Iron Hands - Heresy Era Personnel: Ferrus Manus - Ferrus Manus, also known as "The Gorgon", was the Primarch of the Xth Legion, a master smith known for creating weapons that were able to inspire awe in any who saw them. Ferrus' hands were covered in the metallic substance known as necrodermis and he needed no hammer or flame to create beauty through metallurgy, using only his exceptionally powerful hands to mold and shape molten metal. Ferrus forged his closest bond with his brother Primarch Fulgrim of the Emperor's Children Legion, but this relationship ultimately ended in tragedy after Fulgrim fell to Chaos during the Horus Heresy. During the tragic Drop Site Massacre on the world of Istvaan V at the start of the Heresy, Fulgrim and Ferrus met in mortal combat. But ultimately, Fulgrim emerged triumphant when he decapitated Ferrus with the daemonic sword he had taken from the xenos world of Laeran.Lord Commander Amadeus DuCaine - Lord Commander Amadeus DuCaine was the commander of the Xth Legion during the latter years of the Unification Wars and the early years of the Great Crusade in the late 30th Millennium before the rediscovery of the Xth Legion's Primarch, Ferrus Manus. He died fighting in orbit above Istvaan V during the Dropsite Massacre against vessels of the Traitor fleet.First Captain Gabriel Santor - Gabriel Santor hailed from the Avernii Clan on the Xth Legion's homeworld of Medusa. He served as the Equerry to the Primarch Ferrus Manus as well as the First Captain of the Iron Hands Legion's elite 1st Company and elite Honour Guard, known as the Morlocks, during the Great Crusade and the opening days of the Horus Heresy. When the Emperor's Children were corrupted by the Warmaster Horus of the Sons of Horus Legion, they attempted to sway their fellow cousins, the Iron Hands, to the Warmaster's cause. Gravely miscalculating Ferrus Manus' response to his offer, the Emperor's Children's Primarch Fulgrim callously attacked his brother, leaving him gravely wounded, as well as having ten of his elite praetorians cut down in a cowardly attack, that left Gabriel Santor near death. Enraged by this base betrayal, Ferrus Manus led his Honour Guard in the initial first wave assault during the tragic events of the Drop Site Massacre on Istvaan V. Overextended and cut-off by the Warmaster's treacherous trap, Gabriel Santor was confronted by the Chaos-corrupted Emperor's Children First Captain Julius Kaesoron, and was ultimately slain, just as Ferrus Manus was killed by his former brother Fulgrim. In the ensuing battle the two Space Marines were mortally wounded and left in agony. Enthralled with the exquisite feeling of agonising pain, Kaesoron thanked the Iron Hand as he lay bleeding in the dust of Istvaan V. "Thank you...that was exquisite..." These were the last words Santor heard before he died, his Primarch slain and his entire Legion also near death.Captain Shadrak Meduson - Shadrak Meduson was a Terran born Legionary who served in the Iron Hands Legion during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy eras. Born in Albia, he was a part of the first intake of recruits into the Xth Legion (known then as the Storm Walkers), and served during the last years of the Unification Wars. He fought under the command of Legion Commander Amadeus DuCaine in theatres such as Afrik and the Panpacific. When the Xth Legion reunited with their Primarch Ferrus Manus, Shadrak cast off his Terran surname, Smythe, a mortal vestige that had fallen into disuse anyway, and took the name Meduson to demonstrate and affirm his allegiance to his new home world of Medusa. He had become Shadrak Meduson of Clan Sorrgol, Captain of the Tenth Company. During the disastrous mission to Istvaan V, Shadrak had never even made it to the planet's surface. The clan-companies of Sorrgol had been in the second line with Lord Commander DuCaine, an orbital reserve for the Gorgon's main assault. Captain Shadrak commanded the Ironside. They had seen the horror blossom across the world below in disbelief. Then it had become a frenzy -- first to extract any of their brethren still alive, then simply to fight their way clear. Ships had flamed out all around them. The heavy kill-ships of the IVth and XVIth Legion had come in gunning, raking their way across the orbital line. The Ironside's escape had been stalled by the cluster strike across her port side. With the drives off-line, they had been boarded. The Sons of Horus had poured in through the breach, hungry to take the killing to a personal level. They had fought in corridors where the decks were streaming with blood. Not long after that, the