Index Astartes - Steel Shrikes (Redux)

[Claws and Effect]

Founding Chapter - Raptors

Founding - 22nd Founding, mid M37

Primarch - Corvus Corax

Known Descendants - None known

Chapter Master - Archus Horvath (deceased), Captain Logrus of the 2nd Company is the current acting Chapter Master

Homeworld - Horatius (destroyed, chapter is now fleet-based)

Fortress-Monastery - The Vanquisher-class battleship Truthseeker

Colors - (pre-fall) Silver and Blue (post-fall) Black

Chapter Symbol - Black raptor's claw on blue background (same as the Raven Guard veteran marker)

Specialty - Guerilla warfare, hit and fade operations.

Strength - 427 (no access to gene-seed for recruiting)

Battle-Cry - For Corax and the Emperor!

Allegiance - Declared Excommunicate Traitoris

 

HISTORY

 

Created in the 22nd Founding, the Steel Shrikes were part of the effort to erase the stain of the 21st Founding. At least one Chapter was created from the gene-seed of each loyal Legion save the Space Wolves. The Steel Shrikes represent the Raven Guard contribution to that Founding. They were created using the Raptors gene-seed, as it is somewhat more stable than the Raven Guard's.

 

They were given the industrial world of Horatius to use as their homeworld and primary recruiting center. While not a Forge World, Horatius manufactured a great many things that were used all across the Imperium, mostly agricultural equipment.

 

Shortly after the chapter reached full strength, three Companies of the Steel Shrikes served with distinction in the 7th Black Crusade, mostly operating on the fringes of battles to deny the enemy the ability to outflank their allies. They would go on to serve in a similar capacity in the 8th and 9th Black Crusades as well. Other than their noted presence in the 3 Black Crusades, the Steel Shrikes would mostly limit themselves to smaller operations that could be carried out by a single company or less.

 

Being an insular Chapter much like their gene-fathers, the Steel Shrikes would keep mostly to themselves for the next several millennia. This decision would cost them dearly.

 

Early in M40, the Steel Shrikes were targeted by an Alpha Legion warband that were dedicated to weakening the Imperium by manipulating them into destroying their own. They did this by masquerading as a loyal chapter and committing atrocities in their name, then fading into the darkness before they could be found out. They specifically targeted chapters that had no close ties to other Imperial forces so the atrocities would not be questioned by an intolerant and suspicious Inquisition. Claims of innocence had fallen on deaf ears as 7 entire chapters were eradicated by their former allies.

 

The Steel Shrikes were the 8th chapter targeted in this way and the first to have any survivors escape, largely due to a premonition their Chief Librarian had the day before Imperial forces attacked their homeworld. In a moment of fatalism Chapter Master Horvath ordered that 5 Companies be dispatched immediately in a random direction to ensure the Chapter's survival, as he was aware of the 7 previous Chapters to fall victim to he Alpha Legion's plot (though he knew not who was responsible). The companies so dispatched were tasked with seeking out those responsible for their fall and destroying them, while remaining loyal to the Emperor. He also ordered that as many of the chapter serfs be sent with them as could fit on the 3 Strike Cruisers they were given leave to take.

 

The remaining 5 companies fortified their fortress-monastery and prepared for the end. They knew they had been set up in such a way that their persecutors would never believe their innocence. They had been suspicious of the events surrounding the destruction of the other 7 chapters, as none of them had shown any indication of taint in the long centuries they had served and it seemed unlikely that 7 chapters in the same general region would succumb to Chaos one after another the way they apparently had.

 

It was a hard fought battle, but in the end the 3 chapters sent to destroy them proved too much for 5 companies to overcome and they were killed to a man. But not before the Chief Librarian had another premonition. He learned of the Alpha Legion's involvement, and of the location of a space hulk that contained an intact Vanquisher-class battleship. His last act before he fell in a hail of bolter fire was to telepathically impart this information to his pupil who was sent with the survivors.

 

As soon as it was discovered that only half the chapter had been destroyed on Horatius, the High Lords declared the Steel Shrikes Excommunicate Traitoris and ordered that they be killed on sight. They also ordered that Horatius be virus-bombed in the assumption that the taint infecting the chapter had spread across the planet, killing billions of innocent people.

 

Knowing that every Imperial force in the galaxy was on the lookout for them, the Steel Shrikes repainted their armor black, covering over their traditional silver and blue livery. This was done with a heavy heart, but was deemed necessary by Captain Logrus. He had been elected acting Chapter Master by the other 4 captains and the few Librarians and Chaplains they had with them, though he refused to officially take the title in honor of Master Horvath's sacrifice on Horatius.

