the temperate region. The continent is dominated by forests and mountains. Prior to the primarch's arrival most settlements were walled city states with a tech level that included gun powder and steam powered machines. Coal was considered the most precious commodity. Leaving the protection of city walls after nightfall was an act of desperation or madness as the forests of Obsailes were home to all manner of fearsome beasts, both natural and malevolent. Some beasts were great enough to break down the strongest of walls, with hides that no projectile could pierce. Others moved as shadows, caring not whether walls or watch fires stood, murdering and torturing where ever they pleased.

## **Legion Beliefs**

"*Of Fire.
Fire gives light removing dark and shadow.
Fire gives purity driving out corruption.
Fire gives strength consuming weakness.*"
— Unknown
There is a marked gender gap in their culture. Men are tasked with more front line tasks and women fill most support roles. Men are soldiers, doctors, mechanics etc. Women are nurses, cooks, clerks etc. "Owning" servants is allowed in Obsailan society but there are very strict laws governing such. There are no life long slaves. Children born to a servant are not the property of the "master", but must be provided for until they are of age. At such time they must be given fair wage or passage to another House.
These things will obviously cause problems with crew members from differing backgrounds.

The Legion maintains branches on the grapevine. Listening to the gossip and rumors coming from their human crews. Seldom acting directly but willing to go to great lengths to maintain discipline and order.

Two things get legionaries involved with crew affairs directly, deaths caused by violence whether intentional or not, and any crime against a woman or child.

Killing of kindred is a mortal sin to Obsailans.

Something like stumbling into a pregnant woman causing her or her unborn child injury will get you stuffed in a sack by a space marine, beaten against a bulkhead and jettisoned out an airlock with the trash.

Reading strange books or anything that even remotely smells like something a witch might think about doing will get you a visit from a legion chaplain.

## **Legion Organisation and Structure**

Although Niklaas would substantially modify the Legion's upper command, he did little to change how the Legion arranged itself elsewhere. Instead, a higher emphasis was placed on self-sufficiency. The Tribes, which had replaced the standard Chapters, were expected to be able to wage war with minimal outside support, be it Mechanicum, Imperial Army or fellow Legions. As such, each Tribe was a miniature Legion unto itself, able to field every kind of unit as the situation demanded. While Tribes would display their own idiosyncrasies as the Great Crusade progressed, these differences were muted by their all-encompassing pragmatism. Even their battalion-analogues, the renamed Divisions, could reasonably be expected to operate independently upward to several years.

What enhanced the Fire Keepers' ability to remain on deployment was their technical expertise. Although the Tenth Legion had always displayed a subtle inclination toward the mechanical, Niklaas would bring this latent gift to the fore. Where the the Iron Bears combined art and technology in new, unique ways and the Steel Legion were the undisputed matters of cybernetics outside the Mechanicum, the Fire Keepers were undoubtedly the pragmatic utilitarians of their artisan cousins. Every weapon and tool created was to serve a purpose without being burdened by ostentation, except in rare circumstances. While most Legionaries are expected to master basic maintenance of their own arms and armour, the Fire Keepers went a step further with most members being able to make intermediate repairs normally left to the techmarines of other Legions. This was further capitalised by what the Imperial Army nicknamed the 'Keeper pack'. Invented by Niklaas, it was a kit that enabled a Fire Keeper to perform either more advanced repairs or granted an edge when constructing fortifications. It was not unheard of for each squad within a Tribe to possess at least one Keeper pack.

Ironically, it was due to this straightforward style that cemented their close alliance to the Mechanicum, who had nothing but admiration for the enlightened logic of the Fire Keepers' crafting. This close relationship proved fruitful in two ways. First, the Fire Keepers could rightfully boast (if they possessed the inclination) of fielding the most techmarines of any Legion. This enabled to keep more equipment and combat vehicles operational in the field longer than many of their fellow Legions. Second, the Mechanicum proved much more willing to resupply Fire Keeper fleets, giving the entire Tenth Legion a wider network of ports and systems to support their campaigns.

### **Second Company**

Like the First Company, the Second is called a company but, is in fact, far larger. Composed of Astartes vowed to the War Guilds as well as Mechanicum and human Auxillia the Second answers directly to the Primarch. The primary function of this force is the construction of specialized structures (such as the Coliseum on Baal), the appropriation and study of STCs and other advanced technologies, and unusual and unconventional breaching and siege engagements.

### **Tribes**

The Fire Keepers are divided into 12 'Tribes' of varying size from nearly 19,000 to just over 8,000. The Tribes are overseen by commanders with the title of 'Chief Captain' and are subdivided into 100 man companies led by Captains. Companies are 100 men strong and often specialize, like 199th Breacher Company or 77th Veteran Company and so on. Total legion size is roughly 150,000 Astartes. Most of the legion serves with the primarch's own 77th Expedition, with two exceptions - Tribe Esus and Tribe Mogon, numbering about 18,000 astartes total - attached to the 1445th Expedition. Chief Captain Jehu of Tribe Nerius commands the 333rd Expeditionary Fleet from the Battle Barge *Perditio Rex*, his primarch's former flagship. Tribe Nerius' compliment is roughly 13,000 Astartes and is accompanied by regiments of the Imperial Army and a force of a Titans.