frantic teams of enginseers had relit the cruiser's drives and, with a series of desperate and unsteady burns, they had torn free of the enemy ship grappling them. In the bridge, dripping blood that wasn't all his own, Shadrak had taken the last message from Amadeus DuCaine. His old friend. His commander from the very beginning. The Lord Commander told Meduson to never forget their campaign on Rust. Despite being greatly outnumbered by millions of Orks, the Storm Walkers had raised the storm and had prevailed. He made a final request of Meduson -- to have the Iron Tenth raise the storm and take every last one of the bastard Traitors to hell. Then all communications were lost, as Lord Commander DuCaine's warship exploded. Meduson would go on to lead a large Iron Hands battlegroup, that also possessed Istvaan survivors from the Salamanders and Raven Guard, in a guerrilla campaign against the Traitor fleets of Warmaster Horus, which earned him a nemesis, in the form of Captain Verulam Moy, of the Sons of Horus.Clan-Father Aan Kolver - Clan-Father of Ungavarr during the Great Crusade and opening days of the Horus Heresy, he had survived the slaughter at Istvaan V. Following the secrete council at Aeteria, the Iron Hands survivors received an encoded communique from a fellow Iron Hands' battlegroup. Rendezvousing with their fellow battle-brothers, the Clan Council boarded their flagship to greet their brothers-in-arms. But instead of a traditional welcome, they were beset by a large force of Traitor legionaries, who proceeded to cut down the Council and their entourage in a hail of bolter fire.Clan-Father Karel Mach - Clan-Father of Raukaan during the Great Crusade and opening days of the Horus Heresy, he had survived the slaughter at Istvaan V. Following the secrete council at Aeteria, the Iron Hands survivors received an encoded communique from a fellow Iron Hands' battlegroup. Rendezvousing with their fellow battle-brothers, the Clan Council boarded their flagship to greet their brothers-in-arms. But instead of a traditional welcome, they were beset by a large force of Traitor legionaries, who proceeded to cut down the Council and their entourage in a hail of bolter fire.Clan-Father Autek Mor - Autek Mor, known as "The Maimed" and the "Blood-Wrought", was both Iron Lord and Iron Father to the Morragul Clan Company during the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy. Autek Mor held a sinister reputation within his Legion, and dark rumours accompanied him long before the outbreak of the Horus Heresy, including whispered accusations that the origins of his gene-seed or perhaps his bloodline were not as they should be. A Terran by birth, he was a part of the Xth Legion's first intake and fought in the re-conquest of the Sol System. He held field command by the time of his Primarch's discovery, having already developed a reputation both as a weaponsmith and malevolent soul, already having killed several Astartes of his own Legion in duels over "slights of honour". He ruled his company with a cruel and unforgiving fist. His Morragul Clan became a sink for the outcasts and most unstable elements of the Iron Hands Legion, who fought and died under Mor's merciless command. No love was lost between Autek and his Primarch, but despite this, when his Grand Cruiser, the Red Talon, arrived at Istvaan V during the Drop Site Massacre when the void battle was at its height, he attacked in an attempt to reach the surface and was only driven off after sustaining massive damage, fleeing the system dogged by murderous pursuit. Following the reformation and reorganisation of the Space Marine Legions into smaller autonomous units, known as Chapters, Autek Mor became the first Chapter Master of the newly formed Red Talons Space Marine Chapter during the Second Founding.Clan-Father Soter - Soter was the Clan-Father of Kadoran at the time of the Horus Heresy and successor to First Vexillary Crius. Clan-Father Soter was killed by one of his own officers, Sergeant Taurus of the 167th Company, on board of the Thetis as he intended to destroy the Thetis and the Ignarak it harboured -- the Ignarak being a group of Iron Hands survivors which had violated Ferrus Manus' commands and resorted to using the proscribed knowledge of the Keys of Hel to revive fallen legionnaries. Becoming himself an Ignarak, Soter became yet again the right hand of Crius, recovering in death what had been his original role during the Great Cursade.Clan-Father Loreson Unfleshed - Clan-Father of Felg during the Great Crusade and the opening days of the Horus Heresy and survivor of the Istvaan V Massacre, he was