Tempered Souls

The Chapter Overview
The Tempered Souls are in between old and new like many of the other successor chapters. They are rich in history and customs with most of their traditions being self formed rather than being handed down from a parent chapter as they do not know where exactly their geneseed is from. They have fought many foes on many planets which is one of their greatest feats as they do not chase after relics like many others do.

From the very start of their chapter The Tempered Souls have been conquering and conquesting in the name of the Imperium. They were fleet based at first traveling from system to system doing the Emperor's will until they were ambushed by a large Black Legion fleet. Many of their ships were damaged in the battle and they were forced to find themselves a homeworld. They were not granted a world like most chapters though, they had to not only find their own but claim it from any xenos filth that may be there.

Forming The System
After traveling around for a few months recovering on the grand ships in the chapter's possession they had finally found a system that they thought would make fine place for them to call home. This sector was uncharted by the Imperium or was perhaps forgotten (though it seems unlikely it was ever inhabited by Man prior to their arrival). They scanned each planet before making planetfall on any of them. Each planet was inhabited by some form of semi intelligent Xenos but these planets were barely a threat (most were lush paradise and agri-worlds). They decided to take the planet that would later become their homeworld first. They combed the planet over with squads of marines and land speeders looking for any threats. After a week or so of inspection they had determined the planet to be free of threats for the time being. Afterwards they made planetfall and made a temporary base.

Now with a planet to use as a base of operations they started on cleansing the rest of the system from the alien menace. They progessed through two more planets with no issue using the same tactic as they had previously until they came across the planet that would later be known as Kreeping (which is currently a death world because of the battle). The xenos present here was Exodite Eldar who had taken notice to the invasion of the rest of the system and had made plans to defy the invaders. They had dug in and made ready for a siege. When the battle fleet arrived to orbit the planet they brought down the sky day after day for two weeks straight. Assuming there was nothing left on the planet after such a barrage they scanned the planet and made themselves ready for going to the surface. To their dismay they discovered the Eldar were still alive in large numbers albeit much less than before the bombardment. They laid waste to the planet once more but this time not just with cannons and lasers but with biological weapons and radiation bombs. After a month of this life destroying combo every thing on the planet except for aquatic life deep under the surface of the planet's oceans was dead.

During this massive siege of the 4th world some of the chapter that was not involved in that battle had went ahead and cleared the 5th world (which was uninhabited) and scouted the 6th. The 6th planet was where the Exodite Eldar fled when they discovered they would not be able to keep the marines off of the 4th world. It was taken very quick as the amount of Eldar who successfully made it here was very small and they were in no condition to fight. What happened to them is unknown but they were most certainly dealt with in some way. Some say that they wee slaughtered but some speculate that the marines let them go to flee the system.

Rising From Ashes
The chapter after it's long siege and casualties from other engagements was battered and broken. Equipment was in a mass state of disrepair and vehicles were all used up. Directly after the conquering of the system the chapter had to recuperate and begin the logistics of owning a system. They contacted the Lords of Terra to inform them of the success of the campaign. With the Lords informed of their success and Imperial ships full of supplies and members of the Imperial Guard the Tempered Souls could rest and recover from their losses. Worlds were settled by humans and fortresses constructed during this time of relative peace for the chapter and over time the wounds of battle began to heal. Over the span of a decade the chapter's ranks were replenished and the were at full strength for carrying out missions. For the first time in over a decade the chapter would be back into the fray full time.

A Chapter Reborn
After finding a world (and system) to claim as their own the chapter spent a decade rebuilding themselves as well as construct a fortress for themselves. The fortress would come to be known as the "Sanctuary of Light" over time (not just for holy purposes but it was one of the few light sources on the planet and a large one at that). After shaping the system as they saw fit they decided they might as well do the same to the chapter. They figured out through trial and error that they believed the Codex Astartes to be too inflexible for their needs. They threw away the rule book I suppose you could say. They broke up the companies and reformed them to be more well rounded.

This made many of the Codex compliant chapters lend their criticism. While this action made them be seen as lesser in the eyes of the by the book chapters it did increase The Tempered Souls' ability in combat as a whole. This reorganization made each company self reliant, it was no longer necessary to mix and match companies. There were now terminators, veterans, and everything in between evenly distributed to each company. Now any company can handle any situation short of a hive fleet invasion or going into the eye of terror.

