Iron Hands - Sundering of the Chapter: The disruptive creed of Moirae quickly gained influence; within the Mechanicus priesthood, a number of Tech-Guard regiments and even some Titan Legions turned on the Mechanicus status quo before the conflict was transmitted even further afield to Space Marine Chapters with close ties to the Adeptus Mechanicus -- and in this the Iron Hands were no exception. Clan Raukaan was notable during this time of conflict for holding staunchly to their Chapter's core beliefs. Under the influence of Iron Chaplain Furnous and Iron Captain Hekkan, they were one of the only Clan Companies to have not a single Battle-Brother become corrupted by the pernicious Moirae doctrine; indeed, they deployed several squadrons of Vindicators and Predators against rebellious Cataphractii forces during the battle of Kamjada. That these Adeptus Mechanicus rebels were supported by a small cadre of Iron Hands warriors from Clan Borrgos would form a point of bitter contention between the two Clan Companies for many centuries to come.Championed by the infamous Omnissian mystic, the Iron Father Setol Sollex, a significant percentage of those within the Chapter embraced the radical doctrines of Moirae. As discord followed, the Iron Hands were faced with the prospect of a full-scale religious civil war within the Chapter. This was only averted by the wise counsel of the Iron Hands' Iron Council, which proposed a settlement. Though deemed straightforward and harsh, their solution to avoid mass bloodshed within their ranks was a simple one -- exile from the Iron Hands' homeworld of Medusa for the minority who had embraced the dissident doctrines, and a binding treaty never to raise their hands against their former brothers enacted by both sides. It is believed that fully a third of the Iron Hands brethren then departed, eventually joined in time by a handful of Space Marines from other Iron Hands Successor Chapters who shared their common beliefs in the Moirae doctrines (although evidence exists that some, such as the Red Talons, mercilessly destroyed their errant brothers over this matter, rather than suffer the dissidents to live). This exiled faction still saw themselves as wholly a part of the Imperium of Man and still full members of the Iron Hands. Therefore they still sought to perform their duties for the Emperor and destroy the enemies of the Imperium.Operating as though still a part of their mother-Chapter, the Iron Hands' exiles continued to increase their numbers and strength, commending their gene-seed to higher Imperial authorities among the Adeptus Mechanicus and conducting their duties. They continued to use the iconography and signature equipment of the Iron Hands from which they had been outcast (with some minor variations) having further divided themselves into three new Clan Companies to support their steady increase in numbers. In the early years of the 37th Millennium, matters continued in this vein until the dawning of the Age of Redemption. During this era of the Age of the Imperium, the newly resurgent High Lords of Terra re-assembled the disparate strands of anarchy that had ravaged the Emperor's realm and purged what could not be saved. The Moirae exiles of the Iron Hands, now a separate Chapter in all but name, were weighed and judged, their record examined in minute detail as was their gene-seed for corruption, Chaotic taint or mutational deviance. The exiles were found to be loyal and untainted. As a result, by a special edict of the High Lords of Terra, the Sons of Medusa were reorganised and ratified as a Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes within the Emperor's grace in 011.M37, despite protests within the Mechanicus and the grave misgivings held by numerous other Space Marine Chapters at this violation of the standard practice for Founding a new Chapter of the Astartes.Over the following centuries, the Sons of Medusa have earned a reputation for standing against the Emperor's foes, no matter how desperate the odds, winning for themselves the grudging respect, if not the trust, of their fellow Space Marines. Yet their reputation has been long-marred by those that would call the Sons of Medusa battlefield scavengers and carrion crows. During their lean years in exile, the Chapter developed the habit of seeking out and appropriating weapons and technology from the fallen. It is said of the Chapter by their detractors that the desire to take wargear from the dead remains an underlying motive of all their actions, and a principal reason they have never shunned combat against those Space Marine Chapters who have turned Renegade or become subject to censure by the High Lords of Terra.