part of the unified Clan Council that took command of the Iron Hands Legion following the demise of Ferrus Manus. Like the other members of the council of Aeteria, Loreson Unfleshed was killed in the boarding of the council's flagship, the Crown of Flame.Clan-Father Lech Vircule - Clan-Father of Atraxii during the Great Crusade and opening days of the Horus Heresy, he survived the slaughter at Istvaan V. Following the secret council at Aeteria, the surviving Iron Hands flotilla had received a distress-signal from some of their own. It was another surviving Iron Hands fleet like their own. Rendezvousing with their fellow Iron Hands in Oqueth Minor, their flagship, the Crown of Flame, pulled alongside their flagship, the Master of Iron. Unfortunately, it had all been an elaborate trap. As the Council boarded the Master of Iron, they were suddenly fired upon by a vastly superior force of traitorous Sons of Horus legionaries. The entire Council was slaughtered.Captain Ulrach Branthan - Ulrach Branthan was the revered Captain of the Iron Hands' 65th Company, an iron-blooded son of the Nirankar Clan. Severely wounded on the killing fields of the Urgall Depression during the Drop Site Massacre, Branthan stubbornly clung to life despite suffering horrific wounds that left him in permanent agony -- both his legs had been horribly mutilated, one little more than stringy sinews of ruptured meat and heat-fused bone, the other severed just above the knee. One arm was held to the body by a splintered nub of bone and tattered scraps of skin, his prosthetic arm laid in ruin but by far the worst was Branthan's chest, which had been reduced to a fleshly ruin by four Bolter mass-reactive rounds, whose impact craters ran in a ragged line from hip to sternum. Recovered by an ad hoc group of survivors from Istvaan V, Branthan was brought aboard the Iron Hands Strike Cruiser Sisypheum as it fled the Istvaan System. Faced with the extent of his wounds, the surviving Apothecary quickly realised that Ulrach Branthan was beyond his help. Under anything resembling normal circumstances, the Captain would have been accorded the honour of being interred within the cybernetic chassis of a Dreadnought, but such an option was unavailable due to the severely limited biomedical and material resources of the Sisypheum. With no other option available to them, the survivors resolved to put Branthan's life in the hands of the miraculous arcane cybernetic replacement organ known as the Heart of Iron, a technological relic dating back to the Dark Age of Technology, which had allegedly been gifted to Ferrus Manus by a ghost in the Land of Shadows, back on Medusa, centuries earlier. As contrary to the Imperial Truth and as unlikely as that sounded, it was the only explanation the Iron Hands had been given as to the relic's provenance. Placed upon Branthan's chest, it looked not unlike a mechanical spider wrapped around his upper torso, where it linked to his organs via monofilament tendrils and maintained his life (keeping his twin-hearts beating) despite his grievous injuries. However, though it restored Branthan's body, the Heart of Iron seemed to also feed on Branthan's vitality. In saving his life, the Iron Hand's desperation had only prolonged Branthan's agony. As even the Captain's formidable will was slowly being eroded by the continuous pain he was in, the crew of the Sisypheum resolved to place the wounded captain in a stasis field generated within his medical casket. Despite his condition, Branthan was still the highest ranking officer aboard the Sisypheum and was thus put in command. His equerry Cadmus Tyro would be in nominal command, but every important decision was to be run by Ulrach Branthan. It was Branthan that ultimately sanctioned the Sisypheum trying to spoil the reincarnation of the so-called Angel Exterminatus on the Crone World of Iydris rather than hunt down the elusive Primarch Alpharius of the Alpha Legion. In the solar months and years following the disaster on Istvaan V, the Sisypheum conducted several successful series of hit-and-run attacks against the hated Traitors in service to Horus. In their greatest hour of need however, the crew of the Sisypheum would turn to Branthan to save them, reviving him and then crudely fusing him cybernetically with the Dreadnought-shell formerly belonging to Brother Bombastus without a sarcophagus while still attached to the mechanisms of the Heart of Iron. Thus revived in this unholy fashion, Ulrach Branthan would take full command of the Sisypheum once more and lead his gallant crew in their next assaults.Captain Balhaan - Balhaan was a