Steelblood Legion

"No longer will our blood be spilled for the ambitions of others. We fight for no Emperor, no Warmaster, not even our Father. We are the sons of Iron no longer. We were broken and discarded but now we are reforged. Steel runs in our veins now, not iron. Iron is weak. We are the Steelblood Legion and we are the architects of our future."

- Warsmith Gor'Hal - Outbreak of the Dispute of Iron

The Steelblood Legion are a large Traitor Space Marine Warband that fractured from the Iron warriors during the Dispute of Iron. They are led by the Warsmith Gor'Hal and follow Chaos Undivided. They have created a small Empire within the Halo Stars and maintain a very similar martial tradition to that of their gene-fathers the Iron Warriors, being some of the best Astartes at engaging in Urban and Siege Warfare but also making extensive use of human and xeno auxiliaries and lab-created monstrosities. They are also extremely adept Flesh-Smiths and rival the Dark Mechanicus in their creation of siege weaponry and armor, binding many daemons into their warmachines and weapons. They have made many incursions within the Imperium, attacked other Traitor Warbands and Legions, and have fought against many xenos, creating many enemies throughout the galaxy.

Great Crusade
The Steelblood Legion were originally a Grand Battalion of the Iron Warriors Legion during the Great Crusade in the 451st Expeditionary Fleet. They were originally known as the Ironblood Battalion and were one of the larger Grand Battalions of the Iron Warriors Legion. Most of these Astartes were either Terran of origin or came from a planet subjugated by Perturabo known as Mon'Torkal. The Ironblood Battalion was famous for their adept urban combat skills, however they were known for taking grievously high Astartes casualties compared to the other Iron Warriors Battalions. This was, in part, due to the Battalion being well known for not being like their Gene-Father in that they would not waste Imperial Army lives, they would do their best to achieve victory with minimal human casualties and when a plan that required taking heavy casualties was the only efficient way to gain victory, the Astartes would fight and die alongside their human auxiliaries. Gor'Hal, the Warsmith of the Ironblood Battalion who was raised on Mon'Torkal, prided himself and his Battalion as being the guardians of Humanity and believed that Astartes were meant to take on the brutality of warfare. This meant that the Ironblood Battalion was not as quick to bring worlds to compliance as other Iron Warriors Expeditionary Fleets and drew the ire of Perturabo.

Hrud Campaign
Perturabo had not appointed Gor'Hal to Warsmith but it was Gor'Hal's predicessor, a Terran veteran known as Tytus, who appointed Gor'Hal as his heir, which was the tradition in the Ironblood Battalion. Perturabo believed Gor'Hal to be a fine leader but believed he was too soft and cared too much about human life. This led to Perutrabo recalling the fleet and ordering them to lead the vanguard into Hrud territory, leading the Ironblood Battalion to take extensive casualties. Perturabo used this as a time to harden the Ironblood Battalion but also utilize their adept urban combat skills in taking multiple Hrud cities. They would fight with Perturabo with great courage and determination, not asking for respite even when in the most dire of situations and led many victories against the xenos. By the end of the campaign, they had regained the Primarch's favor and were tasked with rebuilding the Battalion for the next 2 years before being shipped off to fight alongside the Dark Angels in bringing a small human empire into compliance in what is now the Ultima Segmentum.

Uamlax Campaign
The Uamlax Empire was a technologically advanced conglomeration of human worlds. They had advanced plasma weaponry and made extensive use of Xeno slaves as cannon fodder as well as possessing a powerful navy. They're refusal to peacefully join the Imperium and their usage of Xenos led to the Warmaster to task the 451st and the 397th Iron Warriors and Dark Angels Expeditionary Fleets to bring them to compliance. This campaign, later known as the Uamlax Slaughter, would show a major change in the Ironblood Battalion, the terrible war against the Hrud had changed the Ironblood personality.

This campaign would prove to be long and brutal, all the worlds being brought to compliance were nothing more than dead husks, the mere memories of the multi-millennia old civilizations being purged from existence while billions of civilians were enslaved. Millions of humans died on both sides while the Xenos died in tens of millions and the Dark Angels took high casualties whereas the Ironblood warriors sustained minimal casualties. They used artillery and orbital ordinance to bombard enemy positions and in many cases bombard areas filled with allied troops to kill/destroy priority targets. They would first have human auxiliaries advance to draw enemy fire then advance themselves, using the auxiliaries as shields. They did not coordinate with their Dark Angel allies and failed to provide support where they promised they would, they also let many Dark Angel positions be overrun because the cost of Ironblood lives would be too high to save those positions that they deemed unnecessary for certain wargoals.