 

The first task set before them was to recover the battleship the Chief Librarian had seen in his vision. The Steel Shrikes viewed this knowledge as a gift from the Emperor, and saw it as a sign that He had not abandoned them. Upon finding the space hulk it was discovered to be infested with Orks that needed to be eliminated before work could begin on the recovery of the vessel. This took several months and great care was taken to avoid casualties, as they knew they could not be replaced. Even with the caution they employed 61 battle brothers fell to the greenskins. They also had to be careful not to damage the ship, which was on the surface of the space hulk and was being used by the Orks as their home base. 

 

After the Orks were eliminated, the daunting task of recovering the ship could begin. With only 6 Techmarines among them it was going to be a long process. It took nearly 7 years to restore the ship to operational condition. It would not have been possible to awaken the ship's machine spirit if not for the efforts of a junior Techmarine who was also a psyker of some skill in the Technomancy discipline. After the ship was recovered the Steel Shrikes named her Truthseeker and she became their new fortress-monastery, crewed by the chapter serfs that had escaped destruction with them.

 

Over the next centuries the Steel Shrikes would continue to fight at the side of Planetary Defense Forces and Imperial Guard regiments, while scrupulously avoiding any battles that involve any other chapters of Astartes or Inquisitorial presence. To this day, rumors persist among the Guard of a mysterious chapter of Space Marines that sometimes appear when a battle looks bleak for an isolated regiment and fight alongside them. They wear solid black armor with no markings of any kind and use an unusual variant of the Land Speeder Tempest. After the tide of the battle is turned in the Imperial forces favor, they disappear as suddenly as they arrived.

 

The Imperial Navy has numerous reports of a massive black Imperial battleship accompanied by a trio of black Strike Cruisers which translate out of the Warp and lay waste to enemy fleets before disappearing once more. No one has yet successfully communicated with this vessel, but it is generally viewed as an ally by anyone who has personally witnessed it. The Inquisition is very interested in these reports, but thus far have not been able to catch up with the mysterious vessel.

 

COMBAT DOCTRINE

 

Prior to their fall the Steel Shrikes were a Codex-adherent chapter with an emphasis on the use of the Land Speeder Tempest variant developed on their homeworld, which replaced the usual nose-mounted assault cannon with twin-linked lascannons for anti-armor purposes. They did not rely heavily on tanks but had aircraft in abundance, which they used in surprise air attacks ahead of their ground forces.

 

After their fall, necessity dictated a shift to guerilla-style hit and fade tactics. They still possess a large number of their Land Speeder variants, but only a handful of tanks. They deploy via Thunderhawks and Stormravens, as their supply of drop pods is limited and if left behind could provide the Inquisition with clues to their identity.

 

With only 2 Battle Companies (2nd and 5th), the Steel Shrikes tend to field Assault squads supported by Devastators, Land Speeders and Scouts, as the 8th, 9th, and 10th Companies all survived intact. 

 

The chapter only has 2 dreadnoughts, both of whom were interred after the fall. 

 

GENE SEED

 

Being drawn from the Raptors gene-seed, the Steel Shrikes share all of their traits. The pale skin and black hair along with the missing Mucranoid. Like the Raptors and unlike the Raven Guard, they do have a functioning Betcher's Gland. The remaining Apothecaries have found no further deviance in the Steel Shrikes geneseed.

 

They have recruited a small number of Scouts from backwater planets to replenish their losses with the gene seed recovered from fallen brothers. However, they have no Black Carapaces available to make full battle brothers out of them.

 

EQUIPMENT, ARMORY, and FLEET

 

Having only a small amount of replacement parts, the Techmarines are forced to improvise in repairing the chapter's power armor. This results in the cobbled together appearance many Steel Shrikes display, with pieces from as many as 4 different armor marks in a single suit. They have no Terminator armor, and the few suits of artificer armor they possess are cherished. They also have no Centurion warsuits. 

 

The chapter favors lascannons for their heavy weapons units, due to the rechargeable nature of their power sources. Gravguns and plasma weapons are utilized as well, but less frequently. Their heavy bolters and missile launchers have been set aside for times of need, as the ammo for them is difficult to replace. They frequently engage small bands of renegade marines that have truly fallen so they can scavenge ammunition from their dead. They also occasionally explore space hulks found to include Imperial ships in search of equipment they can use. However, this is done with care due to the dangers often present on such hulks.