Conflict History
It should be noted that many of the records if not all prior to the finding of the chapter's home world are absent from any Imperial collections (possibly destroyed in the ambush or kept secret for unknown purposes). That being said read onward to learn the rich history of the chapter.

The Crusade Of The Nerio Sector M37.987
As said above upon the chapter's creation there was no designated home world as they were fleet based until they suffered severe damage to their fleet at the hands of a Black Legion ambush. The battle for this system was hard fought against the Xenos who resided there. The brunt of the "blade of the chapter" was brought upon the Filth with divine fury. The planets were bombarded for days on end and after the smoke would clear the marines would come down with bolters in hand to complete the bestowed task. Cities were crushed and temples of the Eldar's false beliefs were brought down. This is where the proud Captain Caesar (current chapter master) would shine. He led every one of these planet-side assaults always at the front.

Even on the 4th planet which was the Exodite's planet he was just as competent as on the previous planets. He especially showed his valor here on this world, he slew many foes that day and even delivered the killing blow to the leader of the entire Exodite group of the entire system. However this would only be the beginning of the many battles the chapter would fight and win.

The Execution Of The "Grot-Crusha" M37.999
A troublesome ork warboss was making a name for himself among the rest of the greenskins. He was building such a reputation that he caught the attention of Imperial officials. With word spreading this up and coming warboss was ready to start a decent sized Waaaagh The Tempered Souls Were Called upon. Rather than waiting for the xenos to attack first the chapter readied their fleet to intercept the orks mid journey. When the ramshackled ork ships came near the outer fringes of chapter's system the marine's fleet appeared out of no where and began the ambush. First there was a barrage to get the ork's attention and then the marines closed in to begin the assault.

During this confusing crossfire the ork flagship containing Grot-Crusha was left nearly defenseless apart from its own weapons. With the bulk of the marine's ships keeping the foes distracted the designated assault ship closed in on the flagship. Strafing the ork ship the assault craft launched breaching teams all across the ship. Spreading throughout the ship the marines cleaved through the orks. In this battle the lowly novice known as Valk would shine. When the captain of the 3rd company ,who at that time was Alof Kazir, was killed in action by one very lucky grot Valk took the helm. He rallied his brothers and continued towards the bridge. The first group to fight their way to the bridge Valk and his handful of fellow marines were in a dire situation. Before them was the target surrounded by his cadre of bodyguards. The orks let out a roar and charged. Blade to klaw and powerfist to mega-armor they fought. By the end of it Grot-Crusha lay broken and beaten before Valk. The ilk was brought back to the planet Necro where his green skinned and red eyed face is a mantle piece.

As for the rest of the Waaagh those who weren't dead fled in horror. This not only brought honor to the chapter but resources as well for being so effective. This battle made other chapters envious and also proud of their fellow astartes.

The Flight of The Phoenix M38.005
Somewhere in space relatively close to the chapter's sector a fresh space hulk had surfaced from the warp. The Imperial Navy and other Imperial ships had taken notice to the derelict ship and had made a request for it to be inspected. The bureaucracy of Terra had researched the ship by delving into the records and determined the ship to be The Phoenix. This ship when it was last seen was said to have technology from the heresy (according to its shipping manifest).

The chapter was assigned to the inspection of the ship and to search it for relics. They sent a detachment to carry out the mission. Captain Valk would personally lead this mission as it had been some time since he had been on duty ( he had to deal with logistical matters in the system for some time). As soon as the detachment was within sight of the derelict hulk they were awestruck with the size of the ship and even though they were not overly fond of worshiping ancient tech were also amazed at the archaic appearance of the ship. The pulled a boarding craft beside on open access port to the ship and the Captain ( Valk) and his handful of terminators progressed forward into the ship. They went first to the bridge of the ship to learn the layout of the ship and to try and find out what had happened to the crew. It was not very obvious what had happened here as with most hulks as there were no nests of genestealers or any obvious sign of chaos taint.

