Thunder Lances

"We ride, for victory! For Humanity! For Khan! And For The Great Father!"- Great Brother White Wolf, leader of the Thunder Lance

The Thunder Lance are a White Scars succsessor chapter of the 24th founding. They are masters of close quarters combat, lighting fast assaults, space battles, and bloody ambushes. They are well known throughout the Galatic East as savage and bloodthirsty warriors, but beneovlent and quick to put civilian populations above all other tatical gains.

They have been known to be fond of (some chapters would say obsessed with) collecting grizzly tropies from fallen enemies, these mostly take the form of scalps, but skulls, finger bones, eyes and even tanned hides are all prizes that will be taken from a partciularly worthy foe.

Although, stoic when in the presents of outsiders, the chapter is known to be almost boisterous when in the company of their fellows. They love to ride headlong into battle atop their Assault Bikes, their high piched warcries driving fear into the heart of the enemy and rallying their allies to battle.

Founding
The Thunder Lance was created in the 24th founding due to the rising number of threats in the Galactic East. These brave warriors found a remote world to call home. Inankata was a harsh and rugged world of deserts and was grassy plains, it struck a corde deep within the new chapter, as it resonaited with their White Scar linage. They set up their fortress monestary upon an ancient mobile fortress, a relic from a bygone era, untouched by the supersitous natives. This fortress would be known as The Lumbering Mountain, and its mobile nature fit well with the chapters nomadic lifestyle. There on Inankata they recruited from the warlike tribes of nomads and warriors, who lived their lives hunting the herds of hulking Katon and fighting one another in brutal wars for these scarce hunting grounds.

The Calipsian Hordes
The Chapters remote homeworld was soon under attack by the barbarian hordes and Feral Legions of the Calipsia Sub-Sector which was only a short Warp jump away. The Thunder Lance defended their homeworld from the might of the Calipsian Hordes but at great cost, much of the older veteran Marines were killed in the fighting and the local population was reduced by half. It seemed as if this Chapter was doomed to be overwhelmed when the Equalizers came to the Thunder Lance's aid. Togther the two chapters repelled the barbairan raiders and to this day the Equalizers 7th Company is never far from the Thunder Lances homeworld should the Claipsian Hordes decend upon Inankata.

Tryanid Invasions
Though Inankata was well out of the path of the Hive Fleets when they tore through the Galatic East, nonetheless the Chapter suffered significant losses in assisting various chapters and defending various worlds from the Great Devouerer.

Current Status
The majority of the Chapters forces are deicated to containing the growing threat of the Calipsian Hordes and Ork tribes in their region of space, however some of the "Wandering Brotherhoods" can be encountered throughout the Saggitairus Arm, constantly on the hunt for threats to the Imperium.

Chapter Fleet
The Thunder Lance's fleet is spread thin, with only one Battle Barge, known as the Dual Scars, it is one of the smallest Chapter Fleets in the whole of the Imperium. But the fleet makes up for this lack of size with sheer skill that has come form centuries of dealing with Pirates and Xenos hordes. It is well known thought the Calpsian Hordes that a space battle with even a small patrol of Thunder Lance support craft is often more trouble than its worth, as they can take on forces three times their size and fight with the ferocity of a starved preaditor.

Though the Dual Scars is in the possesion of the 1st Brotherhood, the 8 Vengance-Class Cruisers are spread thoughout the rest of the Brotherhoods, two to each of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th Brotherhoods. The 6th Brotherhood has the Cruiser known as White Glint. This Cruiser is considered the most decoraited in the fleet and has taken on scores Kill Kroozers, Dark Eldar pirate ships, and Calipsian Warships and triumphed. This is due in part to the Vengance Classes hardy design, but also the mastery of the 6th Botherhoods Huntmaster, River Fist.

Organization
Currently the chapter is devided into six Compaines or "Brotherhoods", the 1st and 2nd Brotherhoods have at least two hundred marines. While the rest of the Brotherhoods contain only one hundred. The 5th and 6th Brotherhoods are desegnaited as "Wandering" or "Patroling", constantly travling up and down the Saggitarius arm and are battle ready. Whilst the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th are currently keeping the Claipsian Hordes contained as best they can.

