Salamanders - Time of Ending, M41: Purging of the Moons of Ymgarl (754-756.M41) - By order of the High Lords of Terra, actions against suspected Genestealer infections were stepped up across the galaxy. As part of this xenocidal campaign, the Salamanders were given the onerous duty of purging the Genestealers for all time from the moons of Ymgarl where they had first been encountered. This was a realm where these foul creatures had always maintained a foothold and from which they had previously been thought to originate. The losses amongst the Space Marines were horrendous, but assaults from the nightmarish Ymgarl Genestealers were despatched in storms of fire or crushed under the shattering blows of Thunder Hammers. The Salamanders did not falter despite desperate hours and terrible reversals. The campaign lasted for nearly two Terran years of bloody struggle and death in the darkness before finally the Magos Biologis of the Adeptus Mechanicus pronounced the ancient threat on Ymgarl ended, although its dark legacy would live on in the shadows of chill ship holds, dark hulks and doomed worlds uncounted.The Master Blades (761.M41) - When Warpsmith Soulsmelter's army of Daemon Engines threatened to overwhelm Nocturne's Great Crucible, the Chapter Master of the Salamanders sanctioned the opening of his master reliquaries. Dozens of immaculately crafted Meltaguns, Relic Blades and Thunder Hammers were entrusted to the Veterans of the Firedrakes, each warrior swearing a great oath that he will honour his weapon's Machine Spirit with great acts of slaughter. The Veterans were scrambled to the Great Crucible in the holds of a dozen Stormraven gunships, each craft ripping through Nocturne's smoky skies with a pair of Stormtalons at its side. Upon arrival, the Firedrakes ploughed into the Daemon Engine horde like heroes of legend, their hammer blows and melta blasts slaying one metallic monstrosity after another. With their passengers safely delivered to the war zone, the Storm Wing Squadrons hunted down the Soulsmelter as he raided the Great Crucible's forgeworks, and brought him low. The Warpsmith's body was later recovered from the pool of molten iron in which he met his end, mechatendrils severed and fleshmetal armour riddled with a hundred bullet holes. His cadaver, after being flung into the cargo bay of a bulk lander alongside the smouldering wreckage of his Daemon Engines, was flown into orbit and launched into Nocturne's sun.The Primarch's Legacy (772.M41) - Forgefather Vulkan He'stan recovers the Gauntlet of the Forge after defeating the warhost of the Eldar pirate Iath Bloodweaver.Lycanthos Drift Campaign (780.M41-810.M40) - At the closing stages of the infamous Fourth Quadrant Rebellion, the Salamanders interveened as part of the Imperial war effort to reclaim one of the last bastions of Chaos. Operating under the overall command of Lugft Huron of the Astral Claws Chapter, the Salamanders joined forces with elements of the Fire Hawks, White Scars and Celestial Guard Chapters and were supported by Imperial Guard regiments drawn from Cal-Sec and the Deathkorps of Krieg as well as the god-engines of the Legio Venator. For more than two decades the Imperium purged the Lycanthus Drift, which concluded with the fall of Lycanthus Secundus. Having forged many oaths of brotherhood, this campaign would have unknown repercussions as when the Badab War would shake the Imperium, the Salamanders were called upon by both sides to intervene.Infinite Enmity (878.M41) - Forgefather He'stan defeats the Necron Overlord Trazyn the Infinite in personal combat after the Necron attempts to wrest the Spear of Vulkan away for his own collection of historically important artefacts.Badab War (906-912.M41) - The Salamanders were one of the Space Marine Chapters that participated in the Badab War, serving the Imperium by helping to defeat the Astral Claws and their wayward Secessionist allies. Initially, the Salamanders were reluctant to get involved in the internecine conflict, having fought alongside both the Astral Claws and the Fire Hawks as recently as the Lycanthos Drift Campaign from 780.M41-810.M40, and the Chapter was greatly troubled to intervene on either side despite direct calls do so. When proof was provided to them by the Legate Inquisitor in charge of prosecuting the war that the Astral Claws had fully broken faith with the ancient covenants of the