Listed below is the heraldry of the Tribes, commanders and approximate strength at the of the Day of Revelation. The tribes named among the Xth Legion are those that were loyal to Niklaas during the Witch War. Others exist, some on both sides where extinguished during the war:

* **Esus** - Two white axes crossed on a black field. Chief Captain Hiram, 12,000 Astartes. Both Esus and Mogon served alongside the 1445th Expeditionary Fleet under the mortal Lord Commander Tyr Askr.
* **Mogon** - A red mountain crowned with white stars on a field of black. Chief Captain Endor, 10,000 Astartes. Legion psykers not sent to the Crucible of Embers were assigned to Mogon after the dissolution of the Xth Legion's Librarius.
* **Nerius** - A scepter clutched in a sea serpent's coils. Chief Captain Jehu is a Lord Commander of his own 333rd Expeditionary Fleet. 16,000 Astartes.
* **Grannus** - Gold sun disk on a field of red. Considered Niklaas' own tribe which includes the elite First Company. 14,000 Astartes.
* **Rudianos** - Red horse on a field of white. 14,000 Astartes.
* **Smertrius** - Black dragon on a field of white. Tribe Smertrius deviates from common legion organization. Rather than variable sized Hosts Smertrius is divided into seven equal sized “Talons”. This tradition dates back to Obsailes and is illustrated in the Tribe's heraldry, the black dragon having four talons on it's right foot and three on it's left. 18,000 Astartes.
* **Leucetios** - Silver lightning bolt on a field of black. Commanded by Chief Captain Mykaal, the only commander besides Niklaas to have a Triakonta bodyguard. 22,000 Astartes.
* **Intarabus** - A black wolf on a field of white. 16,000 Astartes.
* **Vindonnus** - A black horse head breathing fire on a field of white. 17,000 Astartes.
* **Barinthus** - A silver sword on a field of black. Thirgen was named Chief Captain after the Day of Revelation after the death of the previous Chief. 10,000 Astartes. Their flagship was the *Wrath of Aldimach.*
* **Dispater** - A red-spiked helm on a field of black. 19,000 Astartes.
* **Ankou** - Two white scythes on a field of red. 12,000 Astartes.

Most tribal names of Obsailes are associated with a fortified village and the surrounding territory. Ankou is the exception. The Ankou valley is a region free of most of the monstrous fauna that dominates the major continent. The people of the region lived simple agrarian lives. The success of Niklaas' war against the Witch King saw one of that fiend’s followers flee to the area. There the witch discovered a people who did not fear the dark, who did not give their lands and property at mere threat. Niklaas arrived shortly and witnessed first hand the fearsome heart born by the people of Ankou. When the primarch took command of his legion he honored those simple farmers by adding their home’s name to the rolls of the Great Crusade.

### **Specialist Formations**

* **Triakonta** - The Triakonta, The Thirty, the elite of the Fire Keepers Legion. Selected by the primarch himself as his personal body guard the Triakonta receive the best of arms and armor. Whether fighting at Niklaas' side, with one of the primarch's favored commanders, or in a rearguard action the Triakonta are always found where their skill and strength will have the greatest impact. The Triakonta were created in the image of Niklaas' Obsailan bodyguard, tasked with felling the greatest of the monsters which might threaten their master. As such they were armed with huge polearms crafted by Niklaas himself, and Tactical Dreadnought Armour forged in the peerless Corinthian pattern. Superlative warriors all, they were selected for their skill at close quarters, courage and ability to endure. Often they came from the escalade cadres, having proven themselves time and again weathering the fury of desperate enemies. Others were champions noted for their victories over especially monstrous opponents. Deployed in tandem with the Maveshalak and with the Primarch leading them, it was said that no defender could hold in the face of such skilled and unrelenting warriors. However, such was the extent of their specialisation that only Chief Mykaal of Leucetios organised his bodyguard in the same manner, the rest preferring more versatile retainers.
* **Maveshalak** - While most of the Legions prized their elite assault companies, Niklaas preferred to use firepower to carry the day in escalades. To this end the Maveshalak were developed from the Legion's heavy weapons specialists. Typically deployed in the storming of an enemy fortress, they tend more towards anti-infantry roles than most heavy support units, wielding assault cannons, heavy flamers and volkite culverins. A handful carry melta and missile weapons to destroy any tanks and barricades that might bar their way. The power of the Maveshalak is amplified further by the improvements that Niklaas has made to their arsenal, and they are led by Gideon Eshedath, the 'Flame Hand'. Eshedath was a follower of Niklaas on Obsailes, and won widespread acclaim for his tactical acumen in the Medusan Compliance. His chosen weapon is one of Niklaas' masterpieces, a custom-made multi-melta which has been known to melt even stone.