Captain of the Iron Hands Legion during the Great Crusade and commander of the Primarch's temporary flagship, the strike cruiser Ferrum. Like the vessel he commanded, Baalhan was stark and unforgiving, as befitted a warrior of the Kaargul Clan. No man who served under him had ever dared question his orders and no man had ever failed him. His Mark IV Power Armour was polished a lustrous black, and a white wool cloak embroidered with silver thread hung to his knees. An Orks' cleaver had taken his left arm and a Deuthrite flenser his right. He had received the Blessing of Iron; both his arms were heavy augmetics of burnished iron. Balhaan welcomed his new mechanised limbs, for flesh, even Astartes flesh, was weak and would eventually fail.Captain Augos Lumak - A Captain of Clan Avernii, Captain Lunak was one of the very few members of the Xth Legion's gene-sire's favoured Clan to have made it out of the Dropsite Massacre alive. Staunch traditionalist, he would be one of the most vocal opponents of Captain Meduson, convinced that the Legion's strength resided in their Medusan heritage, and not in a hybridisation of the three surviving Legions' method of warfare.Frater Thamatica, "Ironwrought" - Frater Thamatica was an Iron Father of the Iron Hands Legion, a member of the Morlocks, and a survivor of the killing fields of the Urgall Depression on the world of Istvaan V. It was Thamatica who helped establish contact with the disparate groups of Loyalist forces which had escaped the Drop Site Massacre, and he helped develop a stratagem for their survival. With the Xth Legion too scattered to function in a traditional battlefield role, its surviving commanders found their own way to fight back. Thamatica escaped alongside the remnants of the Xth Legion and joined the ad hoc group of survivors of that battle aboard the Iron Hands Strike Cruiser Sisypheum as it fled the Istvaan System. Following the Drop Site Massacre, Thamatica had become the longest-serving Iron Father left alive in the Xth Legion.Iron Father Jebez Aug - An Iron Father of Clan Sorrgol during the Great Crusade and opening days of the Horus Heresy, he hailed from Medusa. With his venerable status came great influence. He had survived the slaughter at Istvaan V. Following the secrete council at Aeteria, the Iron Hands survivors received an encoded communique from a fellow Iron Hands' battlegroup. Rendezvousing with their fellow battle-brothers, the Clan Council boarded their flagship to greet their brothers-in-arms. But instead of a traditional welcome, they were beset by a large force of Traitor legionaries, who proceeded to cut down the Council and their entourage in a hail of bolter fire. Then the enemy flotilla opened up with a devastating salvo at close quarters. The bridge of the Iron Heart was severely hit, but Iron Father Aug had managed to survive, though he was grievously wounded. Forced to make a tactical retreat, the Loyalist Iron Hands flotilla managed to fight their way out of the deadly trap. Knowing it would take him months to recover, Iron Father Aug appointed his Hand Elect, Captain Shadrak Meduson, as the flotilla's new war leader, and in the absence of the Clan Council, he was effectively in command of the entire battlegroup.Iron Father Diederik - Iron Father Diederik served with Captain Balhaan during the Great Crusade aboard the Strike Cruiser Ferrum.Vermanus Cybus - Vermanus Cybus was one of the senior surviving Morlock veterans of the Drop Site Massacre on Istvaan V. Gathering with the remnants of the Iron Hands Legion that had fought their way out of the killing grounds of the Urgall Depression on Istvaan V, he joined the ad hoc group of survivors of that battle aboard the Iron Hands Strike Cruiser Sisypheum as it fled the Istvaan System. Cybus possessed multiple chimeric bio-modifications and had been viewed as nearly pathological in his reverence for the machine and his loathing for flesh. In truth, Cybus was a warrior not even his Battle-Brothers could be around for any length of time, for adherence to the doctrines of augmetic superiority had already spread through many of the Battle-Brothers of the Iron Hands Legion even before the death of Ferrus Manus and his warning against such beliefs to the Xth Legion. Before the betrayal at Istvaan, Cybus had fought beside the warriors of the Emperor's Children Legion on numerous occasions. He had always respected the IIIrd legion's devotion to the attainment of perfection, finding much to admire in the Emperor's Children's martial ethos. Many years earlier, Cybus had argued long into the night with a young officer of the IIIrd Legion named