Imperium, the Salamanders were forced by duty to act. The Chapter could only send a small force consisting of one Battle Company (the 2nd Company) under the command of Captain Pellas Mir'san, as the rest of the Chapter was already committed elsewhere. Although few in number, the Salamanders' force was heavily engaged throughout the conflict until the bitter end, playing key roles in several important events during the conflict.A New Hero Arises (938.M41) - Tu'Shan is appointed as the Regent of Prometheus following the violent death of his predecessor at the hands of Huron Blackheart, the Renegade Chaos Lord of the Red Corsairs.Second War for Armageddon (941-961.M41) - During the Second War for Armageddon, the Salamanders fought with distinction, led by their Chapter Master Tu'Shan, whose tenure as Chapter Master had only begun 3 Terran years before the start of the conflict. Among other feats of their service on the Hive World of Armageddon, a company of the Salamanders managed to defend the bridge over the River Stygies from a thousand-strong Ork Speed Freeks force, and prevented the Orks from destroying a water purification plant, thus saving Hive Tempestora from a slow death by dehydration. Although that hive city eventually fell to the Orks, the Salamanders' efforts allowed it to be evacuated before the Orks could capture it, saving countless lives. The Salamanders have been involved in many magnificent Imperial conquests and victories, but in recent times even these great achievements have been eclipsed by their stalwart record during the Second War for Armageddon. While the Blood Angels set about destroying the massive Ork horde, and the Ultramarines bent their strength to the defence of the surviving hive cities, the Salamanders took upon themselves the essential but neglected task of protecting the supply convoys, fighting rearguard actions against the Orks' advances and escorting refugee columns. So unstinting were they in these arduous but unsung duties that the Salamanders were to earn the gratitude and respect of thousands of Imperial Guardsmen and civilians. The Salamanders have become renowned as sturdy and dependable allies, a reputation that is not shared by many other, more unpredictable, Space Marine Chapters. In one incident on Armageddon, Chapter Master Tu'Shan and his Veteran Firedrakes heroically stood against overwhelming odds for many solar days and nights to hold back the Ork onslaught. At the end of the campaign, Commander Dante of the Blood Angels praised Tu'Shan in front of all the assembled Imperial forces -- a supreme gesture, for the Salamanders hold no honour in greater esteem than the respect of one's brothers-in-arms.Tochran Crusade (943.M41) - Trazyn the Infinite claims to have discovered the Song of Entropy -- one of the missing artefacts of Vulkan -- instigating a decade-long war between the Salamanders and the Necron forces of the Tomb World of Solemnace. Trazyn's claim proves to be a lie to lure He'stan into a trap during the Assault of Tochran, where the Necron once again attempts to slay the Forgefather and acquire the Spear of Vulkan. The Salamanders' 6th Company fights back to back, Bolters and Flamers defiantly blazing away at the surrounding Necrons. 40 Battle-Brothers fall during the fighting, but at battle's end, He'stan defeats Trazyn once more, and the Salamanders stand knee-deep in broken Necron bodies.The Killeneth Rebellion (955.M41) - Chapter Master Tu'Shan is thought lost when a rebel Hellhound Flamer tank engulfs his position with burning sheets of promethium. The cheers of the rebels die in their throats when Tu'Shan emerges from the blazing inferno, heedless of the flames around him, and smites the Hellhound with a single blow from his Thunder Hammer. The rebels flee in terror before the terrifying spectacle of Tu'Shan's fire-wreathed form.Assault on Moribar (Unknown Date.M41) - A strike force composed of the Salamanders' 3rd Company, under the command of Captain Ko'tan Kadai, caught up to the deranged former Chaplain of the Black Dragons, Vai'tan Ushorak, and his warband of Chaos Space Marines on the Cemetery World of Moribar. While Ushorak delved into the secret crypts beneath the sepulchre world, the Salamanders and the Renegade followers of Ushorak fought savagely through the crematoria of that ash-blanketed world. At the height of the fighting, Ushorak was plunged into the central