### **Rank Structure**

#### **Masters of the Guilds**

Among the ranks of the Fire Keepers legion there are those commanders who have mastered not only the leading of men but also the arts of stone, and steel, and circuits. These rare savants are the senior most masters of the War Guilds of the 10th legion. The Guilds were born long ago on Obsailes as a means to teach young men the skills to survive that harsh world. Over the centuries they became closed brotherhoods. The coming of the Emperor and the Mechanicum to Obsailes saw the Guilds find a kinship with the Adepts of Mars, and the Guild's teachings found a home within the legion among those brothers with talent for iron and stone.

Guilds of the Xth Legion include the following:

* **The Kohathite Guild** - The Kohathites were the great builders of Obsailes, raising walls, and fortifying keeps to protect the people of that world from the beasts that roamed in the seemingly endless 'Long Nights'. Those who are experts at building structures also have an intimate awareness of how to break them down, and such siegemasters as Shaltak were often guild members of long standing.
* **The Meratrite Guild** - Merarites were the smiths and mechinators of Obsailes. Their members tended to one of two specialities, crafting weapons and armour or maintaining machines from ancient times. It is to this Guild that almost all X Legion techmarines belong.
* **The Gershonite Guild** - The Gershonite Guild was the smallest of the Obsailan Guilds. It was also the most mysterious. The history of the Guild before the Imperium came to Obsailes is whispered rumor. Never psychically potent, the librarians of the Xth Legion began operating in large conclaves at their founding. Despite training with librarians of the Ist and Vth Legions, those of the Xth only ever became adept at Pyromacy. With the discovery of their primarch and the renaming of the legion as the Fire Keepers, some regarded the coincidence as extraordinary. The Gershonites were a war guild of Obsailes, the majority of the librarius was subsumed into this new order, placed under Obsailan commanders within Tribe Mogon. Mogon was assigned to the 1445th Expeditionary Fleet and sent to the far side of the Imperial frontier, far away from their primarch who held nothing but hatred and contempt for 'witches'. Despite the association with the former librarius, those believed to be members of the guild have only ever been seen in battle where massed Automata were deployed.

### **Keepers of the Flame**

Although the Chaplain Edict was responsible for introducing the familiar skull-faced officers to the Legiones Astartes as a whole, several Legions had established chaplaincy corps long before the Prosecution. Unlike other Legions where the Librarius was charged with maintaining the traditions and histories of the Legion, the chaplains of the Eagle Warriors served as the keepers of the Legion's spirit. However, to outside observers, there was concern that these chaplains drew too much on the customs of Mexicatii Prime and not enough of the heritage of Terra. In contrast, the chaplains of the Halcyon Wardens were highly respected for their dutiful watch for their brothers' well-being. The one black mark were whispers of a secret duty hidden to all by the Warmaster's order no less.

Regardless, there was no question that the chaplain order within the Fire Keepers towered above all others. While other chaplain orders contained at least two ranks, the lay member and the high chaplain, only the Fire Keeper order had five distinct ranks, organized within three Circles. By far, the most common are the members of the Third Circle. With one chaplain to serve every hundred Fire Keepers, the Third Circle hosts well over a thousand members and is the common chaplain that the greater Imperium interact with. For much of the Great Crusade, they were viewed as an oddity at best or suspicious at worst, especially in light of the Imperial Truth.

This was further aggravated by the Second Circle. Its existence was a spurious thing since so few of its members were seen in public, even though it was confirmed that any member of the Second Circle outranked even the highest rank of the Third Circle, the Reclusiarchs. Yet, despite wielding greater power, they were rarely seen on the battlefield. More confusing were their exact duties. Mixed responses from the Xth Legion muddied the truth as some would say the Second Circle was in charge of simply managing the Third Circle, while others whispered that they were no more than brutal enforcers of Niklaas' will. The fact that no rank is ascribed to any member of the Second Circle is further cause for uncertainty.

Contrary to the secretive Second Circle, the number and responsibilities of the First Circle were well known. In a mirror of the chaplaincy itself, the Third Circle was also divided into three. The Chaplain Sovereigns formed the lowest rank within the Third Circle. Above the Chaplain Sovereigns were the four Elders. The Elders' sole duty was to advise the High Chaplain, who stood at the top of the Fire Keepers' chaplaincy.

Although every chaplain was a proven warrior, this was not the limit of their duties. While chaplains are historically considered to be concerned with the spirituality or morale of the Legion, the Fire Keeper chaplains stood out for how many responsibilities were under their purview. The Chaplain Sovereigns could and often did double as field officers, commanding siege wings seconded to other Legions. The four Elders were considered of equal rank to a Praetor in another Legion. The High Chaplain himself appeared to be second only to the Primarch Niklaas. Although Fire Keepers argued that the reality was more nuanced, it is without a doubt that the High Chaplain had consistent direct access to the Lord of the Fire Keepers, who in turn valued the High Chaplain's counsel.

In addition to these unprecedented influence and power among the Fire Keeper chaplaincy was their legalistic training. Every Fire Keeper chaplain was versed in administration and law and were active in these matters in-between battles. Fulfilling their nicknames as the 'Judges', chaplains would divide their time between meditation and mediation between aggrieved parties. Nor was this limited to inter-Legion affairs. If a Legion serf, an Army trooper, or even a common citizen wished to pursue an issue of justice with a Fire Keeper, the Fire Keeper chaplains would not turn them away and were renowned for their impartiality to the point where other legal experts would seek their knowledge to better their own.