The Thunder Lances equivilent of Chapter Master is the office of Great Brother, the Great Brother like the Chapter Master is the supreme commander of the whole chapter and no great undetaking is done without his wise counsle.

Benith the Great Brother there are the Huntmasters, who preform the role of a Captain in a Codex Compient Chapter, Huntmasters lead their Battle Brothers from the front, usually from atop his cutomized War Bike. A Huntmasters armor is usually adorned with various trophies as a sign of his office and as a symbol of his skill in battle.

Benith the Huntmasters are the Trackers, who preform the role of Sargents, Trackers lead their brothers into battle and ensure the success of the hunt. They are masterful tactictions each, and gifted warriors, but what makes a Tracker suited for his role is his leadership abailities. He leads his brothers though victory and ruin with iron will and wisdom gained from centuries of experience.

After the Trackers there are the four basic Unit types, Bike Squads, (which then become Assault, Attack, Scout, and Lance squads) Hunter Squads, which are the equivilant to Scout Squads, Warrior Squads, which play the same role as Tatical Squads, and Shadow Squads, which are the same in function as Assault Squads.

Librarians within the Chapter take the title of Guides. Guides are also the spirtual leaders of the Chapter and thus preform the role of a Chaplien as well. They are responsible for recruiting young warriors into the Chapter and providing the Huntmasters and Trackers with guidance. They are some of the oldest members of the Chapter and thus their words are heeded with the utmost respect and reverience.

The Thunder Lance has no dedicated Scout Company, thus Scout Marines (or Hunters) are taken into any of the six Brotherhoods and fight alongside their senior brothers.

Weapons and Tatics
The Thunder Lance prefer the tatics of their forebears, The White Scars, lightining-fast assaults and hit and run tatics. However, The Thunder Lance also speicalize in ambushes and full blown charges deep into the enemies ranks.

As such they have not Devistator Squads, Tanks, or Dreadnaughts, as these units cannot keep up with the Chapters style of combat.

The Thunder Lance also have a rather uniqe arsenal of weapons, mostly from their Equalizer allies:

Bolt SMG- This rugged weapon is capable of tearing through Traitor Marines and Ork Nobz alike and although useless in long range engagements, this weapon is ideal for use from the driver seat of an Assault Bike, spraying a hail of bolts over the foe.

Energy Tomahawk- Made for Battle Brothers who cannot forget their former lives, the Energy Tomahawk is basicly a small Power Axe, reminicant of the same hunting Tomahawks used by the native tribes of Inankata. It is a swift and versitle weapon, and while it is only half the size of a standard Power Axe, it has the reltively the same killing power.

Power Lance-

Culture
Though appering stoic and distant when in the company of strangers, when mebers of the Thunder Lance are in the company of old allies and chapters they have good realtions with, or interacting with civilians, they shed the stoicsem. Some even say that some mebers have nearly adolecent behaviors, as when they are homeworld Battle Brothers will often engage with one another in contests of speed and agility to pass the time and keep themselves sharp. This is mostly due to the fact that many of this Chapters marines are quite young, as they have suffered numoris casualties over the millenia and much of their veteran warriors are either dead or presumed dead. In spite of this they are a well disaplened chapter in spite of their reptuation as "children" amongst the older and more established chapters.

They see the Emporor as an all powerful deity for good and justaice, and the Great Father of all mankind, and as such worship the Emporor respecfully. However they are not blinded by zelous fervor in their presuites, for they believe zelousy begets dogma which begets a lack of objetictive thinking, which eventually leads to Chaos.

They maintain many of the tradtions of the nomadic tribes of Inankata, one such tradtion in the Hunters Rite, which all asperainets must undertake before becoming a fully fledged Space Marine. The would be Astartes first partakes in various hallucinogens and other "mind expanding" drugs so that they may "Feel the light of the Emporor." They are then armed with one of the Chapters signature tomahawks and guided to the Proving Grounds. There the innitate finds an enraged Katon bull and he is supposed to kill the beast (which have been known to shrug off lasbolts and autogun slugs like flies) with little more but the weapon in his hands and pure skill. Though other Chapters see this "Rite" as tantimount to suiceide, some such as the Space Wolves, see this as a perfect innitation ritual. The purpose of the Hunters Rite is to teach the potental Space Marine that they should be able to succseed regardless of the situation, and to know what its like to be on the reciving end of a powerful charge.