furnaces at the heart of the planet, while the Renegade Salamanders Librarian Nihilan tried to save his mentor but failed and was horribly burned in the process, barely surviving his horrific wounds. Eventually, from the tattered remnants of Ushorak's followers, the newly christened Chaos Sorcerer Nihilan forged the Dragon Warriors warband of Heretic Astartes, determined to exact vengeance on the Salamanders and the people of Nocturne. Nihilan was particularly determined to gain vengeance against Captain Kadai, and proceeded to engineer the heroic Salamander officer's downfall on the world of Stratos as revenge for his own horrific wounds.Scorian Prophecy (962.M41) - After recovering an ancient artefact from the derelict Adeptus Mechanicus Forge Ship Archimedes Rex, the Salamanders' 3rd Company used information derived from the artefact to journey to the world of Scoria. On Scoria, the 3rd Company discovered survivors of the Imperium's 154th Expeditionary Fleet, a remnant from the Great Crusade, as well as 50 suits of ancient power armour and the oldest living Salamander, Gravius, who had fought in the terrible Drop Site Massacre of Istvaan V over ten millennia before. The Salamanders on Scoria also successfully captured an Iron Warriors fortress before coming under attack by thousands of Orks. The brave Fire Born repelled several attacks by the Greenskins and even use their downed Strike Cruiser's main guns to push back the green tide. After breaking the back of the Ork assault, the Salamanders were "rescued" by the arrival of a Strike Cruiser from the Marines Malevolent, a Chapter with which the Salamanders had poor relations and with which they had already had a less-than-friendly meeting back on the Archimedes Rex when the Marines Malevolent had sought to seize the Forge Ship's technology for their own. The 3rd Company's Captain, N'keln, was allegedly slain by an Ork Kommando team while on the world, and the Chaos Sorcerer Nihilan, a determined enemy of the Salamanders, was also sighted on the world but slipped from the 3rd Company's grasp. It was on Scoria that the Salamanders discovered that a new apocalyptic weapon, a Seismic Cannon, now lay within the hands of Nihilan and the Forces of Chaos who were determined to destroy the Salamanders and their homeworld of Nocturne. Despite the large number of important Salamanders artefacts removed from the planet, dissension reigned among the ranks of the 3rd Company upon their return to Nocturne due to their multiple failures, the discovery of the threat posed by the Seismic Cannon and the death of their captain.The Protean Incident (966.M41) - The Firedrakes are ambushed by Night Lords whilst investigating a Genestealer-infested Space Hulk. Though several Salamanders Terminators fall in the fighting, the Firedrakes stoically surge onwards and annihilate the Traitors and aliens both.Stratos Campaign (Unknown Date.M41) - The Salamanders succeeded in the liberation of Cirrion, a floating loft-city and the capital of the Imperial Mining World of Stratos. A small group of Dragon Warriors under the command of the Chaos Sorcerer Nihilan orchestrated the uprising of a Chaos Cult, the so-called Cult of Truth, on Stratos to serve as a distraction while they secretly recovered an artefact known as the decyphrex from the depths of the floating loft-city and Stratos planetary capital of Cirrion. The Salamanders responded to Stratos' astropathic distress call and Nihilan had the added enjoyment of arranging for the death of the Salamanders' Captain Ko'tan Kadai, one of the Space Marines who had nearly killed him after he had gone Renegade solar decades before on the Cemetery World of Moribar.Defence of Nocturne (975.M41) - Most of the Salamanders Chapter unites to defend both Nocturne and Prometheus from a host of Chaos Space Marines calling themselves the Dragon Warriors. After the death of his old foe Captain Kadai, the Master of the Dragon Warriors Nihilan enlisted a warband of Iron Warriors to mine a special ore known as fyron from the world of Scoria. It was during this time that the Chaos Sorcerer entered into a daemonic pact with the daemon Engel'saak in order to enhance his already formidable psychic powers. The daemon told Nihilan of a forbidden tome that possessed the fell knowledge of the ancient Nocturnean Corpsemasters that had the ability to resurrect the dead. With this forbidden knowledge, Nihilan