Among their brother Legions, reactions ranged across a spectrum. By far, the most hostile response would come from the Berserkers of Uran, further aggravated by the Chaplain Edict. To the Berserkers, the chaplains represented nothing more than a tyrannical force whose duty was to delude and chain others. The Fire Keepers' chaplaincy earned additional scorn for their judicial work, which the Berserkers saw as a distraction from their purpose as weapons. Other Legions adversely affected by the Chaplain Edict tended to share a similar vexation toward the Fire Keeper chaplains, such as the Warriors of Peace, the Drowned and Warbringers. Ironically, due to differences in philosophy, the chaplains of the Eagle Warriors and Fire Keepers came to distrust each other and claimed the other had corrupted its purpose.

Most Legions cared little for the chaplains, viewing them as an oddity. Only two Legions respected and admired the Fire Keeper's chaplaincy. The first were the Predators. In the chaplains, the Predators saw parallels to their own shamans on Mardum as keepers of the law and guarding the spirit. The second were the Halcyon Wardens, who's chaplains found much admire among their cousins in the Xth Legion. Often, chaplain candidates of the Vth Legion would seek out Fire Keeper units for their required inter-Legion experience.

## **Legion Armoury**

### **Legion Weapons**

* **Adamantine Mantle** -
* **Arch Truncheon** -
* **Archetoech Carbine** -
* **Corinthian Pattern Terminator Armor** - Designed and built by the primarch of the Fire Keepers Corinthian Pattern Terminator Armor offers the Triakonta a level of protection that is unsurpassed by any other Astartes armor pattern. (Up-armored Indomitus pattern termi plate. Helmets and shoulder pauldrons look like Grey Knights).
* **Gibborim Pattern Power Axe** - Modeled after the weapons used by the beast hunters on the legion's home world Gibborim Pattern Power Axes are formidable weapons.
* **Graviton Warhead** -
* **Infravisor** -
* **Obsailan Falchion** -
* **Shock Gauntlet** -

### **Legion Relics**

* ***The Redeemer*** - A massive, master-crafted artificer warhammer created by the hand of The Steel Prince himself. This formidable weapon possesses a 'toothed'-striking face and large curved spike on the reverse. It is made from a strange unknown material that takes the appearance of flint or black volcanic glass.

### **Vehicles**

* **Magganon Super Heavy Siege Cannon** - A mobile super heavy siege cannon attached to a Fellblade super-heavy tank chassis. This weapon system also possesses hull-mounted, twin-linked heavy bolters for anti-infantry defence.

## **Exemplary Battles**

### **The Salvation of Vendris**

The Vendrisan Confederation was a minor human civilization that had begun to sprout in the latter days of the Age of Strife. Its cities stood tall and hosted a refined culture even as wary sentries stood guard upon its boundaries. Like many such civilizations it would come into the fold of the Great Crusade willingly. Unlike most it would be its ships that came across Imperial worlds first and in desperate search of aid.

The Burners of Halderoth were named after the first world the Vendrisans recorded them as having destroyed. Since then they had cut a swathe across the Confederation's territory. Their terrible war machines and genetically twisted warriors tore through all resistance and razed every city and settlement before them. For all their societal sophistication the Vendrisans were near helpless. As it became clear that the war as it stood could only end one way, courier ships were flung forth from the border furthest from the xenos incursion to seek any form of help that they could find. It was an act of desperation, but a successful one.

Detailed analysis of the limited information brought by the courier vessels identified both the Vendrisan holdings as an asset to the Crusade and the Burners of Halderoth a viable threat should they continue their rampage unopposed. The forces required to eradicate the Xenos empire entirely were not immediately available, according to the best estimations based on the data provided, but if the Vendrisans could be reinforced their remaining worlds could serve both as a buffer between the Xenos and the Imperium and as staging ground for later xenocides. To this end a significant taskforce of the Imperialis Armada and the Imperial Army were drawn from surrounding garrisons and nearby fleets. From further afield came the Fire Keepers tribe of Intarabus; more than eighteen thousand Astartes from a Legion specialized in siege craft. Leading them was Chief Captain Hadzor at the appointment of Niklaas himself.

By the time the taskforce had mustered, set out and arrived in Vendrisan space the situation had only worsened. The beleaguered confederation had lost two thirds of its territory and only a belated rearguard action stood between the xenos horde and the capital planet of Vendris itself. This was where the Tenth determined that they would make their stand. Seeing their only hope of salvation, let alone victory, the Vendrisans were eager to oblige the ceramite clad giants at the head of the reinforcing fleet.

