Flight of the Fahrer

Armorial of the Gray Hussars Chapter.

The **Flight of the *Fahrer*** was an Imperiual defensive campaign that was a part of the wider Imperial defence of Cadia during the notorious 13th Black Crusade. This particular action was led by the Gray Hussars Space Marine Chapter.

## Background

The *Fahrer* was a refurbished Endeavour-Class Light Cruiser that was left a drifting-hulk for a millennia before the Gray Hussars 4th Division discovered the vessel. The Techmarines of the Astartes force reclaimed the vessel from the void bringing it into service for the Chapter Fleet in 887.M41. It fought many battles with the chapter before the 4th Division was dispatched by the Grand Master Devilin von Bruh to Cadia to fight off Abbadon's 13th Black Crusade. The ship was put under the command of Ship Master Adaliz von Bosheit three decades before who was an experienced void commander. In his retinue, he had three full void squads and extra Astartes assigned for the massive campaign. They also had a single Thunderhawk and enough bikes for each Astartes on the vessel in the event they would have to join the fight on the ground. The Fahrer along with the 4th Division's fleet translated from the warp too late to fight for Cadia.

The loyalist fleet scattered as they saw the planet break before their eyes. Engaged by the Black Legion fleets they fought a fighting retreat back to the jump point along with stragglers from the Imperial Navy. Upon the order to jump from the system, the Fahrer jumped back into the warp. Shortly after the jump the navigator was blinded by the warp storms, losing their bearing very quickly. Ship Master Bosheit ordered the vessel to emerge from the warp, back into real space, no matter where they would arrive. The ship suffered damage from their emergency emergence in a system in the Athelaq Sector. The system they find would be named Thriich, home to a number of worlds being assaulted by dozens of chaos vessels of the Emperor's Children and defended by a handful of Imperial Naval vessels, slowly losing the fight. The Astartes were called into the battle, mistaken for an Imperial Navy vessel, and the Ship Master decided he would intervene. One of the chaos fleet's spearheads was led by an ancient Cruiser from the Heresy era.

Ship Master Bosheit readied his void squads to board the cruiser. The thunderhawk launched to join the Imperial Squadrons in diverting enemy fire while the boarding torpedoes crept onto their target, eventually finding their mark in the hull of the ancient vessel. The Thirty Astartes slaughtered their way through the vessel, they encountered only a handful of traitor Astartes they managed to dispatch by sphere numbers. The Daemonettes of Slaanesh was countered by a mysterious force fighting alongside the Gray Hussars in the form of flaming loyalist Astartes that shot bolters of pure hot flame and moved like ghosts in the ship bowls. Only one Battle-Brother was severally injured during the engagement, being interred into a Contemptor Dreadnaught left aboard the vessel. The Astartes retreated after setting the warp drives to detonate, fleeing back to the Fahrer. The detonation of the Cruisers warp drive pulled a number of Chaos vessels, tearing them apart in the process and giving the Imperium the edge to take back the system. The Imperial Navy offered the chapter repairs to their vessel before heading off back for the Saras Sector, but they were followed. The Dungen of Pleasure was a Chaos Cruiser who vowed to see the Gray Hussars suffer for their interference in their clear victory.

Following them through the warp, they whispered dark prayers that managed to make the gellar fields begin to fail as they got close to the Saras sector's borders. Dropping from the warp before the chaos spawns could leach but a handful of minor daemons into the 5th deck that was sealed to the rest of the vessel. Five thousand chapter serfs were slaughtered by the daemons in less than a few minutes. Purging the warp spawn from the deck the Gray Hussars lost three more Knights in the battle, translating into a system untouched by war. They made for a dock around a minor forge world of Teshop Prime. The Mechanicus began repair when the Dungeon of Pleasure arrived into the system with a chaos warfleet at their back. The forge world was lightly defended as it was an insignificant forge compared to the colossal manufactorum at the heart of the sector. When the cultists landed, the Skitarii reacted but soon found themselves outmatched as two hundred Emperor's Children and millions of cultists assaulted them.

The Gray Hussars joined, Ship Master Bosheit leaving his vessel to take part in the ground combat, as despite the Chaos fleet being in orbit, the shipyards guns kept them for a suicidal charge into them. Twenty-six Astartes rode across the dunes, nipping at the Emperor's Children at their weakest, avoiding the concentration for survivability. Months passed and the Ship Master would discover an ancient tome of knowledge, a history of an ancient order of Terran Knights that set upon a crusade to destroy the heretics. They were called the Teutonic Order. To honor the ancient order, Ship Master Bosheit rebranded his cohort as the Teutonic Riders. The second year of warfare had settled in and it was a stalemate, The Gray Hussars were reduced to only ten Knights when their messages to their chapter had been answered, cut off for so long they thought the chapter had been destroyed.

In 099.M42, the 4th Division of Gray Hussars would rejoin their brothers with a Regiment of Imperial Guard to fight off Chaos. The Fahrer had come home. Lord-Knight Hans von Durgun authorized the creation of the Teutonic Order to become an official Platoon within the 4th Division to fight as his personnel Assault Platoon. Grand Master Riley von Gergan ordered that instead, the Teutonic Order become a full Brigade-sized force of Riders with winged helms and bikes, the wings made of a special material that made a shrieking sound to strike terror into the hearts of their enemies.