Hellforged Brotherhood

Hellforged Brotherhood armorial with corrupted iconography

A Hellforged Brotherhood Heretic Marine

The **Hellforged Brotherhood** is a semi-notorious Chaos Warband descended from the lineage of the Iron Hands Legion of old. Formerly known as the Iron Gauntlets Company, this warband's betrayal hearkens back to the dark days of the Horus Heresy, when the galaxy was torn asunder to civil strife and unimaginable bloodshed - specifically, the dire events that occurred on the world of Isstvan V - during the lamentable event known as the Dropsite Massacre.

The Iron Hands Legion, along with their allies from both the Salamanders and Raven Guard, were effectively annihilated and nearly destroyed - caught in the treacherous trap set for them through the evil machinations of the Chaos-corrupted Warmaster Horus Lupercal. To add to this tragedy, the Iron Hands Primarch was slain by the treacherous Primarch of the Emperor's Children. Fleeing for their lives, the die was cast, and the Iron Gauntlets were set upon the path of damnation from which they could never escape.

## History

### Foundations

The seeds for the what would soon become the Hellforged Brotherhood Warband were sown during the events of the Isstvan V. The Iron Gauntlets Company, the precursors to the Hellforged Brotherhood, under the command of Captain Regius were stationed above the planet in their personal Nova-class Frigate, the 'Dagger of Medusa,' as a reserve force for the ground invasion and as a vanguard in case of an escape attempt from either side. As the battle raged on the planet below them, news eventually reached the company that not only had the Loyalist forces suffered a large amount of casualties, but that their Primarch Ferrus Manus had met a grisly end at the hands of his brother treacherous Fulgrim. This news shocked and disheartened the company, and this seriously impeded their attempts to discern their new orders. Whether this was due to the chaos of the battle or a malfunction in the communications of their ship, the company's captain was forced to make a decision.

Captain Regius made a decision then that would change the fate of his company forever. He chose to cut their losses and retreat from the battlefield in an effort to set up a regrouping point for any other fleeing Loyalist fleets. The *Dagger of Medusa* followed his command, the crew having mixed feelings on the matter of course, and the frigate made an emergency warp jump into the unknown. Once again, whether by luck or some malfunction, the company found itself lost in the depths of the warp with their ship immediately being struck by a passing asteroid upon their entrance into warpspace.

The *Dagger of Medusa* drifted through the Warp for sometime, it's inhabitants were initially unaffected by their, supposedly, temporary respite in warpspace. However, the ever-reaching tendrils of Chaos soon descended upon the frigate. The corruption began at small levels at first, with the occasional whisper or unseen specter just outside of the eye's peripheral, but soon Captain Regius was made aware of a few missing maintenance servitors and one absent techpriest. Obviously, the Captain sent part of his company to search for the missing crew. What those battle brothers would stumble upon however, would make them regret ever searching for that techpriest.

Tucked away in a maintenance area near the engines of the frigate, the techpriest was found; tinkering and fiddling with one of the servitors. Upon closer inspection however, the servitor was being "upgraded" with parts that seemingly came from another servitor. The parts that were being used however, were mainly organs. Seeing this foul desecration by the maddened techpriest, the priest was quickly hauled back to the Captain, kicking and struggling as he was dragged away from his work.

Captain Regius, upon hearing of the techpriest's actions, quickly unloaded an entire magazine into the priest and ordered his abomination to be ejected from the ship. This incident proved to be the first of many. Soon enough the corruption had spread to most of the Chapter, with many battle brothers being discovered attempting to modify their armor or the ship itself with parts that they had cannibalized from some poor servitor or unlucky techpriest. This led to Captain Regius having to seal himself into the cockpit, attempting to pilot the *Dagger* into something, anything, that would destroy the ship as his now corrupted crew and battle brothers attempted to break the door down. There was nothing to ram into however, nothing to purge this ship with. Seeing the emptiness before him and hearing the door to the cockpit behind him beginning to give way, Captain Regius chose to die loyal to his primarch and the Imperium. He took his own life with his bolter right as his tainted company entered the cockpit.

Seeing his Captain's lifeless body before him, the self proclaimed "Steel Father" Brivek Cogseeker turned to the crew of the *Dagger* and declared his first command as the leader of the Hellforged Brotherhood: "Integrate him into the ship."