 

The chapter has 2 dreadnoughts, both of whom were interred after the fall. Their armory is small, and not used unless necessary to preserve it as long as possible. The 3 Predator Destructors they had have been converted to Annihilator variants due to the autocannon ammunition having been long since expended. Their 6 Razorbacks have all been converted to mounting twin-linked plasma cannons instead of heavy bolters, also due to lack of ammunition. They possess 19 Land Speeder "Shrike Pattern" Tempests, 4 Thunderhawks, 7 Stormravens, 9 Storm Talons, and 12 Stormhawk Interceptors.  They have 2 Whirlwinds and 1 Vindicator.

 

Their fleet consists of:

 

Vanquisher-class battleship Truthseeker

Strike Cruiser Vengeance

Strike Cruiser Vendetta

Strike Cruiser Vindication

 

All 3 Strike Cruisers have been renamed since the fall.

 

NOTABLE STEEL SHRIKES

 

Captain Ephram Logrus - Formerly the Captain of the 2nd Company, Logrus currently serves as the acting Chapter Master, though he still will not accept the official title. He has a keen analytical mind and is not prone to making rash or hasty decisions. He is well aware that any mistake on his part could spell doom for the entire chapter.

 

Tech-Librarian Azra Brandis - Initially began training as a Librarian when his psychic powers were noted, he went to Mars to train as a Techmarine after it was discovered he had a strong affinity for Technomancy but little else. He was responsible for the awakening of the Truthseeker's machine spirit through a combination of his skills as a Techmarine and ability as a psyker. He serves as psuedo-Navigator for the Truthseeker, as he has a strong bond with her machine spirit. He can direct the ship in combat by himself if necessary, though with less efficiency than a full crew. 

 

Captain Raul Frenneth - Captain of the 8th Company, he was the most experienced of the 5 remaining Captains. He prefers to lead his Company and has no interest in leading the chapter as a whole, though he is one of Logrus' chief advisors. His lightning claws have cut swaths through heretics and xenos alike for centuries, and he shows no signs of slowing down any time soon. 

 

Chief Librarian Tork Ezriel - The pupil of the former Chief Librarian, it was he who received the telepathic message that led the chapter to the Truthseeker. He has become the Chief Librarian by default, though he still does not feel he is experienced enough for the position.

 

Chaplain Raviel - Tasked with keeping up morale in the face of an Imperium that has turned on them, he firmly believes the Emperor has not abandoned them but sometimes has doubts about their chances of succeeding at their mission. His Rosarius has proven to be almost completely impenetrable, protecting him from blows that would have crumpled a dreadnought. 

 

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That's all I have for now!

 

C&C very welcome!

[Claws and Effect]

Posted it a while ago in the Liber and got tumbleweeds and crickets.

 

Since they're Raven Guard successors, I figured it would be a appropriate to post here as well.

 

 

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/topic/331859-index-astartes-steel-shrikes-redux/

[Race Bannon]

Would you want discussion there or here?

[Claws and Effect]

Here's fine.

 

The RG subforum is kinda my homepage on this site. Bookmarked and everything.

[Badass_Spaz]

The poor mans Legion of the Damned. Not immortal or covered in flames BUT! at least they're still Astarte's mowing down grubby green-skins. Hehe

On a more serious note I do enjoy how your take on a renegade chapter. You're not afraid to hinder their recruitment, make supplies tight, or other myriad disadvantages that removes an otherwise edge over opposition. The situation is real, supplies is scarce, and new Astarte's is far and in between. Real supplies comes from picking fights with warbands and looting the remains. I can see them taking the guise as fellow pirates or bribing merchants to hold up in their cargo holds. Once the warband comes to loot, a squad of Steel Shrikes ambushes the bastards. Select teleport beacons carries in reinforcements after the initial ambush and you're golden!

Maybe a little simple but it's a fun little thought.

People might question the Gloriana-Class battleship but personally, this is 40K. Life is hard enough as it is so being thrown a bone once in awhile isn't too big an issue. Plus, when the Battleship and trio Cruisers are coming in for support, regiments under siege aren't going to question incoming Imperial Vessels.

All that said and done, I'm kinda curious about the manufacturing of power armor and what Mechanicus aid they may or may not have available. The Night Lords from ADB's novels had Deltrian (Spelling?) so I'm wondering if your band of miscreants has something similar.