Upon visiting the ship's bridge they learned the layout of the ship and only found mundane notes of the ship's starting point and its destination. After several more minutes of searching the party had found the ship's shipping manifest which listed several things of great strategic value to the chapter and to the Imperium as a whole. With the items contained in the ship now known to the group the send a transmission back to the ship to inform them it would be some time and to prepare for taking in cargo. They progressed to the hold looking for clues on what had happened on the ship by looking for corpses or perhaps signs of a struggle but nothing was evident.

They reached the doors of the hold to find them shut tightly. One of the terminators stepped forth with their chainfist and sliced the door open. As light shown into the chamber the marines could see the horrible mutated crew facing a altar of three flies ( symbol of Nurgle). Hundreds of plague infested crew members stared at the terminators and started to creep towards them. Valk stepped through the hole in the door and let a salvo of bolter rounds fly towards the heretics. The rest of the terminators soon followed as the first rounds slammed in to the walking puss bags. Shortly after the first few minutes of gunfire all of the chaos disciples were slain and the marines began looking throughout the hold. Valk began to hear something behind him and turned around quickly to blast away the scum. He hesitated after seeing what was behind him. One of the heretics he had blown in two pieces earlier was beginning to form into two more! He looked around the rest of the cargo bay to see the rest of the crew doing the same multiplying as the came back from death.

Making a quick decision he called out to his brothers to open fire and retreat with him to the warp drive containment room. They forced their way through with stormbolter and fist. The Nurgle-ites were scratching and thrashing upon their impenetrable armor trying to hold them back. The marines reached the containment room and Valk told them of the plan he had hatched. Knowing that no matter how many of these crew members you killed more would grow back from the corpses he decided the only way to deal with it would be to eradicate all of them completely by making the warp drive go critical. This would however require one of the marines to stay behind to carry out the process. They all volunteered of course being space marines looking to die gloriously so it was decided by Valk who would go. He chose a terminator by the name of **INQUISITION MEMBERS EYES ONLY**. The rest left while he stayed and valiantly made ready to greet the Emperor. Valk and the rest made it safely back to the ship and left in a hurry. The slipped into warp space fast enough to miss the explosion but the destruction of the Nurgle-ites manifested itself in the warp as their souls were set free.

The Defense Of Alavir M39.056
When the synth world known as Alavir (a star fortress located in the Eastern Fringe) was attacked by a small raiding fleet of Black Legion chaos astartes the Tempered Souls were called to action. Arriving as fast as they could the 3rd grand company discovered that the star fortress was nearly empty with a minuscule amount of Imperial forces still alive and fighting. The chaos fleet had landed most of their ships and had taken hold of over half of the star fortress. It was decided by 3rd company captain Valk to split the force in half and for one half to attack any of the chaos ships still in orbit while the other half would take the fight to the interior of the fortress.

Valk and his half reached the surface of Alavir and began to try and gather some information as to where the heretics had occupied from the local IG regiment stationed there. While Valk gathered his information the Souls's fleet moved up on the flank of the chaos fleet. The aerial battle was swift as the loyalist fleet was considerably larger and many of the heretic's ships lay dormant upon the surface of Alavir. After all of the Black Legion ships had been swept aside the Tempered Souls ships began to bombard the ships on the ground ensuring there was no escape for the traitors.

After making sure that the last of the traitor's navy was destroyed Valk along with his marine retinue (which was bolstered by the resident guardsmen) marched forward into the inner workings of Alavir. Bodies lay mangled and broken before them as they entered the grand halls of the fortress. The guardsmen cowered and got sick at the sight of their mutilated comrades while the Tempered Soul's marines pressed forward. The signs of chaos became more prominent as the Imperial forces got closer to the center of the fortress. Once they came upon the very heart of the fortress they discovered the gore covered chaos astartes and their underlings performing a dark ritual to summon the foul creatures of the warp. As the chaos sorcerer was about to utter the dark incantation Valk drew his bolter and fired a volley of rounds which tore him asunder.

The mob of chaos' servants turned around and seen the mighty captain and his fellow servants of the Emperor and mustered up a great roar of hatred. The cultists charged forth while their masters loaded their demonic auto-cannons and drew their twisted blades. The weak underlings of the chaos astartes were ripped to shreds by a combined effort of the Tempered Souls and IG gun line. The Imperials pushed into the room while the chaos marines made ready for the inevitable clash of steel and fist that would be upon them shortly. Guardsmen were cut clean into as the Black Legion marines rushed forward and loyalist marines shrugged off bolter rounds as they ran to meet the enemy. After a grueling hour of melee combat the last of the Black Legions members was put to the sword.

