Sons of Dorn - Notable Campaigns: Castigation of Tarion (Unknown Date.M34) - It was not until a century after their Founding that the name of the Sons of Dorn would come to be known as liberators and heroes across the Imperium. A collection of worlds adjacent to the Eye of Terror came under threat from a massive coalition of the forces of Chaos, gathered by a most foul Chaos Champion of Nurgle, the Plague God. Imperial scholars later identified this mysterious Chaos Lord as Necrosius, the Hand of Nurgle, Master of the Apostles of Contagion Renegade Space Marines Chapter. Necrosius and his vile plague forces spread disease and the "gift" of the walking death wherever they went, heedless of whether those infected were servants of the Emperor or other followers of the Ruinous Powers. Soon an Imperial Crusade was called by the Sons of Dorn's second Chapter Master Alexandros the Great to deal with this threat. The newly elected Master of the Sons of Dorn quickly took upon himself the heavy burdens and responsibilities of his rank as he led the Sons of Dorn into glorious battle. Many worlds were liberated during the following centuries as the minions of Chaos fell like wheat before the scythe. It was not until the Crusade reached the world of Tarion that the Sons of Dorn faced a true challenge. Tarion was defended by Chaos legions serving Necrosius. They had layered the world with innumerable defences, protecting it with kilometres of razor wire, deadly gun emplacements and fortified redoubt all surrounded by deadly clusters of anti-personnel mines. The enemy was firmly entrenched, making the world all but impenetrable. Its cities were transformed into veritable fortresses, bristling with large calibre guns. But the vile Chaos Lord had not been idle, for Necrosius and his Chaos Sorcerers performed unspeakable rites of the darkest necromancy amongst the thousands of unburied dead that littered the streets of the outlying towns of Tarion. As the slaughter began in earnest during the Imperial assault, the corpses of the fallen rose from the dead, spreading the vile corruption of the feared Zombie Plague amongst those that had somehow survived the Chaos force's initial planetary assault. Heedless of these threats, the Sons of Dorn's elite 1st and 4th Companies valiantly spearheaded the orbital assault against Tarion, conducting a concentrated attack supported by regiments of the Imperial Guard on the heavily defended planet. Taking the world by force proved to be a murderous prospect for the Imperials as Necrosius unleashed his Renegade legions upon the unsuspecting Loyalist Chapter. Despite the forces arrayed against him, Alexandros refused to accept defeat, and for over 12 hours the Sons of Dorn stalwartly defended the landing zone against the phalanxes of corrupted Plague Marines, waves of shambling Plague Zombies, and foul Chaos Cultists. By their resolute action they were able to firmly establish multiple beachheads along the coastline just outside the capital city, circumventing the carefully prepared defences of the Chaos forces. The Chapter Master then pulled his Astartes back, leaving the Imperial Guard to garrison those positions. Alexandros then ordered a heavy orbital bombardment, despite the close proximity of his own position to the target, and soon the Sons of Dorn's orbiting fleet managed to bring down the city's protective Void Shields. Using the full force of the 6 Battle Companies at his disposal, Alexandros launched a lightning raid on the enemy capital. The entirety of the Astartes force deployed to Tarion, streaming down into the streets in Drop Pods and Thunderhawk gunships. The fighting between Loyalist and Renegade forces was brutal and vicious, neither side asking for quarter and giving none in return. Many Battle-Brothers lost their lives in the conflagration, but ultimately Alexandros and his personal Honour Guard fought their way into the enemy's command centre, located in the Governor's Palace. The firefights that took place within the confines of the palace were brutal in the extreme. Alexandros' elite force soon encountered the vile Necrosius and his own elite bodyguard of Plague Marines. Not wanting to spill any more of his men's precious blood, the Chapter Master challenged Necrosius to single combat, confident that the hands of the Emperor and Rogal Dorn would guide him to victory. The Chapter Master and the Chaos Sorcerer soon joined in furiously intense single combat. This duel has since gone down in the Chapter's history as one of their proudest moments. Alexandros' swordsmanship was superb, and he landed multiple mortal wounds that would have felled even the most stalwart of Astartes, but the servants of Nurgle are notoriously difficult to kill. Necrosisus' body seemingly shrugged off the mighty blows of the Chapter Master, and he struck back with the foul Warp-spawned blade of his daemon-possessed Force Weapon. Despite the severity of the wound, Alexandros managed to push past the intense pain, maintaining his initiative, before delivering a sweep of his Power Sword and severing the Chaos Sorcerer's head. But as history would later show, Necorosius did not meet his end on Tarion. He would be restored to a corrupt semblance of life by Nurgle to plague Mankind down through the millennia, time and again. With the Heretics' leader dead, the impetus of the Chaos forces' attack faltered, and soon the rest of the planet fell to the might of the Imperial war machine. After the successful campaign upon Tarion, the Sons of Dorn took their leave and continued with their crusade across the Segmentum Obscurus. They would bring many more worlds back into the Imperium before declaring their crusade completed.Wars of Apostasy (ca. 378.M36) - Some of the earliest recorded battle honours of the Sons of Dorn occurred during a period of upheaval known as the Age of Apostasy. This embroiled the Imperium in a massive civil conflict known as the Wars of