Cheers homie and look forward to your reply!

[WAR]

I like the idea

 

May I suggest these shoulder pads for your chapter marking 

 

Talon Squad Shoulder pads

[jpwyrm]

Cool background Brother, I think you got a solid base here. Here's my two cents:

 

- It looks like there was little investigation prior to the elimination of 7 Space Marines Chapters. I understand they were isolated from the rest of the Imperium and would not interact much with the Admnistratum, but it seems a little far fetched to have the first response of the Imperium be an extermination force. This part of your story could be tweaked a little more, maybe you could lower the numbers of destroyed Chapters to two or three. Make it a longer process for the first few (Inquisitors conducting investigations and vanishing, false transmission that deny the rule of the Administratum/curse the Emperor, etc.) and then make more aggressive and expeditive, like it's some kind of disease spreading from Chapter to Chapter;

 

- Though I love the idea of getting a battleship out of a Space Hulk, I believe Gloriana Battleships is pushing it a little. There is only 20 of those in the lore and the sudden reappearance of a lost one should trigger a lot of attention from the Imperium, something the Steel Shrikes would probably avoid if given the choice. My suggestion would be to make it an Oberon-Class. The Oberon is a flexible battleship made to tackle a lot of situations. It's not a specialist ship like the Retribution-class, but it can perform well in every space combat situation. Since the Chief Librarian received a vision of a way to help his chapter in the years to come, a swiss-army knife battleship feels like it would fit well.

 

- As for the supplies, I think you could skip the Missile-launchers and Heavy Bolter part. These weapons and their ammunition are probably easier to manufacture than the parts needed to maintain plasma or grav weaponry. Even then, with access to three strike cruisers and a Battleship ressources, it's likely that the Steel Shrike Techmarines have access to everything they need to make a decent forge, one that could at least tackle bolts and missile manufacturing. Tanks and Power armour are out of the equation of course, except for non-complex replacement parts (i.e. they would not be able to recreate a power armor's neuro-interface and auto-senses, but probably could replace any moving parts).

[Olis]

Would you want discussion there or here?

 

Here's fine.

 

The RG subforum is kinda my homepage on this site. Bookmarked and everything.

 

Topic moved, and a link left in the Liber to the thread where it is now. I'm sorry you didn't get more feedback, brother. 

[Claws and Effect]

Thanks for moving it, Olis. 

 

On the history part of it, maybe I didn't go about it properly but the history is presented from their perspective, as the official Imperium records would read very differently. They wouldn't be aware of Inquisitorial investigation into other chapters. In fact, they don't​ even know the full extent of the investigation into THEM. They were questioned prior to the attack and denied any wrongdoing, but that wouldn't change the outcome since they would be expecting a guilty chapter to deny it.

 

This particular Alpha Legion warband has been doing this for quite a long time. 7 chapters isn't far-fetched when the time span extends across centuries. 

 

Good call on the battleship. I didn't realize the Gloriana-class was that rare. With 20 of them, it seems like each Legion was given one to serve as their flagship. Oberon-class sounds good. 

 

 

On the supplies. It isn't that they can't manufacture ammunition, it's more of a raw materials issue. They prioritize ammo for their bolters over the heavier weapons because everyone carries one, while the heavy bolters and missile launchers are only carried by a few. Not to say that they don't have any ammo for them at all, but they conserve it. 

 

They also have more power armor than they really need, because over 100 of their number are Scouts that can't wear it. They don't have an abundance of spare parts, but they do have suits they can scavenge from. 

 

Thanks for the feedback. A couple things I didn't think of, and brought attention to the fact that I didn't explain some​ things well.

[Claws and Effect]

After some research, I decided to make their battleship a Vanquisher class. It's described as being "ancient, even by the Imperium's standards". I figured that would make it plausible to find in a space hulk.

[Shadow Captain Vyper]

I agree with JP on the Alpha Legion/Excommunicate bit. I feel like if there is going to be 7 Chapters laid at the feet of this one warband (which is fine), there needs to be more story to it. I get what you mean about it being from the Steel Shrike perspective (as far as this content is concerned), but I think if you elaborated more on this from the Shrikes perspective that would go towards the credibility of the claim/history. Your background states they knew they had been betrayed, and that the prior Chapter Master knew it was Alpha Legion. If you take this foundation and build on it, the whole picture will seem more believable I think.

Otherwise, I like what you have got, good stuff!