Often it is in the heat of battle that the Astartes are most lauded, where their full war-sculpted nature comes to the fore. It would however be negligent to focus solely upon the battle itself when it was as much the preparations the Fire Keepers made beforehand that carried the day. Once the main body of the relief force had been deposited upon the planetary surface the bulk of the fleet was dispatched to the faltering rearguard actions in the Aventi system. They were under orders to slow the enemy advance and cover the extraction of veteran units fighting running battles across the wastelands, preferably whilst avoiding heavy casualties themselves. Meanwhile, Hadzor was overseeing mass fortification upon Vendris itself. Outlying and ill defended outposts were abandoned and their locations marked for later bombardments. Cities and vital facilities became fortresses girded by the flattened zones of killing grounds. Where feasible such enclaves were made as self sufficient as possible. Where not their supply lines became bastions in their own right. Vendris would become a fortress.

Under the Chief Captain’s authority resources were stripped from the well trained but unblooded troops of the planetary army and were re-allocated to newly formed units conglomerated from the survivors of colonies now in ashes. These veterans knew the foe best. Survivors who had fought in the earliest days of the wars now found themselves holding important tactical and advisory positions for the Fire Keepers. Those civilians not engaged in construction or other vital tasks were trained and armed to a lesser standard, often more in the hope of raising their morale and limiting the numbers necessary to defend them rather than through any genuine expectation that they would prove useful. Hundreds from each bastion became shell loaders for artillery or the like.

Despite this it was the accompanying Imperial Army regiments that the Tenth would rely upon the most, for they had greater discipline and experience than the local forces and greater numbers than their offworld kin. The vast majority were ensconced firmly in fortifications that they had helped to build, readying themselves for a brutal war of attrition over an indeterminate time period. A smaller number - shock troops, mechanised and armoured detachments all - became what were in essence strategic flying squads to reinforce where needed and seize opportunities to sally forth against the enemy. All of this at Tribe Intarabus’ behest.

The Legionaries themselves were dispersed across the planetary defense network. To the natives the iconography upon their hulking forms represented the flames of hope and their eventual triumph. Workers redoubled their toils in their presence while militia found themselves emboldened. Veterans were more cynical and thought instead of the flames that had consumed their homes as xenos monstrosities tore through them. Nevertheless, the presence of the Astartes was an undeniable boon that stoked the mortal’s desire for vengeance. Out of all the mortal warriors the soldiers of the Imperial Army knew the Fire Keepers best and simply obeyed orders in the knowledge that the sons of Obsailes would hold the breach. All this preparation took place within three weeks. Upon the fourth the same blaze that claimed Halderoth fell upon Vendris.

The six months that followed held many battles, glorious victories and bitter retreats alike. At first the Xenos marauders utilised the same tactics that had brought them victory countless times before, shock assaults inflicting carnage that sent Vendrisans scampering and against which even the confederation's veterans could do little more than hinder as they fell back. This time was different. Where the Imperial Army regiments stood the line held. Where the Fire Keepers stood the natives rallied and the line first broke their aggressors then hurled them back. The records of both the Fire Keepers and the Vendrisans cover the numerous engagements of the siege extensively. For the sake of maintaining the focus of this work I will depict one of the few significant engagements that the Fire Keepers participated in a concentrated manner.

It would later be known as the sally upon the Valsen Plain. With Vendris proving a far more difficult target than anticipated the Burners of Halderoth began to set down their own structures upon the planets surface in anticipation of a drawn out siege. Early on these were entirely logistical in nature and minimal in defense, something that the Chief Captain would make them pay for. The largest of these was the Valsen Plain compound. It held significant quantities of ammunition and formed barracks for the surrounding xenos war packs but lacked defenses anywhere near the scale of those constructed by the Fire Keepers. As soon as the Xenos' incaution was apparent a strike force was assembled from Samadaur Shock Trooper and Naskine Ferrophract regiments. The spearpoint of the operation would be the bulk of the Intarabus' heavy tanks supported by select infantry formations. With the Xenos still complacent in their superiority the attack was entirely unanticipated. While Astartes warmachines burst through the compound’s comparatively flimsy structure and Maveshalak heavy weapons specialists poured fire into clustered Xenos struggling to respond, mortal regiments swept around the facility's flanks and fullisaded any enemy that revealed itself to them. It took but a brief time for nearby detachments of the incensed Xenos to bring their own engines of destruction to bear as they launched a fierce counterattack. The Legionaries took heavy casualties holding the rubble of the cast down structure as their supporting units withdrew. Only when the Auxilia were well advanced in their withdrawal did Hadzor signal the retreat. Even then they formed a stalwart fighting retreat. Though Astartes and mortals alike had eventually been forced to withdraw, the strike disrupted the Xenos assault in that sector for weeks. Months later and the pyres built from the corpses of the creatures slaughtered there smouldered for days as part of the victory celebrations.