The Ironblood Warriors refused to take the horrendous losses they suffered during the Hrud campaign again and were willing to let millions die to spare the lives of their own when it was unnecessary. Gor'Hal no longer cared for the lives of the humans under his command nor allied Astartes, his loyalty was solely to his Brothers from Mon'Torkal and his Primarch. This angered the Dark Angels greatly and would prove to ensure that they would never again fight alongside the Ironblood Battalion and swear to avenge their losses. Perturabo was not entirely pleased, for he wanted to harden the Ironblood Battalion and make them as efficient as other Iron Warriors Battalions, no matter the cost of human or Astartes lives. Gor'Hal's strategy was making the compliance faster than previous campaigns but it was still not what Perturabo wanted. He cared not for who died, he just wanted quick and efficient victories and the Uamlax slaughter was not nearly as quick or efficient as Perturabo had hoped it would go.

Wrath of Iron
By the outbreak of the Horus Heresy, the Ironblood Battalion numbered around 6,000. Instead of campaigning with their Primarch and joining him at Istvaan and later to venture into the Eye of Terror with the Emperor's Children, they were given special orders to cause havoc in the territory of the Imperial Fists. They were to do this with 451st and 728th Expeditionary Fleets, a company of Tyrant Siege Terminators from Perturabo's own Fleet, and hundreds of thousands of auxiliary humans. This campaign would be known as the Wrath of Iron and the Ironblood were tasked with diverting Imperial Fist Forces from regrouping at Terra and disrupt the flow of their reinforcements. However, their main objective was to bring a Forgeworld in Imperial Fist Space under the Iron Warriors banner so that Perturabo could utilize the vast Forges to build the Warmachines he needed to bring Terra low.

Perturabo told the Ironblood Battalion that failure was not an option and that this would be the last time he would allow his sons to prove their worth. In his name, they quickly raised dozens of worlds, destroyed multiple Imperial Fist garrisons, and torched many recruiting worlds while enslaving many of their peoples. Soon they came to the Forge World they where tasked to take and prepared for a swift invasion of the planet. The Ironblood Battalion realized they did not have the strength to take the Forge World nearly as quickly as they had hoped. The siege of Kerthax dragged on much longer than they had wanted until eventually a large Retribution fleet of Imperial Fists entered the system to relieve to Mechanicus forces. The Ironblood expedition was forced to retreat and regroup with Perturabo's fleet after a costly naval engagement. Having failed to defeat the Imperial Fists reactionary force and take the Forge World, Perturabo decimated the Ironblood Battalion. The once 6,000 strong Grand Battalion was now down to less than one-third of their strength, about 1,700 Astartes remained after the combined losses from The Wrath of Iron campaign and the decimation.

Great Scouring - Defense of Mon'Torkal
Seeds of anger towards their gene-father were sown after the decimation, for they believed the campaign was a suicidal plan wherein they felt completely under-manned for the campaign and were now punished for something they could not accomplish. Gor'Hal especially began to hate his gene-father, for he resented the major losses his Battalion took during the Hrud campaign, the Wrath of Iron, and now at the hands of Perturabo. He did not understand why his gene-father did not care about the lives of his sons, especially ones that worked so hard for his approval. The Ironblood Battalion was not given the honor to join the Legion during the siege of Terra but were forced to return to their home at Mon'Torkal. They started to build up their numbers again but once Horus fell, the Loyalists came for vengeance, especially the Imperial Fists and Dark Angels. The fight for Mon'Torkal was brutal, thousands of Astartes dying on both sides and millions of human soldiers dying beside them. Eventually the Ironblood Battalion was forced to flee their home, watching as the Loyalists raised their homes and destroyed their home planet. By the end of the Great Scouring and the Battalion reached the safety of the Eye of Terror, the Ironblood Battalion were now less than 400 Astartes strong.

