Maelstrom - Tyrant of Badab: Once again, disaster struck, as a series of Ork raids originating within the Maelstrom struck deep into the Badab Sector. The Astral Claws' Chapter Master Rovik Blake went against his own doctrine, and pursued the Orks back into the Maelstrom itself. Having led the Astral Claws for two standard centuries, he fell in single combat with the Ork Warboss Vorg Manburna, which forced the Astral Claws to retreat.On return to the Badab System, the Captain of the Astral Claws' 3rd Company, Lufgt Huron, was appointed as the new Chapter Master by popular acclaim of his peers in 715.M41. He became the youngest warrior in the Chapter's history to attain this esteemed rank. Imperial historians now point out that such a man of flawed character should never have been allowed to rise to the command of a Space Marine Chapter.But Lufgt Huron had already proven to be an exceptional warrior as well as a skilled tactician and charismatic leader. He quickly reorganised the Chapter's strategic deployments and established a policy of expanding his Chapter's fleet which had been badly depleted, including within its ranks captured corsair vessels in aggressive raids. He also established the questionable scorched-planet policy against their enemies and increased his Chapter's stockpile of Exterminatus-class weapons.This resulted in several fringe worlds that had harboured Renegade ships in the past being turned into lifeless husks by the Astral Claws on Huron's orders. Lufgt Huron also established full political control over the Badab System and made himself and his Space Marines its feudal rulers, taking the title of the "Tyrant of Badab" and establishing the capital of his growing state-within-a-state at Badab Primaris.During the mid-700s.M41, the Astral Claws' submission of the required gene-seed tithes to the Magi Inviglia of the Adeptus Mechanicus became infrequent and incomplete. Although initially a cause for concern, such matters were not uncommon, particularly for those Space Marine Chapters deployed to border areas or on crusade, simply because the Chapter itself might have a temporary need to retain as much of its gene-seed as possible to sustain battlefield losses.But as the omission persisted, this signaled to the Mechanicus that there was some darker motive at work. This would later prove to be true with the Astral Claws, as evidence later indicated that this first great sin against the traditions of the Adeptus Astartes would arguably result in the Chapter's fall into heresy.Repeatedly denied the reinforcements he had requested to aid him and the Maelstrom Warders in carrying out their tasks, in his arrogance and pride, the Tyrant of Badab sought to expand his forces into a force equal to the size and strength of a Space Marine Legion of old, an action expressly forbidden by the Codex Astartes and the decree of the High Lords of Terra.Further covert investigation would later uncover that the Astral Claws Apothecarion was conducting heretical experiments in rapid gene-seed zygote cultivation. Though largely unsuccessful, the Astral Claws Chapter eventually maintained an estimated force of 3,500 Battle-Brothers, making them one of the largest Space Marine forces in the galaxy.