When a full Imperial Expeditionary fleet finally arrived at Vendris they found the planets vital facilities preserved and their foe’s strength sapped by a war that had drawn on for longer than they were prepared for. The Imperial forces had not escaped unscathed:The Tenth’s dispersed deployment had resulted in numerous casualties and some regiments such as the 12th Odoacerian Foederati were reduced to below half strength. In places it was only the rising capabilities of the native forces as they were exposed to war that prevented yet more severe losses. Regardless, Vendris was intact. Despite sustaining injuries himself, Chief Captain Hadzor was satisfied with the outcome. The Fire Keepers of Tribe Intarabus were celebrated as heroes not merely for their strength as warriors but for their skill at siegecraft. Long after the Fire Keepers had departed to finish what they had begun on the Valsen Plain, the walls of Vendris remained manned and maintained. Such lessons proved to be the Fire Keepers' second salvation of Vendris when, decades later, these bastions stood against forces of the Insurrection.

### **The Defeat of WAAAGH! Skulkrak (902. M30)**

Shortly after the 100th year of the Great Crusade, the Iron Bears stumbled upon the ork empire of Warboss Skulkrak. Spanning dozens of systems, the empire was a hornet's nest of greenskins and the Iron Bears arrival woke it. The campaign which followed would be one of the bloodiest in the history of the VI legion and it would eventually drag in the X legion as well as the fighting intensified, making it one of the largest campaigns in the history of the Great Crusade.

### **The Battle of Scunner's Fall (948. M30)**

Scunner's Fall was the site of a great battle between the Imperium and the abhuman race known as the Vorlad, in which the Fire Keepers and Legio Tonarum halted a serious reversal to the Imperial advance. Several Army regiments had been driven into retreat by the Vorlad and their tracked Titan-analogues with great losses, rallying on Scunner's Fall as the Vorlad pressed their advantage. Cumbersome as they were, the largest of the enemy machines rivalled even Warlord Titans with their sheer firepower. Armour columns were scattered by their attacks, and defeat threatened to become a massacre.

When the Fire Keepers arrived, Niklaas wasted no time in deploying all the Titans at his disposal, and the god-machines of Tonarum closed with their counterparts. Flanking the Vorlad columns with a speed almost unheard-of in Titans, they shattered the enemy advance. Then they formed up, barring the enemy from the retreating Army, and advanced into the teeth of their foe with the Fire Keepers beside them.

Such brutal fighting would always carry a steep cost, and of fifty Titans, thirteen ended the battle in varying states of ruin on the blackened earth. Nonetheless, by their sacrifice, millions of lives had been saved and the Vorlad laid open to invasion by the reinforced Imperials. It was Daer’dd who best summed up the change of sentiment regarding Tonarum: “My brother… has saddled the feral destriers, and now their charges safeguard the spear-carriers as well as crush our foes.”

### **The Breaking of the Bodgespire**

In 952.M30, Niklaas' aid was requested by Seventh Captain Glaucus of the Scions Hospitalier. Glaucus, at the head of a 10,000-strong detachment of Scions, had been investigating signs of an Ork WAAAGH! moving ahead of the Great Crusade’s advance and swiftly summoned that it would require many more Astartes to wipe it out. Moreover, they appeared to be in possession of something akin to a star fort, but far larger. Glaucus' later reports likened it to the vast, derelict structure found in the Inwit system several decades earlier.

Upon linking up with the Scions, Niklaas mounted a series of reconnaissance missions and raids. He swiftly identified the greeskins as an offshoot of the Deathskullz Klan, notorious even among their own kind as rapacious looters. Where these differed, it seemed, was that where Deathskullz typically stockpiled items for 'lata', these Orks worked any weapons they took into the mobile fortress, which they called the Bodgespire.

The combined fleet descended upon the Orks in the Lothindren System, where the Orks had overrun an Eldar Craftworld and, with an industriousness uncommon among their species, were appropriating anything that looked as though it could be salvaged. After the initial charge, Niklaas deployed several ships around the Craftworld, keeping the Ork ships between them and the Bodgespire and banking on the Orks’ unwillingness to risk their assets and potential loot by using their long-range weaponry. This proved entirely correct, and many of the Orkish vessels were destroyed even as they rushed to engage the Imperials at close quarters. As the battle unfolded, Niklaas realised that he had actually underestimated the enemy’s compulsion. The *Treads Upon the Night* represented a prize beyond anything the Orks had imagined, and soon their every ship was racing to launch boarding torpedoes, gunships or even Orks with rudimentary breathing gear and jetpacks.

Niklaas exploited this by ordering the ships that stood between his and the Orks to get clear. Ostensibly placing the *Treads Upon the Night* in the open, he directed the fleet to create a corridor of space that the Orks would have to enter in their efforts to reach the flagship. They then loosed interceptor wings and frightful quantities of las-fire and torpedoes at the oncomers. Of the estimated hundreds of thousands, perhaps two thousand successfully ran the gauntlet and managed to get aboard the flagship, only to be met by the Fire Keepers aboard, their numbers bolstered by warriors teleported aboard from other vessels.

Eventually, some sort of sense prevailed among the Orks as they numbers dwindled, but by then their under-manned and overexposed fleet was ripe for the taking, and led by the XIXth Legion ships the Imperials went on the offensive, enveloping and destroying the enemy ships before beginning an artillery duel with the Bodgespire itself. The Orks had armed their fortress with a truly bewildering array of technology, later traced to six species and eight human cultures. None, however, had been conceived by a mind with Niklaas' genius for design and destruction. The Fire Keepers’ guns gouged vast wounds in the metal skin of the Bodgespire, and the Astartes sallied forth into the breaches.