Legion Wars
In the Eye of Terror, Perturabo did not grant the Ironblood Battalion the right to settle on Medrengard with the rest of the Legion due to his displeasure with their recent failures. The Ironblood Battalion was forced to survive as a Fleet Based Splinter of the Legion, their only refuge being in orbit around the planet. They did their best to recoup their losses during the Legion Wars, Warsmith Gor'Hal leading raids on the other Legions and overseeing the recruitment of new Astartes into their ranks. Gor'Hal hated Chaos and commanded that all members of the Ironblood avoid any dealings with warp entities and only "devote" themselves to Chaos undivided, refusal to obey would result in summary execution. He also maintained strict discipline and organization within the Ironblood ranks, maintaining normal battle companies, siege companies, and assault companies all being led by Captains who rose from the ranks through merit and loyalty, unlike the Aspiring Champions of other Legions and Warbands who rose through pleasing the Chaos Gods. There is also a vast armory of vehicles and artillery at the Ironblood's disposal after raiding many of their cousins armories and creating their own new machines of war. He also ensured that there were a high number of specialist Astartes within the Ironblood ranks, high numbers of Apocetharies, Iron Priests (Chaplains), and Hellsmiths. By the time of the Dispute of Iron broke out on Medrengard, Warsmith Gor'Hal had brought his Warband from a mere 400 Astartes to 5,000 strong with tens of thousands of human auxiliaries and a relatively strong fleet of 17 vessels.

Dispute of Iron
Warsmith Gor'Hal, along with the rest of the leaders of the Ironblood Battatlion decided to break from their Legion during this period because they believed that their brothers and gene-father had grown soft while they were forced to fight for their survival. They hated the fact that their brothers were content with hiding on Medrengard as they were forced to raid and fight the other legions for resources and slaves. The Ironblood dropped down onto isolated outposts killing their brothers, stealing weapons, armor, slaves, vehicles, and commandeered extra vessels and fled the planet while the Legion was tearing itself apart. They decided to venture into unknown space, into the Halo Stars, knowing that they would have no friends in the Traitor Legions or in the Imperium. They set out to create their own Empire and subdue whatever xenos or "free" human civilizations existed in the that region of Space.

The Union of Steel and Faith
After departing from the Eye of Terror, Gor'Hal knew that his Warband would need a base of operations so set out to conquer a planet with a human population to provide manpower, resources, and labor. He had millions of slaves so an uninhabited planet could make due but he preferred to settle on a planet that already had a strong infrastructure and fortifiable cities and fortresses. His forces numbered around 5,000 Astartes, around 40,000 human troops, a small titan legion, and 23 vessels. After a few months of searching, the Steelblood Legion would enter a system with 8 planets; 1 dead world, 1 molten world, 3 temperate worlds, 1, desert planet, 1 gas giant, and 1 frozen world. Every planet except for the dead world contained human life and the Legion took a cautious approach to this discovery.

Gor'Hal, his highest ranking officer, and the "Roj'Kah" or Crimson Guard, (the Elite Terminator Companies of the Legion) took their Flagship, Pride of Mon'Torkal, and went ahead of the rest of the fleet and hailed the single fleet in the system which numbered 19. Gor'Hal and the Roj'Kah boarded the flagship of the unknown civilization in full war-gear, to both intimidate and impress but also to be prepared for treachery. They were met by an assembly of humans, appearing to be a mix of politicians and their honor guard. The Legion learned that these humans used a language similar to that of low Gothic and that this system was united under a form of Aristocracy wherein each planet was ruled by a noble house and the leader of each noble house had a seat on the Council of 11. 3 more seats would be granted to the banking clan, the clergy, and the forge masters. The final seat was reserved for the Grand Prince, a dynastic position for the leader of the system's armed forces and government. The guards appeared to wear a type of armor similar to that of Thunder Armor and their weapons were heavy sluggers. However, it appeared that many of the warriors' armor was heavily damaged and so too were the ships of their fleet. The Council explained that they, the Truir Confederacy, were at war with multiple factions in the area; xenos known as the Tiljati that have allied with other humans called the Diphlaxus Commonwealth, a Necron Tombworld ruled by the Klaiphen Dynasty, and Greenskins.