hoped to resurrect his own former master, the charismatic Renegade Black Dragons Chaplain Vai'tan Ushorak. In return for the daemon's knowledge and the enhancement of his powers, the Chaos Sorcerer provided Engel'saak a host body, enabling the daemon to enter the material realm as a Daemonhost and wreak havoc on the Salamanders Chapter. It was during this conflict that Nihilan finally revealed his nefarious plan: utilising a Seismic Cannon that was emplaced on his flagship, the Chaos Cruiser Hell-Stalker, he created a shaft that delved deep into Mount Deathfire, the sacred mountain of the Salamanders on Nocturne. Within the mountain, the Chaos Sorcerer was able to breach the hidden sacred shrine that contained one of the lost books of the Primarch Vulkan, known as the Tome of Fire. The Chaos Sorcerer was confronted by the Salamanders Epistolary Pyriel, his fellow former Neophyte-in-training, whom he defeated in a psychic battle that resulted in the Salamander psyker's death. Though it was a pyrrhic victory, Pyriel's sacrifice was not in vain, as the Salamanders' Chief Librarian Vel'cona arrived to face his former pupil before Nihilan could make good his escape. The Chief Librarian and the Chaos Sorcerer battled within Mount Deathfire, but unfortunately Nihilan made good his escape due to the timely intervention of his personal bodyguard, Ramlek. Vel'cona was able to destroy Ramlek upon an anvil that mysteriously materialised out of nothing. The Chaos Sorcerer managed to escape, still intent on resurrecting his former master Ushorak and taking revenge against the Salamanders. Nihilan's current whereabouts are unknown.Promethean War (980.M41) - The Salamanders 6th Company under Captain Ur'zan Drakgaard -- augmented by several Assault Squads of 4th Company -- fought a cruel war of attrition on the Ecclesiarchy world of Heletine against the Black Legion and the Children of Torment warband of Heretic Astartes. Reinforced by the Adepta Sororitas of the Order of the Ebon Chalice, a decisive breakthrough turned into a rout as the spearhead of Salamanders and Cadian Shock Troops from the 81st Regiment are ambushed and the Sisters of Battle abandon their allies to pursue their own hidden agenda.The Burning Maze (989.M41) - The Salamanders 3rd Company makes planetfall on the Death World of Myze to reinforce the Catachan MVIII Regiment, the "Black Snakes", in their fight against a tendril of Hive Fleet Leviathan. Together, the Salamanders and their Astra Militarum allies burn half the world to ash and cinder before the Tyranid threat is finally cleansed.Bloodplague Crusade (995.M41) - The Salamanders and Iron Hawks unite to defeat the daemonic legions of Khora'arr'seth, slaying the creature on the corrupted Shrine World of Lamath's Hope. The Salamanders withdraw after cleansing the entire planet by fire.Third War for Armageddon (998.M41) - When the Ork Warlord Ghazghkull launched his new offensive against the Imperial forces on Armageddon, the Salamanders were one of the first Space Marine Chapters to respond, sending all 7 companies, including Chapter Master Tu'Shan, who personally led his Firedrakes (the elite 1st Company) to combat the Orks. The Salamanders launched several counterattacks against the Rok-forts landed by the Orks along the Hemlock River. Preferring the close-quarter fighting within the maze of crudely-carved tunnels within the Roks to the long-range duels in the desert, the Salamanders made the Orks pay a high price for their audacity. At least three Roks were destroyed by the Salamanders' attacks, slaughtering untold thousands of the savage Greenskins. Many Chapters fought in the name of the Emperor on Armageddon, or for personal glory. Of the 20 full Space Marine Chapters that deployed for the Third War for Armageddon, only the Salamanders truly fought to save the lives of the people of Armageddon. They are even today much respected for their willingness to stand up against one of the Marines Malevolent's captains who had left civilians to die because the Marines Malevolent "hadn't time" to defend them from the Orks. Most of the Salamanders depart Armageddon following Ghazghkull's retreat, but two companies remain to protect major population centres, fighting on through the Season of Fire when no one else can. A squad of Firedrakes leave for Baal with the Blood Angels as an Honour Guard for the fallen Captain Erasmus Tycho.