Iron Hands - Clan Companies: The Iron Hands Chapter comprises ten "clan companies," each a brotherhood one hundred warriors strong, and a formidable army in its own right. Each possesses its own unique qualities, and each has a different role within the Chapter.Though the cause of every Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes is the same, their means and methods often differ. This is especially true of those Chapters originating from the First Founding.Descended from the warriors who followed their Primarchs to war, these Chapters' identities are strongly influenced by the Legions they once were, and by the scars they still bear from the dark days of the Horus Heresy. The truth of this is seen clearly in the cold and embittered brethren of the Iron Hands.A Chapter which despises the weakness of flesh above all, the Iron Hands bear a scar upon their collective soul that drives them to seek the purity and perfection of the machine.On the killing fields of Istvaan V their Primarch, Ferrus Manus, was the first of his brotherhood of demigods to fall. He was cut down by Fulgrim, the traitorous master of the Emperor's Children, and there are many among the Iron Hands who believe that it was an excess of furious choler that led their Primarch to his doom.Thus the Iron Hands as a Chapter are driven to embrace logic and mechanical precision lest they fall prey to the same error that claimed their gene-father. They bury their bile beneath strings of dispassionate numbers, and purge their flesh in favour of the cold certainty of the machine.Despite all this, the Iron Hands are a brotherhood riddled with strange contradictions. While they strive constantly to free themselves from the weakness of emotion, they still hold fiercely to certain traditions which logic alone cannot account for.Amongst the most prominent of these are their clan companies. As with all Chapters who adhere to the Codex Astartes, the Iron Hands are organised into ten companies, each composed according to the statutes laid down by Roboute Guilliman in his seminal work.Yet where other Chapters simply number these companies one to ten, the clan companies of the Iron Hands instead bear the honorific titles of the ten great clans of Medusa.These clans were believed -- rightly or wrongly -- to be the primogenitors of Human civilisation on their homeworld, and possessed a near-mythical significance even before the vast upheavals of Ferrus Manus' arrival. Though Medusa possessed a bewildering plethora of minor and major clans, the ten great clans were considered the original and most mighty -- the men and women from whom all others of Medusan birth could trace their heritage.To this day, the glowering countenances of the ten great clan lords are still carved into the storm-wracked Felgarrthi Mountains near the Medusan equator, protected from tectonics and atmospherics by vast stasis generators built during the Dark Age of Technology.Indeed, it is beneath the pitiless gaze of these monolithic statues that the Iron Hands test their potential recruits during the yearly eclipse known as the "Iron Moon."In the aftermath of the Horus Heresy, the guidance of their lost Primarch had been replaced by the collective minds of the Iron Council, and the battered Xth Legion faced division into Chapters. In the days of the Primarch, Ferrus Manus had always insisted his companies be named after the Medusan great and minor clans, believing that bearing these names would remind his sons of their link to the mortal men they had once been, and hold at bay their more aloof, detached tendencies.While the message behind this decision might have been lost with the Primarch's death, it was felt by the Iron Council that certain traditions should be retained, lest the Successor Chapters of the Iron Hands be weakened by a loss of identity.The honorific designations of clan companies were one such tradition. To this day the institutions of the clans hold true. These clan companies act in much the same way as the Battle Companies of traditional Codex-compliant Chapters, being versatile and capable in any given situation.However, where traditional Codex-compliant Chapters have a distinct separation and differing specialisations between the various companies that form it, such as the 10th Company always being formed of Scout Marines and other Neophytes, the Iron Hands Chapter is made up solely of its ten clan companies.Though the battlefield roles of the companies remain as defined by the Codex Astartes -- Veterans forming the 1st Company and close support Space Marines the 8th, for example -- their identities are bound into their adopted clan name.Any warrior joining a new company will discard his previous clan allegiances, being considered a member of his newly adoptive clan from that day onward until his death or promotion to a new company. Traditionally, each clan company maintains certain traits and characteristics unique to itself and its ancestors, though this is true of some more than others.For example, the close support squads of Clan Borrgar -- notorious even on Medusa for its ruthlessness -- are noted for their single-minded elimination of their targets, down to the last man.The clan companies generally act as completely separate entities in their own right, and it is not unknown for minor skirmishes to break out between clan companies in certain circumstances. This is encouraged, so as to keep the Space Marines strong and vigilant in