Gor'Hal and his officers entered into discussion with the Council, providing them with an offer. He asked for them to pledge their allegiance to him and his Legion and in turn his Legion would subjugate or destroy every enemy the Truir Confederacy were up against. It did not take long for the Truir council to decide, for they were losing the war on all fronts and there was no way they could fight against foreigners. They were also a deeply religious people and the Clergy preached that eventually the Truir peoples would be granted saviors in their darkest hour by their gods, and these men in their mighty panoply of war appeared to be that salvation. The Truir Council pledged their loyalty to the Steelblood Legion, granting Warsmith Gor'Hal the title of Arch Angelus and his the Legion were his Angels. Gor'Hal considered this to be a great irony, for they used to be known as the Angels of Death of the Emperor, then they turned to the worship of demons, now they are back to Angels but masters of a new Empire. Within the Legion, Gor'Hal still maintained his title Warsmith and his lieutenants took up the titles of Forge Lord.

The Legion quickly erected a massive fortress which they called the Mon'Torkalus on the largest planet called Telingard, making the planet their Headquarters and the new planetary Capitol of their new Empire. The Truir people were strong, having lived their lives in constant warfare against xenos and other human civilizations. The Truir were deeply religious and most of the population were fairly uneducated, so the Legion was swift in taking complete control of the system by using their position as Angelic beings to cow the people into submission. Mass recruitment into both the Legion and Auxiliary forces took place along with the creation of giant forges on the Molten planet of Kardulk and the Desert planet of Uthel. Ports would either be improved or built around each planet to act as a planetary defense system as well as a place to dock the fleets, but the largest port would be build above Telingard, matching the scale of Port Maw in the Gothic Sector. After a few decades of building and recruiting within the System and fighting off enemy incursion by M35, the Steelblood Legion numbered some tens of thousands of Astartes and had around innumerable millions of Auxiliary Troops, which they now called the Torkan Cohorts, which was structured very similarly to the Imperial Army.

Present Day
For the last 5 millennia, the Steelblood Legion devoted most of their efforts to consolidating their holds in the Halo Stars. They campaigned continuously against xenos and humans alike, taking grievous losses against the new enemies. Initially, the Steelblood attempted to recreate the Great Crusade and have Legions of their own Astartes but it soon became clear that their Gene-Seed was not stable enough nor was their recruitment process fast enough to replenish the heavy losses they undertook during their near ceaseless campaigns. This resulted in the Warband shrinking down to its original strength of around 5,000 Astartes by the 41st Millennium. To compensate, the Steelblood have diverted many resources to building up their Auxiliary Forces and their engines of war along with becoming more accepting of the usage of the Warp. They have also delved into the research that of Fabius Bile after a successful raid on some of his labs and have become heavily invested in the creation of lab-born beasts and enhancing xenos, humans, and Astartes alike. Warsmith Gor'Hal still leads the Steelblood Legion, for he finally accepted the gifts of the Chaos gods and has been granted many boons, one of which is eternal life. In more recent history, the Steelblood Legion have raided into the Imperium to acquire slaves and gain the favor of the Chaos gods. They have also ventured back into the Eye of Terror to acquire their Gene-Father's Geneseed as well as to lay rival warbands low.

Early Life
Not much is known of Gor'Hal's early years other than he was born on the planet of Mon'Torkal and he has a twin brother called Fel'Hal. Both would be inducted into the Iron Warriors Legion soon after the compliance of Mon'Torkal and they would each pursue different paths within the Legion. Gor'Hal possessed an extremely high intellect, learning and mastering the arts of Techmarines and thrived in close combat using combat mauls and warhammers. He would also be one of the best students of grand strategy during his training and education. The Warsmith Tytos took a great interest in Gor'Hal and would take him under his wing once Gor'Hal's training and induction into the Legion was complete.

Tytos would have Gor'Hal take part in ever different position within the Battalion possible. He was taught how to effectively man and coordinate the artillery, he would be part of Siege, Mechanized, and Infantry Companies, later he would be part of the armored spearheads of the Battalion's tanks, he would be trained as a pilot of a thunderhawk, and he would be taught lessons in void combat. Gor'Hal had become a "jack of all trades", effectively able to take on any role within the Legion but was one of the best when it came to strategy and Tytos took this into consideration. Tytos would have Gor'Hal almost immediately take the role of Sergeant after he had completed his "training" in the various roles of the Legion. Many saw this as Tytos "grooming his heir" which was customary for the battalion, so much was expected from Gor'Hal.