Rylanor on the merits of organic strength against augmented power, mocking the Legionary's faith in his flesh while extolling the virtue of iron. Cybus was an uncompromising man of little personal charisma, but he had a secutor's grasp of the methodology of combat.Septus Thoic and Ignatius Numen - This duo of Morlock veterans were some of the very first Iron Hands warriors to make planetfall on Istvaan V, having marched alongside the best and bravest of the Xth Legion. Gathering with the remnants of the Legion that had fought their way out of the killing ground of the Urgall Depression on Istvaan V, they joined the ad hoc group of survivors of that battle aboard the Iron Hands Strike Cruiser Sisypheum as it fled the Istvaan System. The Iron Hands and their mortal serfs formed the bulk of the survivors to take refuge on that starship, but warriors of the Salamanders and a single Raven Guard Astartes were counted amongst their number as well. The months that followed saw the Sisypheum embark on a series of hit-and-run attacks on Traitor forces on the northern frontiers of the galaxy, wreaking harm like a lone predator against the hated Traitors of Horus. Like all those who had escaped the Drop Site Massacre, they had cut their warplate with the names of the fallen, and the black armour of these two Morlocks was inscribed with intricate scriptwork, each name inscribed over the cuts, tears and burns inflicted on Isstvan V. But these warriors had a name acid-etched on their shoulder guards that marked them out as special even in a brotherhood of remarkable warriors, that of Ferrus Manus, for they had seen their Primarch die at the treacherous hands of his brother Fulgrim. Like other veterans of the Xth Legion, they had refused to repaint or repair their armour until the Traitor who had murdered the Iron Hands' Primarch was dead. Thoic's face was bisected by a curling series of scars inflicted by a laughing swordsman of the Emperor's Children, while Numen's features had the plasticised sheen of synth-skin after a close-range plasma detonation had seared the ceramite of his battle helm to his skull. His flash-burned eyes had been replaced by simple targeting optics, but his hearing was almost entirely gone.Veteran Legionary Mokan - Veteran Mokan was a part of Squad Demetae, Terminator Century, Order Quarii, of the Clan Vurgaan during the Great Crusade. He was assigned to the leading edge of Clan Vurgaan's deployment to the surface of Istvaan V. While many of the Clan's companies deployed via Drop Pod, the Terminator Century of the 4th Order (Order Quarii) is known to have teleported directly to the dropsite in order to secure the landing zone. While the massed Terminators of the Iron Hands' Avernii Clan assaulted the Traitor fortress-line, Squad Demetae is known to have survived into the Drop Site Massacre's third hour before destruction under heavy bombardment.Spearhead-Centurion Castrmen Orth - Known as the "Hell Rider", Spearhead-Centurion Castrmen Orth was one of the most highly regarded tank commanders in the Iron Hands Legion during the last days of the Great Crusade, and the youngest to hold his rank. Orth's "Subjugator" armoured battalion was chosen among all of the Gorgon's forces to accompany him and the veterans of the Avernii Clan aboard the Ferrum in the Primarch's enraged pursuit of Fulgrim and his Emperor's Children following the start of the Horus Heresy. On Istvaan V, Orth first took charge of the Iron Hands super-heavy tank spearhead in the battle and survived the destruction of the Fellblade Rashemion at the frontline. Afterwards, he took charge of the Sicaran tank Black Sun and redeployed to take charge of Loyalist fast-armour elements in a successful counter-attack against an attempted Traitor outflanking assault. What happened to Orth after the Drop Site Massacre trap was closed and the second wave of Traitors assaulted the Loyalists remains a matter of conjecture, but it has long been rumoured that Orth survived, though he was badly disfigured, abandoning his name and rank in shame, but not his burning desire for vengeance against the Traitors.Dreadnought Veneratii Oberas - Veneratii Oberas was once Centurion Calen Oberas, one of many Iron Hands Legion officers whose flawed temperament earned him rebuke and transfer to Clan Morragul under Ferrus Manus' harsh regime. Centurion Oberas fell in battle defending the Red Talon from a World Eaters boarding party during the Traitors ambush at Istvaan V. Oberas was later interred within a Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought shell to continue his service to Clan Morragul. His frenzied