The wounded sorcerer who lay broken was clinging to life and uttered the final words of his ritual. The corpses of heretic and hero alike rose up and began to mutate horribly. The foul sorcerer laughed as the bewildered Captain Valk crushed his skull underneath his boot. The corpses then stood upright to reveal what the sorcerers' ritual had done. They appeared to have been taken over by the entities of chaos to use as puppets. The already damaged force of Tempered Souls had to make a logical retreat as the fallen would rise up to be claimed by chaos. They ran back to their ships and once they were back in orbit the contacted the Inquisition to inform them of the incident. They were then given clearance to destroy the fortress as to halt the spread of chaos taint. The Tempered Souls then destroyed Alavir with a volley of fire.

The 3rd company lost 20 battle brothers that day and even worse lost the precious geneseed within them. Although the fortress was ultimately destroyed it was considered a victory as the forces of chaos weren't allowed to inherit the fortress or its secrets.

The 12th Black Crusade M41.145
As the 12th Black Crusade swept across the galaxy the Tempered Souls found themselves beset within their home sector. A large invasive fleet of heretics and traitors had entered their system without warning. The rival fleet showed up an opportune time as well as most of the (roughly sixty percent) Soul's forces had been dispatched to fight elsewhere in the Imperium. The heretics horde first destroyed the synth-planet Gallius with a combined salvo from the massive ships. Luckily, at least for the Tempered Souls, this small synth planet was a luxury spot with very little resources on it and no forces stationed on it.

The Souls were quick to react once they were aware of what was happening to them. They mustered up what bit of a fleet they could and rushed to the enemy fleet trying to halt them so that the weapons on the ground could be put to use. The chaos fleet was met as they reached the planet Syprios. As the heretics were preparing to turn the planet to mulch with a hail of fire they were blindsided by the Tempered Souls small group of ships. The chaos fleet spun their ships around to react but the marines fleet had already maneuvered to the traitor brigades sides to open fire once more.

This provided enough of a distraction for the ground weapons of Syprios to be manned by the PDF (Planetary Defense Force). The planet shattering weapons let their projectiles soar into the heavens and wreaked havoc on any ship in the sky. Of course this meant some friendly fire as the volleys of destruction were indiscriminate of what they hit but the looses were much more sever to the chaos fleet then that of the marines. After this aerial fight the marines fleet had to return to refuel and restock. The chaos fleet tried to consolidate themselves and with most of their hard hitting ships either destroyed or critically damaged the decided to take their chances on the surface of the planet. The ground forces chewed up the descending traitor fleet but quiet a few of the enemy ships still managed to make landfall. Most of the damaged invasive fleet was plummeting towards the area around the northernmost part of the planet. The PDF and stationed Tempered Souls marines were fast to bring the fight to the disorganized enemy force.

The disoriented remnants of the chaos tainted marines were barking out orders to swarms of cultist and mercenaries as the mighty tanks of the Syprios PDF and the stalwart marines advance upon them. Many of the puny cultist were slept aside by massive bombardments of cannon fire and the bolter shots of the advancing marines. With most of the grunts out of the way all that was left to deal with the renegade chaos space marines. The Tempered Souls and the traitors traded fire at close range before the battle devolved into a close quarters battle. The servants of chaos put up stiff resistance being "blessed" with unholy mutations and the will of madmen but they were met with equal ferocity by the servants of the Emperor. After several days of this gruesome warfare the fight was over when the final traitor was made an example of. As his severed head was held up triumphantly he muttered "We'll return you fools . . ."

The rest of the invaders were purged or they fled the system. The overall damage to the system was rather mild other than the destruction of the synth-world Gallius. The surface of Syprios took a considerably long time to restore as it is a agri-world. The Tempered Souls lost 76 battle brothers in the battle and many chapter serfs who aided in the battle to compensate for the lack of many of the marines. This battle is now held in great reverence by the chapter and many of the marines who were involved in the conflict are now in the higher ranks of the chapter.