A short time later the newly renamed *Dagger of Steel* would be found by an Iron Warriors patrol fleet and after some initial hostility the *Dagger* would be boarded by their traitorous cousins. Despite the still burning anger at the death of their Primarch, the Iron Warriors did manage to convince the Steel Father and his brothers of their cause. Of how they had been held back and betrayed but could be granted a place amongst the forces of the Warmaster once more, should they so choose. The Brotherhood would reluctantly agree but would deny their aid in the coming battles and skirmishes of the Horus Heresy.

Instead, the Hellforged Brotherhood would be dispatched to help the soon-to-become Dark Mechanicum in their own civil war. While the Legions waged war against one another the Hellforged Brotherhood would earn their name by defending the worlds and techpriests loyal to the Dark Mechanicum, their wargear and the *Dagger* kept in as good condition as possible due to their constant presence near or on Forgeworlds. However soon the tides would begin to turn in the Mechanicum Civil War as well as the Horus Heresy itself, and soon enough the traitors were forced to rout and pull back.

### Aftermath of the Heresy

The Hellforged Brotherhood would remain in the service of the Dark Mechanicum, mostly aiding in their retreat during the Great Scouring, with occasional support provided to the Iron Hands in their own efforts. They would also prey upon scattered and fleeing Emperor's Children fleets in order to avenge their Primarch, even if they barely held any loyalty to his vision anymore. By the time the traitors had fully fled into the Eye of Terror the Hellforged Brotherhood had no true masters to speak of other than themselves given the fragmented nature of the Dark Mechanicum and as such moved on to their own independent matters. This included their first expedition into the galaxy Post-Heresy during the Age of Redemption. This being the first true record of the warband, it is still unknown if this was their first incursion back into real space or if this was simply the first that had been recorded. The first attack in question happened specifically during the events of the Lost Crusade.

The assault itself was fairly simple. As retold by the survivors, they were travelling in a small transport fleet of pilgrims eager to visit Holy Terra. The fleet had been crossing through the Warp for some time by that point, when the lead ship of the fleet suddenly sent out a warning to the rest of them to halt and prepare whatever weaponry they had onboard. The fleet received the warning right before the lead ship was hit by a shot from somewhere to their right. The fleet tried to assume a defensive position as the *Dagger* closed in on them, but the superior weaponry of the frigate won out over the transport's defenses. One transport was able to slip away back into real space however, and it is from that ship that this record was recorded via a combination of witnesses and the ship's logs. The reemergence of the pilgrim armada in 666.M38 and their subsequent destruction had gleamed no more answers about the fate of the transports that the Hellforged Brotherhood had engaged, so their potential involvement in the reappearance of the armada in question has thus far been unconfirmed.

After this the warband seemingly became more active, with their raids on fleets both in and out of the Warp have mostly being small scale.  At the start at least. The main targets of these raids would be small and fairly undefended fleets of the Iron Hands, the occasional Adeptus Mechanicus expedition, several Imperial Navy fleets in need of repair, and some civilian and trade related fleets. Based on the combat during these raids, the warband was primarily interested in the capturing of the ships in said fleets as well as the cargo the ships were carrying. Crew included. The ships that had been captured would occasionally appear in future raids, albeit slightly modified, but the total size of the fleet was not very large.

The warband proved to be a bit of a thorn in the side of the Iron Hands and the Adeptus Mechanicus from then on, as they harassed and captured many of the smaller fleets that were too far from potential protection on a semi-regular basis.

### 13th Black Crusade

The warband's involvement in the 13th Black Crusade would be their most recent incursion into real space thus far. The entire, or atleast the majority, of the Hellforged Brotherhood's fleet would assist the forces of Chaos during the final assault on Cadia before the planet fell. They did not assault the planet directly, rather the fleet assisted in the battle above the planet's surface. They did not play a very pivotal role in the battle in terms of destroying notable ships but they did participate and managed to destroy several Imperial Navy escort ships. The fleet mostly engaged the smaller ships during the battle, as they had during their raids. Reports of the fleet after the battle are rather spotty but it would seem that the Hellforged Brotherhood fled into the Eye of Terror in order to escape the bouts of infighting between the forces of Chaos after the Fall of Cadia.