No officer had any illusions as to the dangers of this offensive. Screened by Xiphon squadrons and accompanied by Fire Raptors, Thunderhawks were used to rapidly deploy squads and then companies of Fire Keepers. Alongside the veterans and Terminator squads were Cybernetica detachments and Rapier turrets, which were used to establish beachheads before the main forces arrived. Niklaas deployed personally to the largest, taking with him the two elite companies of the Legion. The lethality of the Triakonta Terminators in the melee was complimented by the talents and weapons of their brothers in the Maveshalak.

While heavy support or 'Devastator' Marines were an integral part of every Legion, none served as prominently as those in the Xth Legion. Within a few years of taking command, a specialised elite formation had been created by the Primarch, tasked with breaking enemy defences with peerless firepower. Niklaas had carefully optimised their weaponry and training for siege warfare, and the result was a company adept both at sweeping away infantry with heavy flamers and bolters, and wrecking fortifications and armour with meltas and volkite culverins. As in the void, Ork boyz were funnelled into the path of the Triakota’s blades, and the Deff Dreads that barred their way were broken by heavy weapons fire, often before Niklaas and his guards had to land a blow.

The Warboss, however, was not waiting for the Primarch to breach his sanctum. With a great deal of what passes for thought among greenskins, he reasoned that the Treads Upon the Night was plainly a better piece of loot than his own fortress. Now, with the Astartes attacking, he concluded that it was vulnerable and ripe for the taking. So he gathered his most loyal fighters and, without telling the rest, swiftly made his way along a hidden passageway to the nearest hangar. It was the kind of aggressively counter-intuitive Orkish move that had inflicted quite un-amusing damage on many Imperial forces over the years, but this one was foiled when Chief Jehu, fighting alongside Galen, detected a lessening of the Orkish defence.

Swiftly, the two pursued the Warboss to the hangar, and there Jehu duelled and slew the loathsome creature, putting out its eyes and throttling it when his sword snapped in the beast's chest. For this he was honoured both by his Primarch and by Glaucus, who deemed it one of the finest feats of arms he had ever seen and ordered the forging of a waveblade on Iona, to replace Jehu's broken weapon.

### **The Fall of the Ghassulian Empire (984. M31)**

Niklaas led the conquest of this pocket empire, rules over by the gene-wright and warlord known as Adjudicator Lercconis. Abetted by Chapter-sized forces of Eagle Warriors and Crimson Lions, Niklaas used a circumvallation strategy to isolate Lercconis' capital and draw his armies out. With these destroyed he then used Titans and siege tanks to breach the city's gates, and the Imperials stormed the fortress.

## **Legion Combat Doctrine**

"*Let me be nemesis to the walls that bar His armies,
Let me have fire with which to scourge witch and alien,
Let me stand with my kin as the rock on which the tide of foes breaks,
Let me be the hammer in the hands of my sire and Emperor.*"
— Xth Legion catechism
## **Notable Fire Keepers**

* **Niklaas** - Known as 'The Steel Prince' and the 'Witchbreaker', Primarch Niklaas of the Xth Legion is a large and physically imposing figure. His black hair is clipped short and he wears a heavy beard. His eyes are dark like the sky just before a storm. Niklaas is most often seen wearing terminator plate and carries a unique thunderhammer in battle.  Niklaas appears taciturn and morose to those that are not close to him. In the company of those he considers close Niklaas has a dry since of humor. The Primarch has a deep insight into human behavior but isn't always certain of how to interact with others. He values honesty above all even when others consider it blunt or even cruel.  Niklaas is a craftsman with a natural intuition of the mechanical. He is known for forging armor and weapons of stunning quality and power. His works include Corinthian-pattern Terminator Armour and the monstrous ordinatus weapons used by his legion's siege engineers. As well as many gifts given to his siblings and the officers of his legion.
* **Djozer** - Equerry to the Primarch. Former Legion Master before the re-discovery of Primarch Niklaas. Djozer was wounded shortly after Niklaas was found and was granted the post of Equerry in recognition of his long and faithful service. He is responsible for seeing that the Primarch's will is carried out in all things.
* **Naihab** - Paragon of the Xth Legion, Champion of the Triakonta. Naihab as the martial champion is responsible for keeping the primarch alive at all costs.
* **The Three** - The Grand Masters of the Legion War Guilds, known simply as 'The Three', are Tachmon (Kohathite Guild), Ahoth (Merarite Guild) and Harar (Gershonite Guild). These three senior officers are the senior-most commanders of the Xth Legion, outranking even the twelve Chief Captains.
* **Jehu** - Chief Captain of Tribe Nerius, Blood Brother of Primarch Niklaas, Commander of the 333rd Expeditionary Fleet.
* **High Chaplain Hezekiah** - Reclusiarch of the Fire Keepers.
* **Shaltak** - Chief of Tribe Vindonnus and a senior member of the Kohathite Guild, Shaltak took charge of some forty worlds west of Sondheim during the Vremalkyr Incursions.
* **Hadzor** - Chief of Tribe Intarabus during the campaigns against the Burners of Halderoth.
* **Thirgen** - a former Assault Captain, Thirgen found himself in command of Tribe Barinthus after the Day of Revelation.
* **Shamgar Anath** - a grim and largely bionic Sovereign of the Chaplain order, Anath was one of their most militant members and took an assignment to Tribe Barinthus in the early days of the Insurrection.
* **Kerun** **Sigurd** - a senior captain of Tribe Smertrius and a respected Guild member, Sigurd was serving in the Commena Cluster as Castellan when the Insurrection began.
* **Isran Giora** - a captain of Smertrius, Giora served under Sigurd as Commena, overseeing the defences of Commena Extremis.