accord with the original beliefs of Ferrus Manus.Each clan company has its own hierarchy, and is responsible for the recruitment of new Space Marines in order to keep the Clan's numbers at the required level. These new recruits are taken from the mortal clans of Medusa who embrace their new clan company and the Chapter as a whole.The clan companies are nomadic, much like the clans they are recruited from. They travel the galaxy, following their continuing crusade against weakness and corruption.Unlike in standard Chapters, the squads which make up each clan company are referred to as "claves." Additionally, officers of the Iron Hands who hold the rank of Captain are generally referred to as "Iron Captains."When the Iron Hands return to Medusa they travel the inhospitable Medusan landscape seeking Aspirants, remaining ever vigilant against weakness in any guise appearing on their homeworld. The Iron Hands do not maintain a fortress-monastery as such, for the shifting lands produced by Medusa's constant seismic instability would inevitably make any such structure temporary.Rather, each individual clan maintains a mobile version of a fortress-monastery, great Land Behemoths that constantly traverse the treacherous landscape.These fully automated creations, arcane wonders crafted long ago by the Adeptus Mechanicus, are serviced by great armies of mechanical Servitors, who keep them in perfect working order during the Chapter's absence.The Chapter's fleet disposition and how its starships are administered, insofar as whether or not they are pooled to serve the entire Chapter or if each clan maintains its own vessels separately, is unknown.Ten clan companies are known to comprise the present-day Iron Hands Chapter, nine of which are confirmed to date back to the time of the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy.Each of these clan companies maintains the name of an Iron Hands Legion clan that dates back to those ancient times. The other clans of the ancient Legion no longer exist in the much-reduced Chapter of the 41st Millennium.Clan Avernii (1st Company) - When Ferrus Manus fell, he was surrounded by his Avernii elite, most of whom were also slain in the maelstrom of carnage that claimed their Primarch. To many among the Iron Hands, the failure of the Avernii to either dissuade their gene-father from his rash course or exhibit the strength and fortitude to keep him alive was an unforgivable frailty. Ten thousand standard years on, this shadow still hangs over the elite of the Iron Hands. Promotion to Veteran status is thus a bittersweet honour within the Chapter, for it also imposes an onerous duty upon the recipient to do better than his ancestors did. No weakness is tolerated within the ranks of Clan Company Avernii, and significant levels of cybernetic augmentation are common. First Captain Gabriel Santor was a member of the Avernii Clan. The Morlocks, the Primarch Ferrus Manus' Honour Guard, were exclusively drawn from the ranks of the Avernii Clan before the Horus Heresy. The symbol of Clan Company Avernii is a white coloured skull centered on a black hexagon within a cog.Clan Garrsak (2nd Company) - As leader of this clan, Iron Father Kardan Stronos led the full might of the Iron Hands and Brazen Claws Chapters against the Necron Dynasty of the Crimson King in 900.M41. Refusing to fall back in the face of a massive Necron counterattack, Stronos was able to lead Clan Garrsak in a bold lightning assault and struck a fell blow against the Crimson King that shattered the command structure of the Necrons. Clan Garrsak is also renowned for performing every mission-briefing and war-council purely by simulus communion. The Garrsak Clan's symbol is two meshing cogs within a cog.Clan Raukaan (3rd Company) - Captain Arven Rauth is the current Clan Commander of the Raukaan Clan. The clan itself suffered heavy losses after the Skarvus Ambush in 929.M40, during a carefully laid ambush by a sizable force of the Emperor's Children Traitor Legion. Though Clan Raukaan fought back hard, barely a handful of Iron Hands escaped the ambush alive. Suffering the loss of both Iron Captain Maklon and Techmarine Daarmos, the clan faced the strictest censure. They were then placed under the command of the conservative Iron Father Kristos, a Techmarine of the old guard. As the 41st Millennium dawned, Clan Raukaan had fallen far from the Chapter's favour. The clan earned glory under the leadership of the newly appointed Iron Father, until Kristos became corrupted during the Gaudinian Heresy in 461.M41, by the Daemonic entity of Slaanesh known as the Sapphire King. Arven Rauth assumed control of the clan in the wake of this lamentable campaign, and soon led Clan Raukaan against the Forces of Chaos during the Purge of the Contqual Sub-sector in 812.M41. By the close of the 41st Millennium, Clan Raukaan took part in the Battle of Medusa, defending their homeworld against the encroaching Forces of Chaos during the 13th Black Crusade in 999.M41. Clan Raukaan's symbol is three hex-shaped bolts within a cog.Clan Kaargul (4th Company) - The Kaargul Clan is led by the Venerable Dreadnought named Warleader Bannus, who is also a member of the Chapter's Iron Council. The Kaargul Clan's symbol is a simple cog. The Battle-Brothers of Clan Company Kaargul are precise beyond words, renowned for crafting far-reaching strategies. It is said that not one gunship leaves hangar nor a single bolt shell is loosed without