### **Present Times**

More recent reports suggest that the Brotherhood may have ties to Vashtorr the Arkifane, as they have been reported aiding the Arks of Omen during their campaign and sporting slightly more advanced wargear and even Daemon Engines that they lacked before.

## Warband Operations Centers

The *Dagger of Steel* to this day serves as the warband's central command ship; however, due to its fairly small size as a frigate, the actual housing of the warband is spread across the larger vessels in the Hellforged Brotherhood's fleet. These larger ships are a mixture of residential, deployment, workshop, and cargo operations.

## Combat Doctrine

The main battleplan of the Hellforged Brotherhood consists of specialized mechanized assaults. With equipment and vehicles tailored to whatever battlefield the warband finds itself on, the forces of the Hellforged Brotherhood prove to be a mobile and fairly effective force against undefended and undermanned enemy positions. They modify their tactics and strategies alongside their equipment, always ensuring that their warriors and vehicles are adapted to the environment of the battlefield.

They believe in superior firepower over superior numbers, and this is reflected in most aspects of the warband. The warband relies heavily on knowing both their enemy and their surroundings, as they have certain and particular plans for every enemy they fight. These plans however, are often modified and altered depending on the situation. As such, no two assaults are ever completely identical.

## Warband Beliefs

The Hellforged Brotherhood, similar to the Dark Mechanicum, seek to uncover and despoil the lost technologies of the universe. They also seek to eventually create their own technologies to better aid themselves and humanity as a whole, but they settle for improving whatever equipment comes into their grasp. Their ultimate goal is to one day spread their knowledge to all of humanity, allowing astartes and civilian alike to experience the glory of invention and mechanical prosperity.

In terms of internal views, they strive to upkeep a high standard of service and duty from every member of the warband. From every corrupted guardsmen and techpriest to the battle brothers and even the Steel Father himself, it is expected that every situation is handled with the utmost tact and to the best ability of those involved. Nothing is done halfway and failure is as reprehensible as a lack of focus or a botched repair.

The warband's views of self-improvement also extend to their wargear and weaponry. All battle brothers are expected to modify and upgrade their wargear to the best of their ability and are mostly free to do so to their heart's content, provided that they still uphold the warbands heraldry and colors and do not make modifications that could make their wargear seem similar to those above their station or to the point where their rank is not easily discernible. It is also expected that the battle brothers are willing to change or alter their modifications in order to best suit the task at hand before they are deployed, as efficiency is far superior to vain or selfish pursuits.

## Warband Gene-Seed

Due to the amount of time that the Hellforged Brotherhood spend in the Warp, their geneseed has not gone untainted; however, most deficiencies in the geneseed are rare and fairly minor. The most common deficiencies recorded by the warband include occasional vocal abnormalities and a fairly common defect in the oolitic kidney function that causes the battle brother in question to have a fairly consistent pale or even ashen skin tone. Other defects do exist but none that are too common or too debilitating. Mutations are also heavily policed and regularly amputated in an attempt to keep their existing geneseed as pure as possible.

## Warband Relics

The *Dagger of Steel* Nova-class Frigate.

## Relations

The Hellforged Brotherhood focuses mainly on self-improvement and internal stability, but they eagerly welcome anyone that aligns with their ideas or can help them in their search for knowledge.

### Enemies

Iron Hands

Adeptus Mechanicus

## Notable Quotes

### By the Hellforged Brotherhood

"*The iron has failed us. It has bent and broken in the face of its adversaries, our steel shall not.*"
—Steel Father Cogseeker
## Notes

This is very much a work in progress, I am still figuring my way around everything and checking all my boxes and whatnot, as such if I need something that I missed in terms of rule violation or something similar then please let me know as soon as possible so that I may rectify it. Or you know, just message me to say hello. I am not picky, and please have a good day. Also, I would like to thank the other contributors to this article as they have helped this page become what it is now and have taken the time out of their day to improve this article, so give them a thanks from me if you get the chance!

 Tzeentch Warbands
 Nurgle Warbands
 Slaanesh Warbands
 Chaos Undivided Warbands
 Malice Warbands
 Minor Chaos God-Aligned Warbands

[Source]