### **Ember Host**

* **Korah Izhar** - The Drowned, under the command of Hennasohn, had fought beside the Fire Keepers at some point in the past. The similarity between the Charonic Seekers and the Stormwall Terminators stems from this time. Niklaas was not with the legion long before the Ember Host was garrisoned on Untara. Korah Izhar, Fulcrum Prime of the Ember Host, was initially dutiful and resolute. Over time his primarch's attitude toward psykers, the dissolution of the legion's Librarius and the passage of time chip away his loyalty. The familiar face of Hennasohn, the lack of a relationship with the Scions, and bitterness make it all to easy for Korah to give his loyalty to Icarion's cause - to restore the Imperium that he and those earliest Astartes like him had fought to lay the foundations of.

## **Legion Fleet**

* ***Treads Upon the Night* (Gloriana-class Battleship)** - Xth Legion flagship, designed by Niklaas and built in the Obsailes system
* ***Perditio Rex* (Battle Barge)** - Commanded by Chief Captain Jehu of Tribe Nerius, who leads the 333rd Expeditionary Fleet. Former flagship of Priamrch Niklaas
* ***Sojourner* (Unique Strike Cruiser)**
* ***Wrath of Aldimach*** **(Infernus-class Battleship)** - Flagship of Tribe Barinthus
* ***Will of Terra* (Battleship)** - Chief Shaltak's flagship, an old vessel which Tribe Vindonnus had possessed when they were still the Legion's Fifth Chapter
* ***Hammer of Dagda* (Grand Cruiser)** - Tribe Esus' flagship, notably specialised to devastate enemy vessels at range
* ***Brazen Pillar* (Battleship)** - constructed above Obsailes for Tribe Mogon
* ***Ember Tide***
* ***Mantra of Contempt***
* ***Chalice of Wrath***
* ***Angel of Persecution***
* ***Bring Forth The Torch***
* ***Condemner*** **(Bombardment Cruiser)**
* ***Scorn of Zechariah*** **(Bombardment Cruiser)**
* ***Ashur's Brand***
* ***Condemnation***
* ***Crucible of Woes***
* ***Litany of Despair***
* ***Purification***
* ***Obadiah's Silence***
* ***Obsailan Rock***

## **Legion Appearance**

### **Legion Badge**

The Fire Keepers Legion badge consists of flames on a burning brazier.

## **Notable Quotes**

### **By the Fire Keepers**

*Feel free to add your own*

"*Ash and dust!*"
— Fire Keepers Legion warcry
"*In a consummate defence, properly fought from a well-prepared fortress, one may perceive one of the salutary lessons of war. In no scenario do we see more clearly the advantage in pulling a battle onto one’s own terms. One must not see the limitations of walls, instead find the killing grounds into which the foe may be drawn. Let the foe feel the disdain of one's volleys, the contemptuous ease with which their forlorn hopes are smashed. Behind the facade of an immense and redoubtable army, find a throng of bored soldiers ready to be ground down by their own inaction. Thus a scenario most often equated with desperation may be exploited by the astute warlord to inflict a consummate defeat.*"
— Excerpt from Niklaas' treatise *On Stone As Weapon*
### **About the Fire Keepers**

*Feel free to add your own*

"*Our oldest tales tell that in the days before days the gods made war in the heavens.
Two brothers fighting for the hand of the most beautiful goddess.
The flames of their conflict ignited the stars. And broke the heart of the beautiful goddess.
Her grief drove her from the heavens and down to this world we first called home.
Here she found us, ignorant creatures wallowing in the mud, simple existing. She took pity on us, taught us language and song, art and science. We built towns and then cities and after long years of toil we set off into the very stars.
But we were foolish. We forgot the first lessons the goddess taught us. After long years we forgot her completely and began our own wars amoung the heavens.
Our pride blinded us. We delved too far, too deep into the void. Without her lessons to protect us from ourselves.
It was then that we found the Red Ones, their skin like iron and their hearts like stone. And their lord, surely he is a son of the gods of old.
They have taken the space bridge and the second defense perimeter. We have closed the blast shields but they won’t hold for long.
Drums..the world shakes..their guns are like a symphony of drums.
We cannot get out.
They are coming..*"
— Recovered data fragment #1128-1982
Compliance 77-9
Transcribed from xenoform