Apostasy, the likes of which had not been seen since the dark days of the Horus Heresy. The relatively young Chapter joined the stand made by its fellow Space Marine Chapters against the corruption and enormous excesses of the megalomaniacal High Lord Goge Vandire. Though they fought in many major battles against the Apostate forces of the insane Vandire, mysteriously no records exist in the Imperial archives concerning the Chapter's activities for several decades during this period. All that is known with any certainty is that they emerged from the Reign of Blood as a more dedicated and pious Chapter than ever before, with less than half of their number still alive. Though the Chapter was left in tatters, their faith in the Emperor was left unshaken. With only a handful of Battle-Brothers surviving the conflict, it took the Chapter centuries to rebuild back to its full strength. To this day, no one outside of the Sons of Dorn knows what really transpired during this period, and they are notoriously secretive about it, even to the Inquisition.13th Black Crusade (999.M41) - One of the Sons of Dorn's most recent actions occurred when they deployed the bulk of their Chapter in the defence of the Imperium from the predations of Abaddon the Despoiler's 13th Black Crusade. They valiantly defended the same worlds along the Eye of Terror that their Chapter's legendary hero, Alexandros the Great, had liberated millennia earlier. More than half the Chapter was involved, and it was during this time that disaster struck them once again.Defence of Archea (999.M41) - With the Chapter scattered across the galaxy pursuing multiple campaigns, the Sons of Dorn's homeworld of Archea came under attack from a splinter fleet of Hive Fleet Leviathan. The Astartes system defence fleet in orbit was hopelessly outmatched and had to disengage to preserve their numbers, leaving the forces on the ground to fend for themselves. Four companies worth of Space Marines were on Archea at this time but they were scattered across the globe in key cities and locations to protect the bulk of the Archean population. They fought valiantly but eventually the Astartes were forced to pull back to their fortress-monastery, leaving the Archean civilians to fend for themselves. This brutal conflict lasted for several months as the Sons of Dorn fought a brilliant but ultimately futile defensive campaign against the vast hordes of ravenous Tyranids. All hope for aid was lost, and with only one-hundred and thirty-five Space Marines remaining, the Sons of Dorn knew that they were going to die, but not before they sold their lives dearly. Their only consolation was that their Chapter's future legacy would continue with the remaining companies still fighting near the Eye of Terror. As the remaining Sons of Dorn prepared to sacrifice themselves in a glorious last stand, their fortunes suddenly changed. Some of their forces fighting the 13th Black Crusade returned to Archea in the form of the 4th Company led by Captain Agamon. An astropathic distress signal had managed to make it off-world before the dark aura of the approaching Hive Fleet's Shadow in the Warp had cut off all communications. Warp travel had been delayed due to the large psychic interference caused by the Tyranids massing in the system, but the 4th Company had finally managed to make its way home to the beleaguered Chapter world, the rest of the Chapter fleet following close behind. The arriving Astartes starships managed to confront the remnants of the orbiting Tyranid fleet despite being vastly outnumbered. The 4th Company's warships launched a brilliant phalanx against the approaching enemy xenos fleet. As Captain Agamon's Strike Cruiser valiantly attacked a massive Narvhal bio-ship, it appeared that the Space Marine's hubris would be his downfall. Fortunately, the rest of the Chapter fleet arrived to help reinforce the valiant 4th Company. With their numbers bolstered, the Sons of Dorn's fleet proceeded to utterly annihilate the Tyranid bio-ships. As the Sons of Dorn descended upon their blighted world, they found a landscape transformed by carnage -- millions of corpses, both human and Tyranid alike, lay scattered across the once vibrant landscape and ruined cities. Everywhere lay the devastation of war. The Astartes quickly made their way to their fortress-monastery to relieve their brothers from the predations of the massive Tyranid swarm. The weary defenders' hearts soared at the sight of the descending Drop Pods and Thunderhawk gunships of their Chapter, the valiant 4th Company spearheading the assault. Their resolve hardened at the sight of Captain Agamon leading the charge into the swarm's flanks. Their numbers reinforced, with righteous fury the Space Marine defenders charged the Tyranids. Caught in the middle, the Tyranids were decimated. When the rest of the Chapter finally arrived and went about the process of reclaiming their world, they were surprised by what they found -- the population had not been completely wiped out as they had expected. The planet's defences against the Great Devourer had not been neglected, for the remaining Sons of Dorn had wrought a careful series of fortifications which they manned alongside Archea's Planetary Defence Forces. These defenders had managed to hold off the Tyranid swarm in small pockets. All across the globe, these extraordinary mortals had survived for months. The Chapter began the arduous process of rebuilding, both their Chapter's numbers and their world. The Archeans who had survived the Tyranid invasion were now hardened and seasoned fighters, making an excellent pool of recruits to choose new aspirants from, which ensured a bright future for the Sons of Dorn. Indeed, several of the neophytes taken in this cohort soon made a name for themselves within the ranks of the 10th Scout Company. Yet it would still take standard years before pockets of feral Tyranids were finally scoured from Archea.