Fire Hawks - Notable Campaigns: The Wars of Apostasy (ca. 378.M36) - The Fire Hawks distinguished themselves from the beginning of their history, when they bravely entered the conflicts of the Age of Apostasy, fighting alongside the Black Templars, Imperial Fists, Soul Drinkers, and the Adeptus Mechanicus' Skitarii against the Apostate Ecclesiarch and Master of the Administratum Goge Vandire. They did not escape such action unscathed, as during the battles against the Apostates their original homeworld of Zhoros was destroyed by a thermonuclear orbital bombardment unleashed by a fleet of the Ecclesiarchy's Frateris Templar. At the conclusion of the Age of Apostasy the Fire Hawks were rewarded for their actions in his support by the new Ecclesiarch Sebastian Thor, who issued the Chapter the right to use the Great Crusade-era mobile Void Fortress (space station) Raptorus Rex as their mobile fortress-monastery. The Fire Hawks became a fleet-based Chapter as a result. In the closing days of the war, the Fire Hawks participated in the assault on Terra at the end of High Lord Goge Vandire's Reign of Blood in the 36th Millennium.Great Malagantine Purge (770-791.M38) - The Great Malagantine Purge was an Imperial military operation carried out by 5 Space Marine Chapters collectively termed the Manus Irae who unleashed the Emperor of Mankind's wrath upon the heretical Malagant Sector in the Segmentum Tempestus. The details of this operation have been kept secret from the Imperial Adepta, including the Inquisition, with the records of the campaign sealed deep within the Celarno Vaults on Terra. What is recorded in fragmentary Imperial records is that the Manus Irae were charged by the High Lords of Terra of that era to "spare none and set a bloody, fearful example to the realm of Mankind." The death toll unleashed by the Manus Irae during the course of this 21-standard-year-long campaign is believed to have been enormous and to have cost hundreds of billions of lives. Whole worlds were put to the sword by the Astartes or were wiped clean of all life by Exterminatus orders that unleashed a hideous, flesh-dissolving virus upon their inhabitants. In recognition of their successful participation in this campaign, the Fire Hawks Chapter was granted the Feudal World of Costeau XI as its demesne by the High Lords. However, due to their willingness to carry out such merciless exterminations of civilian populations whose guilt was not clear, the Fire Hawks would be shunned by many of their fellow Astartes Chapters. The Black Fragments of Cardinal Bloch the Reviled, one of the few remaining heretical sources which contain information concerning the Purge of Malagant, explains that the Manus Irae consisted of 5 Chapters, but listed only three by name, including the Fire Hawks, Silver Skulls and the Charnel Guard.Castigations of Golgotha (228.M40-902.M41) - After their second homeworld was rendered uninhabitable, the Fire Hawks found themselves once again relegated to the status of being a fleet-based Chapter. The Fire Hawks vowed to undertake repeated "castigations" throughout the Golgotha Wastes region of space. These so-called Castigations of Golgotha consisted of a series of Imperial Crusades (totaling 13 Castigations) between 228.M40 and 902.M41 through this benighted and war-torn area. The last ending just prior to the Badab War.Lycanthos Drift Campaign (780.M41) - In the aftermath of the long-running and infamous Fourth Quadrant Rebellion, the Fire Hawks answered a general call to arms among the Astartes of the region and despatched a powerful force under the direct personal command of Chapter Master Stibor Lazaerek in 780.M41, undertaking the Lycanthos Drift Campaign against one of the last major stronghold star systems of the revolt located to the galactic south of the Maelstrom Zone. At the gathering of Imperial forces Astral Claws Chapter Master Lufgt Huron was elected battle leader of a number of Astartes contingents by common consent of a mixed taskforce comprising companies from the Astral Claws, Fire Hawks, White Scars and Celestian Guard Chapters, backed by Death Korps of Krieg and Cal-Sec Imperial Guard Regiments and the Titans of Legio Venator. The Fire Hawks' Chapter Master Stibor Lazaerek was bitter that he was not given command of the campaign, and is known to have born a grudge against the Astral Claws from this time forward. Under Huron's inspiring command the taskforce ruthlessly purged the heavily fortified system of Traitor and Chaos forces in under a standard year.Badab War (901-908.M41) - The Fire Hawks were one of the first Loyalist Chapters to become engaged in the Badab War after one of their vessels, the Red Harbinger, was attacked and captured by the Secessionist Mantis Warriors in 904.M41 following their attempt to determine why so many Imperial vessels had gone missing in the Maelstrom Zone. The Fire Hawks quickly became embroiled in the conflict, with nearly the entire strength of their Chapter and its extremely powerful fleet assets committed to the war effort against the Secessionists. Despite the power of their fleet, the Fire Hawks suffered terrible losses in the early years of the conflict, both in terms of personnel and starships. The Chapter's total fighting strength was reduced to 22% by the third year of the war. The Fire Hawks were relegated to the sidelines lest the Chapter's extinction be risked. The Fire Hawks' Chapter Master Stibor Lazaerek successfully petitioned the High Lords of Terra for his Chapter's involvement in the final years of the war, using the Raptorus Rex, the single most powerful warship in the Maelstrom Zone, as a lynchpin in the blockade of Angstrom.Cleansing Fire (965.M41) - Ten Space Marines of the Fire Hawks Chapter slipped through the ethereal void and entered the realms of Nurgle to free Captain Tirek, who was held captive within Nurgle's manse. The Fire Hawks were enveloped in a spiritual fire, a cleansing inferno of their wrath made manifest. They fought their way through the thick, ever-changing gloom and assaulted his dwelling, burning back the drips of ichor and clouds of spores. Fierce fighting raged throughout his oubliette, their weapons furiously dealing with diseased creatures. Their cleansing flame purged disease from the very air around them. The Fire Hawks' incandescent attack resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Nurgle's subordinates. Having lost only two Battle-Brothers in the melee, the Fire Hawks finally left with Tirek. However, little did they realise that the virulent plague known as Nurgle's Rot had taken root beneath their captain's power armour, and the bubbling plague was rapidly spreading throughout his body. The Fire Hawks ventured back out into the Immaterium, their sickly captain slowly succumbing to disease, becoming a vector for the horrific Red Plague.