Combat Tactics
Like any other chapter they are somewhat of a jack of all trades but they have developed preferences through the different companies such as the 3rd company which has earned great fame for its favor of assaulting the foe and getting up close to finish them off with blade. Generally each company has its own specialty while still retaining a high degree of tactical flexibility. The summary of the chapter's tactics is they are some what similar to the Ultramarines (which is odd as they follow the codex strictly) being very well rounded in everything but certain parts of the chapter can be highly specialized to a certain task.

Relics
In the chapter's possession are countless masterpieces of technology. Perhaps the greatest of these is a device they found upon a derelict ship. This creation has the ability to maintain any organic life for an indefinite amount of time. This is how Caesar has lived for thousands of years. Space marines live long but even for an astartes this is quiet a ripe age. The machine reconstructs lifeforms into prime working order rolling back the years and erasing damage. It is a well kept secret among the chapter and even the rest of the Imperium. This has led many inquisitors to suspect the chapter of dealing in some shady practices.

The next relic is a blade that the original chapter master carried (his records erased during the ambush). A long double edged sword with the words "Fiducia In Ferro Tenet" engraved into its fuller. The blade is crafted from the finest alloys of its time and the cross guard and pommel are both cast from solid gold. The pommel has a anvil engraved on the cap of it and the guard has a scene of a smith and his apprentices toiling hard. The blade is regularly maintained by the master of the forge and his aspiring techmarine underlings. The blade rarely ever leaves the fortress monastery as it its one of the few pieces of history the chapter has.

Attitude Towards Normal Humans
The Tempered Souls treat anyone (other than the heretic) with utmost respect as they believe it is one of their sole purposes to protect every human life they possibly can. This has gotten them in some disadvantageous situations such as after the battle on Syprios where the local Syprios Militia had been exposed to the taint of chaos while combating the enemy force of  cultists and chaos space marines, the Inquisition suggested the idea of eradicating all of those exposed to the powers of chaos. This idea was shot down fiercely by the chapter and has earned them some heavy suspicion from many in the Inquisition.

Attitude Towards Other Chapters
They rarely interact with other chapters apart from the Space Wolves who they have grown friends with after serving in a couple of battles with them. Most other chapters regard the Tempered Souls as overly secretive and unfriendly but the chapter overall doesn't hold any distrust for anyone in particular.

Attitude The Towards The Inquisition
While the Inquisition may hold great distrust for the chapter the marines are cooperative and docile. They may not be very talkative towards inquisitors but then again not many are. Members of the chapter are still allowed to serve in the chapter as there has so far been no indications of any chaos taint.

Other Imperial Organizations
They have typicality relations with all of the other servants of the Emperor having not angered anyone so far. Though they do somewhat dislike dealing with the Adeptus Mechanicus with one marine remarking " They just creep me out, walking around with the majority of their body being machine just isn't natural".

Primogenitor
It is currently unknown in Imperial records whose geneseed the Tempered Souls recieved during its creation though it is suspected to be Rogal Dorn due to the lack of a Bethcher's Gland; However, the still have a Sus-an Membrane which most successors (and the founding chapter) are not able of having implanted. There are strong ties between the Imperial Fist and Tempered Souls which suggest they are the source of their geneseed.

Mutations
There are no other flaws with the geneseed of the chapter but there has been a tendency for a mutation to arise in some neophytes where the chemicals controlling emotions are given in sporadic or unusually high amounts. This causes violent mood swings during the early stages of the neophytes conversion into a marine and in high stress (even for a marine) situations the mood swings can be triggered again for a short time. Sometimes advantageous, such as when a marine is given the rage of the Emperor, but other time is disastrous. Marines will sometimes lose control and their grasp of reality and go insane on the battlefield.

It is through meditation and strong will they control themselves and it is a highly kept secret. To the chapter's peers this would appear as some sort of chaos influenced activity rather then a simple genetic malfunction. If a marine has gone too far over the edge they are given their final rites and are administered the gift of the emperor's mercy rather then to spend centuries as madmen.

Quotes
Feel free to add your own!

By
"Let us not forget the purpose of the astartes, we are the protectors of man not the superiors of them. If anything we are subservient to the average human for they are the sole reason we exist."

- 3rd Grand Company Captain Valk