rampage through the ill-trained Gethsamaine troops was a testament to the consuming fury that engulfed many of the Gorgon's sons after his death at Istvaan V.Dreadnought Veneratii Urien - Veneratii Urien was once Centurion of Clan Vurgaan's 4th Order (or Order Quarri), a warrior feared for his uncompromising rule during the Great Crusade. Urien was a Terran rather than a Medusan, and one who had fought with the Xth Legion long before its union with its Primarch. He fell during a battle against the xenos Psy-Gore less than a decade before the Battle of Istvaan V, and was subsequently interred within a suit of Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought armour, curtailing his rise to high command, but ensuring he would continue to serve his Legion.Ancient Morn - Ancient Morn was one of Clan Avernii's most respected warriors, serving within its 1st Order (or Order Primii) during the Great Crusade. He served in the Avernii's Terminator Centuries of the Iron Hands Primarch's Morlock Honour Guard, fighting alongside Ferrus Manus himself throughout countless battles. Morn fell in battle at the height of the Battle of Gardinaal Prime early in the Great Crusade, his body crushed beneath the iron tread of one of the gargantuan combat walkers fielded by the Lords of Gardinaal. Interred within the armoured sarcophagus of a Contemptor Pattern Dreadnought, he continued his sterling service to his lord and master. Morn's service is thought to have come to an end amidst the savagery and bloodshed as he fell defending the decapitated body of his slain Primarch upon the blood-soaked ground of Istvaan V during the Drop Site Massacre.Ancient-Claviger Khalon - Ancient-Claviger Khalon was once a Legion Consul of the Ungavarr Clan-Company, a siege breaker of great renown. Born of Terra, he won countless honours throughout the Great Crusade. Khalon fell in battle in the apocalyptic Battle of Rust, his life saved by Legion apothecaries and his body preserved in stasis for future internment into the armoured form of a mighty Dreadnought. When at last such a vessel was assigned, it was a prototype class intended for heavy assault and siege operations, the very discipline Khalon had devoted himself to throughout his service to the Xth Legion. Upon his internment into a Dreadnought suit however, Khalon was found to be temperamentally ill-suited to this new mode of existence and prone to bouts of extreme instability. At the order of his Primarch, he was transferred from Clan Ungavarr to Clan Morragul, his demeanour considered more suited to the orphans and outcasts gathered under the stewardship of the Iron-Father Autek Mor. During the Era Indomitus in the 41st Millennium, Khalon served with a Deathwatch force that was deployed to face the conflicts raging on Armageddon.First Vexillary Crius - Crius was a veteran Astartes who had been born and recruited on sacred Terra, when the Iron Tenth was still known as the Storm Walkers. Serving for much of his life under Amadeus DuCaine rather than Ferrus Manus, Crius would eventually rise to the rank of Clan-father of the Kadoran Clan and First Vexillary of the Xth Legion. Truly ancient by the time the Iron Tenth was reunited with their Primarch, Crius was removed from the frontlines and honoured with the title of Solar Emissary, thus becoming the Iron Hands' representative within the Crusader Host. Captured following the revelation of Horus' treachery alongside the other representatives and imprisoned within the formidable prison of Khangba Marwu but later released, Crius was send on a joint mission with a representative of the Imperial Fists to gather what survivors of the Iron Hands could be found and lead them in the defence of Terra. Yet, when they did discover a group of survivors -- which referred to themselves as the Ignarak -- Crius abandonned the Fist to join his much-changed brothers, for they had resorted to unlock the secret knowledge of the Keys of Hel to keep their warriors combat-worthy. Prosecuting their own war, Crius and the Ignarak harassed the Traitors where they could until Crius was eventually slain and brought back to a semblance of life through the heretek knowledge possessed by the crew of the Thetis. Having become the nominal leader of the Ignarak, Crius was eventually hunted down by his former Clan and dispatched on a mission to reunify the shattered elements of the Xth Legion, but Crius refused their offer. Despite the offence the existence of the Ignarak constituted, the Iron Hands left the Ignarak to continue their existence, loath to waste their strength against those still fighting the Warmaster beyond death.