Captain
Gor'Hal would become 9th Siege Company Captain after a few decades on the Crusade as a sergeant. The heavy casualties the Ironblood Battalion would incur on their grueling siege campaigns would result in many officers dying and new Astartes being promoted quickly, and after a campaign against the Orks where his Captain was killed, Gor'Hal was promoted by Tytos to his new position. Gor'Hal cared for the Astartes under his charge, never asking anything of them that he would not do. He would lead his Siege Company directly, leading assaults in enemy fortifications and expertly utilizing the heavy weapons teams and artillery at his disposal. Gor'Hal and the 9th would always be where the fighting was hardest and taking on the most difficult tasks along with dealing with the toughest enemy fortifications. When Tytos was not busy coordinating and dealing with the overall command, he would be found with the 1st company fighting alongside Gor'Hal and the 9th.

Gor'Hal earned the complete and utter loyalty of the Astartes under his command. He never wasted their lives and whenever squads were cut off or isolated, Gor'Hal would personally lead the relief force, seeing any faults in his overall strategy as a dishonor and would not let his failings lead to unnecessary death of his men. Even the human auxiliaries under his command would always request to continue fighting alongside the 9th for they were not used as meat shields or just "chaff" as other Iron Warriors battalions would. It wasn't long until Gor'Hal was viewed as the "rightful" heir to Tytos and this would bring great pride to the Warsmith, seeing he had groomed the perfect replacement. He also viewed Gor'Hal as an adopted son and protege, while Gor'Hal viewed him as his adopted father, this relationship developed and grew from the training of Gor'Hal to the death of Tytos during the Ullanor campaign. The bestowal of the title of Warsmith to Gor'Hal would coincide with the naming of Horus as the Warmaster, which many within the Legion saw as a "good omen".

Warsmith

Gor'Hal would grieve his adopted father's loss but would use that grief to fuel his devotion to carry on his legacy. He would lead many successful campaigns against human and xenos alike. However, Gor'Hal was cautious in his campaigns, for his battalion took grievous losses on UIlanor and he did not wish to maintain the high degree of losses that the Iron Warriors were known to sustain. He was a successful commander and many Astartes lives were spared with his tactics, but this resulted in much slower campaigns than normal. Perturabo was not pleased with this development and saw a chance to mold Gor'Hal into the Iron Warriors commander he needed. The Warmaster Horus had tasked Perturbao with campaigning against the Hrud and from what intelligence had been gathered, they would prove to be a fierce foe. The Ironblood Battalion would be granted the "honor" of leading the spearhead against these xenos. In truth, Perturabo knew of the tactical brilliance of Gor'Hal and hoped that this campaign and the fact they would be fighting alongside their Primarch would lead to Gor'Hal becoming a more efficient commander as well as harden the "soft" Ironblood Battalion.

Hrud
The Hrud campaign was a campaign like no other, and it broke the Ironblood. They took horrendous losses and were charged with dealing with the most difficult tasks. It was a great honor to be trusted with such orders by their Primarch but the amount of Astartes lost during the campaign was innumerable. Gor'Hal was devasted by the end of the campaign. So many of his men that he had campaigned with for decades were now dead, his once proud and large battalion was a shadow of its former self and he blamed himself for the high losses his men sustained. As Perturabo had predicted, this campaign had driven the Ironblood to the brink, they grew to be some of the fiercest within the Legion and their ability to fight on even in the face of such overwhelming losses. By the end of the campaign, the Ironblood were no longer the "kind" Iron Warriors who cared for human lives, Gor'Hal grew to resent Horus and the Emperor for making the Iron Warriors have to fight this treacherous campaign alone but his loyalty never wavered to his Primarch, who fought alongside the Ironblood to the bitter end of the campaign. However, Perturabo was still not satisfied and would keep a close eye on their progress in later campaigns.

Uamlax Campaign
The Ironblood Battalion was tasked with rebuilding its strength after the campaign and it would be a number of years before they were battle ready once again. Once they were considered battle ready, Gor'Hal would be given orders to aid the Dark Angels who were bogged down in a siege against Uamlax Empire. Normally, Gor'Hal would have been more than ready to accommodate to their allies' battle plans and willing to provide aid wherever it was most dire. However, he was no longer the same man he was before the Hrud campaign. He used to be a very friendly, had a good sense of humor, and was quite an open book, but now he was distant, quiet, and brooding. His temper would rise quickly and his patience wore thin. The Dark Angels were a kind lot either and Gor'Hal would end up clashing with the Dark Angels Commander many times over strategy. This would result in many cases wherein the Ironblood and Dark Angels would end up conducting their own campaigns and there would be much miscommunication. Many years passed and losses from both legions started to stack up. Soon both Legions began large offensives but because they refused to aid one another, there would not be swift victories. After losing an entire company due to poor intelligence and lacking support from the Dark Angels, Gor'Hal went into a rage and he ordered heavy bombardment on top of a large Dark Angels Assault force that was attacking the final heavily fortified enemy position left on their capitol planet. Dark Angels losses were innumerable and the survivors were killed by the Ironblood Warriors who followed up on the bombardment and would complete the assault on the enemy position. The Dark Angels swore vengeance but their numbers were far too few to exact revenge.