[Claws and Effect]

Chapter Master didn't know it was Alpha Legion. They didn't find that out until the Chief Librarian had his second vision. Horvath was already dead by then. Finding out it was the Alpha Legion and passing it on was literally the last thing the Chief Librarian did before he was killed. 

 

I was kind of shooting for them knowing an Alpha Legion warband was responsible and almost nothing else about them. It's their mission to find them, but they don't have the first clue where to look. 

 

If they knew exactly which warband and where to find them, they wouldn't be in the predicament they're in. They have​to find d them and clear their name before the Imperium catches up with them.

 

I'll work on fleshing it out some, but knowing too much about the responsible parties would sort of ruin the mystery of it.

[Shadow Captain Vyper]

I think what you are saying makes a lot of sense. Obviously perspective/point of view is critical for a story to have the right meaning as well. I get that your survivors you want to not know all the details of their setup/betrayal, but at the same time the stalwart defenders/honorable sacrifice made by the Chapter Master and nearly half the Chapter, they can be very aware of it. If they are aware of it, the audience can be as well. As to how you go about writing that is entirely up to you, just not that astro/telepathic communion/communication is known to be very vague and cryptic. It would make sense for the Chief Librarian and the rest of the boys to know the details of the whole ordeal, but when he went to send his mind-fax to his #1 prodigy, the details got lost in translation. Something like:
 
"Chief Librarian Tork Ezriel felt the presence of his master on the nearby planet reach out to him. He could feel his master once more guiding his mind to the truth of what had happened. The Imperium's perception of his Chapter had been warped and misguided...by another. His vision conjured to him by his master showed him a towering metal beast, covered in chromatic scales ever changing in color, with many heads, dragon-like in nature. This could mean only one thing: The Alpha Legion had played a part in orchestrating their downfall. Oh how the traitors would pay. :maniacal laugh:"

 

Something like that. That way the survivors can know where to start but have no real clue, but you can give the reader a bigger sense of scale of the whole ordeal and make this thing seem grandiose/epic to justify and give great purpose to the survivors.

 

I like what you got cookin!

[Claws and Effect]

I was planning on doing a fanfic that goes into a little more detail into exactly what the Alpha Legion did to make the Imperium turn on them.

 

It involves daemon summoning. Something the Inquisition isn't going to hesitate to pull the trigger for.

 

And they are actually the 9th chapter targeted this way. The Dark Angels handled their successors quietly, the way they always do.

[Race Bannon]

Topics merged at OP's request.

[Claws and Effect]

Thanks, Race.

[Race Bannon]

So, I have looked at the revisions and have some notes:

 

According to Warhammer Wikia, the 22nd Founding only had one Chapter, the Iron Fists.  The source list for this information is impressive, yet I have not verified that at this post.  I'm not sure if you care to "fit in the fluff" or not.

--

The third paragraph in the History section caused me to triple read it.  Maybe I'm old, yet I think it could be refined to be more clear.  My humble suggestion:

Shortly after the Chapter reached full strength, three Companies of the Steel Shrikes served with distinction throughout the 7th Black Crusade, mostly operating on the fringes of battle to deny the enemy the ability to outflank their allies.  They would go on the serve in a similar capacity during the 8th and 9th ...

 

The word "in" at first suggested the Shrikes were literally IN the Crusade on the side of Chaos.  I could be way off with my suggestion, yet when I read it first (knowing they were Traitoris from the summary above) it read to me they had turned by the Crusade, which is not accurate at this point.

--

Wouldn't the High Lords declare the Steel Shrikes Traitoris and THEN send three Chapters to hunt down the Steel Shrikes?

 

I appreciate your patience with me.  Have you considered submitting the entry into the Brotherhood of the Angels event?

[Claws and Effect]

The 22nd Founding only has 1 CANON chapter. If GW wants to insist that each Founding only contains the chapters listed, they better get busy writing out 800 or so chapters. I'm not too worried about staying 100% in canon. If I did that there's no room to create anything anywhere at all.

 

Appreciate the critique on the wording of that paragraph. They were on the Loyalist side during the Black Crusades.

 

They never actually turned at all. They're a loyal chapter that was framed and declared traitors for something they didn't do.

 

The Alpha Legion is trying to weaken the Imperium by getting it to destroy its own forces.

[Race Bannon]

Good point of canon and I totally agree :tu:

 

Yeah "turned" was bad wording on my part, sorry about that.