the Kaargul having mapped the incipient campaign out to inevitable conclusion.Clan Haarmek (5th Company) - Clan Haarmek is one of the ten clan companies of the Iron Hands Chapter. Their clan symbol is a hexagon centered in a simple cog. The stock from which the 5th Company recruit serve as serfs in the Gorgon's Forge, the vast manufactorum complex located near Medusa's south pole. This duty continues for those of them who receive the gene-seed of Manus. Once inducted, they become the guardians of the Omnissiah’s secrets. All Iron Hands have an affinity for technology, the yearning and respect for the machine burned into their bones by upbringing and the spirit of their vanished forefather. The traditions and duties of Clan Company Haarmek take that affinity a step further, for they are the Relic Guard, charged with preserving Medusa's precious hoards of ancient technology.Clan Sorrgol (6th Company) - Clan Sorrgol is one of the ten clan companies of the Iron Hands Chapter. Their clan symbol is the head of a wrench within a cog. Sorrgol is tasked with protecting the Medusan Reach -- a loose domain of systems and outposts scattered across the Medusan Sub-sector. It is rare for this company to be at full strength, for no defence can be made of the ever-shifting boundaries of the Reach without paying a harrowing cost.Clan Borrgos (7th Company) - Clan Borrgos is one of the ten clan companies of the Iron Hands Chapter. Their clan symbol is a wrench, centred within a cog. The Iron Hands have always enjoyed a closer bond with the Adeptus Mechanicus than other Chapters. Nowhere is this plainer than in Clan Company Borrgos, whose long-ago transgressions during the Moirae Schism have never been entirely forgotten. Borrgos is the second of the Iron Hands Reserve Companies. Unlike their compatriots in Clan Company Sorrgol, whose duty to the Medusan Reach ofttimes calls upon them to campaign as a single strike force, Borrgos seldom fights together. The Iron Council insist this is simply a consequence of the Codex Astartes, which decrees that the Reserve Companies' primary purpose is to support the Chapter's Battle Companies, though in truth there is still lingering distrust over this clan company's penchant for doctrinal deviance.Clan Morlaag (8th Company) - Clan Morlaag is one of the ten clan Companies of the Iron Hands Chapter. Their clan symbol is a pair of cogs turning within a larger cog. To outsiders, Clan Company Morlaag serves as the Iron Hands close support reserve. In most Chapters, the manner of war in which the 8th Company operates is aggressive and headstrong, governed by instinct as much as doctrine. Not so Clan Company Morlaag. One of the key teachings handed down in the millennia since Ferrus Manus' death is that a single perfect blow more often brings victory than a hundred unready strikes. To a point, this is the guiding principle of the entire Adeptus Astartes, whose role as shock troops and liberators allows little margin of adaption once the call to battle is sounded. But what is principle elsewhere has been raised to the pinnacle of perfection by Clan Company Morlaag. Every feint, every advance is calculated to the second and enacted without flaw, leaving the foe no wiser as to where the coming blow will fall.Clan Vurgaan (9th Company) - The Vurgaan Clan is based out of the Weyland Land Behemoth and led by Iron Captain Agaar Verrox. This clan has a long and noble battle record, which includes campaigns such as the Grailsword Campaign, the Third War for Armageddon and the defence of Medusa during the 13th Black Crusade. Taking great pride in their clan and its history, Clan Vurgaan prefers to keep themselves apart from the other clan companies, when not called to war. The clan company's badge is a lightning strike within a cog. Clan Company Vurgaan's squads fight in scattered strike forces as often as a single, unified whole. The Vurgaan have a reputation for precision fire -- one that has been proven time and again. But for this, as for all achievement, there is a price. Clan Vurgaan are accounted the most hot-headed of Medusans, bellicose and wrathful. Such fire is not easily tamed, and the Iron Council long ago judged that martial discipline alone could not bend the Vurgaan to the dispassion so prized by the sons of Manus. Thus did they resort to surgery and augmetic implants, controlling with science that which tutelage could not shackle. This, the Iron Fathers argue, is the true legacy of Manus -- the overcoming of mortal imperfection through the machine.Clan Dorrvok (10th Company) - As with all other Codex-adherent Chapters, the Iron Hands' 10th Company consists of its new recruits. Taught during psycho-indoctrination and dogmatic sermons to revile the weakness of their own flesh, the Neophytes of Clan Company Dorrvok must prove themselves capable of acting without weakness under any conditions. They must purge themselves of fear, pain and anger, repressing these feelings with mantras of cold logic, before they will be considered for promotion to the ranks of one of the other clan companies. Clan Dorrvok's symbol is a cog-within-a-cog with a white skull centred within. All Iron Hands recruits pass through the exacting tutelage of Clan Company Dorrvok. Here they learn what it is not only to be a Space Marine, but also a dutiful son of Ferrus Manus. Thus, no matter the traditions and eccentricities of Medusa's clans, all Iron Hands Battle-Brothers share a common beginning.