Horus Heresy

Gor'Hal would later be contacted by Perturabo who would reprimand him for taking such a long time to finish the campaign along with his unwillingness to use his Astartes as efficiently as possible and that his actions against the Dark Angels were a poor choice. Perturabo was sick of Gor'Hal's incompetence and and granted him and his battalion one last chance to prove themselves. At this point the Legion had joined Horus in the rebellion and Perturabo explained that the Ironblood can either join the traitors and undertake a campaign of 'redemption' or answer for their crimes against the loyalist Dark Angels. This would result in the Wrath of Iron campaign becaus Gor'Hal knew he had no other choice but to seek redemption. Gor'Hal did not understand how such a campaign was feasilble with just one battalion of Astartes but he accepted the orders. The Ironblood fought with great ferocity, killing thousands of Imperial Fists and raising many worlds. However, there were far more Imperial Fists and too many Skitarii to quickly take the Forge World they were commanded to take. The siege would take far too long and a large Imperial Fist reactionary force would emerge during the peak of the siege, resulting in Gor'Hal being out maneuvered and beaten back. This failure would result in the Ironblood being decimated and then exiled from the Legion and not being granted the honor of joining the Iron Warriors in further campaigns.

Great Scouring

Gor'Hal would lead his broken battalion back to Mon'Torkal to rebuild but soon Horus was slain and the great scouring ensued. For his and his battalions actions, a large retribution fleet of Dark Angels and Imperial Fists would descend upon Mon'Torkal to exact vengeance for their transgressions early on in the Heresy. Gor'Hal led the defenses bravely, making the Loyalists pay dearly for every inch but he knew it was a lost cause. Gor'Hal led the remaining Ironblood warriors with as many humans form their planet as possible to flee the planet and head to the Eye of Terror for refuge. Gor'Hal was once again a broken man. His battalion was on the brink of extinction, his homeworld was dead, his Gene-Father had banished him and his warriors from the Legion, and he failed to uphold his oath to Tytos. It would be a few months in isolation aboard his flagship that a Daemon would appear before him and offer Gor'Hal a new purpose as a servant of Chaos. The Daemon explained that his masters would grant him and his brothers unimaginable strength and power that they would be able to challenge entire legions, all they had to do was undertake a pilgrimage and offer up their souls to Chaos. Gor'Hal was supiscious but understood he had little choice in the matter, for his Battalion was near extinction and they needed allies. Gor'Hal agreed that he would undertake a pilgrimage with the remainder of his Battalion into the Warp to find a new meaning and understanding of what Chaos was.

Path of Damnation
The Ironblood would be within the Warp for centuries in realspace time but were there for a millennia in their time. They witnessed the rise and fall of xenos empires, witnessed the birth of Slaanesh and the death of the Eldar Empire, they witnessed the War in Heaven and the coming of the Tyrannids. They saw the Imperium turn into a stagnated Empire of superstition and paranoia. They witnessed the wars between the Chaos gods and the 'Great Game', they witnessed the Legion Wars and eventually saw the rise of Abaddon and the Black Legion. The Daemon offered the Ironblood a deal. They can be granted the powers to take Abaddon's place as the Champion of Chaos for the price of their souls.

They would be the masters of the Imperium and rule the Empire they fought so hard to build. However, Gor'Hal did not trust the daemon and believed the offer to be a lie and refused and ended up killing the daemon with a bolt round to the head, resulting in a massive Warp Storm engulfing the vessel. The Ironblood vessel would take serious damage and would be unable to exit the warp, trapping the Ironblood warriors in the sea of chaos. Daemons would periodically appear on the vessel, killing dozens of humans and Astartes before being banished back into the warp. Beasts that not even the wildest of imaginations could conjure entered the ship, terrorizing the crew and hunting all they could. Months turned into years, and years turned into decades, until decades turned into centuries. All of the humans ended up dying from either daemons or madness.

The Ironblood were more fortunate but many still fell, those that lived on; for some reason, they no longer grew hungry or thirsty, they didn't require sleep, these 'gifts' were bestowed to the most veteran and most resilient of the Ironblood number. Those that were not killed by daemons began to grow stronger and faster. Gor'Hal was visited by the original daemon once again who told him that this had been a test, no matter what answer he would have given to the daemon, this would have been the fate of this battalion no matter what. It would be during this time in the warp that Gor'Hal's hatred for chaos grew, for he had believed in honor and truhtfulness and he had been betrayed by this chaos spawn. However, he knew that the only way to get out of this debacle was to make a deal with chaos and so he did.

He offered his eternal loyalty to chaos, but not to take the Imperium for them. Gor'Hal demanded that that role be left to Abaddon. He was done with the Imperium and the other Legions, he would conquer new worlds and make a new Empire in the Chaos gods' names. He pledged to spread the word of chaos to new worlds, both human and xenos. All he asked was that he and his men would be spared the gods' 'gifts' and be left to their own devices. The deal was made but the test was not over. The remaining Ironblood, numbering fewer than 100 at this point, were teleported to each of the Chaos gods' daemon worlds. Upon each planet, they would have to pass tests to gain the favor of each god. Only Gor'Hal, Fel'Hal, and 13 other Ironblood Warriors would survive these tests and be granted the favor of each chaos god. By the time this pilgrimage had been completed and the surviving Ironblood Warriors emerged from the Warp upon their vessel above Medrengard, it was the beginning of M32 and the Legion Wars were now in full swing.

The Birth of the Roj'Kah
Gor'Hal ordered the remaining Ironblood to board a Thunderhawk with him so that they can board another Iron Warriors vessel and commandeer it and force the crew to bend to their will. They hailed a lone Iron Warrios vessel in orbit around Medrengard, saying they were survivors of a Daemon attack and wished to join the warband. They were welcomed aboard and this is when Gor'Hal realized how much they had changed during their time in the Warp. The Ironblood warriors stood almost head and shoulders above their brothers and they were much stronger, faster, and had much keener senses than the other Iron Warriors. The Iron Warriors on the vessel were wary of these new arrivals, believing they were daemonhosts. Once the commander of the vessel came to the hanger, he realized his mistake. The Ironblood drew their weapons and began to slaughter all the Iron Warriors within reach with blinding speed. Not even the Astartes senses of the normal Iron Warriors could keep up with their movements. Ironblood weapons pierced the Power Armor of their brothers with ease. In less than a minute, the 40 Iron Warriors that greated the Ironblood in the Hanger were all dead, except for the commander.

Gor'Hal challenged the commander, whose name was Lazarus, to a dual for the right to command this vessel and the remaining Astartes aboard it. Lazarus knew he had no choice and stood no chance, but prepared for combat anyway. Gor'Hal wielded his favored Artificer Thunder Hammer and Lazarus wielded his Power Sword and Storm Shield. Even with the Chaotic gifts, Gor'Hal realized that Lazarus was no amateur. He recalled that one of the best swordsman in the Iron Warriors Legion during the Great Crusade was named Lazarus and that this must have been him. Both combatants would drenched in sweat but Lazarus was tiring quicker than Gor'Hal, his shield arm wavering as the punishing blows from Gor'Hal's Thunder Hammer rained down. Gor'Hal would press his advantage, feinting another overhead swing from his Thunder Hammer to force Lazarus to raise his shield in defense, leaving his legs exposed. Gor'Hal would quickly realign his swing while Lazarus' face was momentarily blocked by his own shield. His Thunder Hammer crashing into the swordsman's left knee. Lazarus let out a shout of agony and he crumpled to the floor, defeated. However, Gor'Hal was greatly impressed by the Iron Warriors' showing and offered him a spot alongside the Ironblood. Lazarus accepted the offer and Fel'Hal would use his Apothecary skills and Warp power to heal the Swordsman's leg with unnatural speed.

With this victory, the Ironblood Warband grew from 15 to around 200 Astartes and thousands of human slaves. Gor'Hal would lead hundreds of raids against various legions and warbands over the next 2 millennia. His warband growing to some 5,000 by the beginning of the Dispute of Iron in M34.