The large beasts known as the Katon are an important part of the Chapters culture. Whilst veiwed by most as though and ill-tempered beasts, the people of Inankata and the Marines of The Thunder Lance see them as reverent and holy creatures, the very embodyment of the Chapters strength and wisdom. While few see the Katon as wise, they are undoubtably strong, capable of trampling even a fully armored Astates. But they are without a doubt the lifeblood of the tribal peoples of Inankata, for they are the primary suorce of meat and cloathing and bone for tools on this desert world. These creatures are also noted for their violent temperes which make them impossible to tame, should a Katon feel threatend, it will trample and gore the source of its irritation, the only warining they give is the thunderous sound of their footfalls. Katon skulls and iconagrophy feature prominantly in The Thunder Lance and some high ranking Battle Brothers even have their helmets forged in the shape of a Katons horned skull.

Though considered overtly brutal for their habit of taking bloody trophies and ritual scaring, they are no more bloodthirsty than most chapters. But they believe that taking a peice of a formidable foe brings luck and sends a clear message to the enemies of man. It is also symbol of skill and status within the Chapter, as a skilled warrior can, in his long lifetime, collect a massive collection of skulls and scalps that is truly mindboggling. Some trophies are even grafted onto power armor for added intimdation.

Lance Squads
To the casual observer, Lance Squads are nothing more than Assault Bike Squads armed with the Chapters signature Power Lances, but in truth Lance Squads are much more than that. Lance Squads are made up of the chapters bravest and most skilled warriors. Only the best and most seinor warriors of the Chapter are allowed the priviledge to be a Lancer. These masterful warriors ride customized War Bikes, bearing heavy plows in the front in order to dive through the foes ranks and some even bear retractable blades on the sides of the bike or grenade launchers.

But the most powerful weapon in a Lance Squads aresenal, is the mighty Power Lance. These powerful weapons were once noting more but simple hunting lances, simmilar to those that the native tribes of Inankata use to bring down mighty Katon. However, after the Thunder Lance allied with the Equalizers, the Equalizers took it upon themselves to gift these valliant warriors with the first Power Lances. Later Power Lances would be made in the Thunder Lances forges, but usually there is an Equalizer Tech-Marine of the 7th Company within the forges to ensure the weapons quality. The Power Lance is capable of pericing a Dreadnaughts armor and even if its user is thrown from his bike it is still a potent weapon, crushing bone and peircing flesh with ease.

War Bikes
War Bikes are Assault Bikes that have undergone extensive remodeling to carry more on board weapons and heavyer armor. These large metal steeds are equiped with more powerful engines and rocket thrusters in order to achieve great speeds and compensaite for the added weight of weapons and armor.

War Bikes are ment to plow right through the enemy lines, not for simple hit and run tatics. These Bikes can be devistating and depening on their armament, can ethier preform a anti-infantry or anti-armor role.

War Bikes are usually found only in Lance Squads and in the possesion of Huntmasters.

Great Brother White Wolf
One of the oldest members of the Chapter, White Wolf has led The Thunder Lance for centuries with honor and distinction, it is his wise leadership and tatical acumen that has drasticly stemed the tide of maurauding Ork and Calpsian armies from spilling out into the rest of the Galatic East.

Huntmaster River Fist
River Fist is the Huntmaster of the 6th Brotherhood and renowned as an unmached warrior in the relm of space, with nothing more than his loyal force of 100 Battle Brothers and his Vengance-Class Crusier, White Glint, he has outmached and defeated whole Xenos fleets (mostly Ork and Dark Eldar) and brought even the most notorius pirates and brigands to a bloody justaice. Hes tatical aptitude dose not stop within the void, for he is also a masterful tatiction on the ground and can lead his small force of dauntless Space Mariens to victory against all odds. He is nothing less than a hero and some believe that he will one day hold the title of Great Brother.

River Fist is a man of actions, not words, as such he has little patiences for the bicking of tatical meetings and leads his forces as he sees fit. (more often than not without considering his allies) Though some have branded him reckless, his stratiges tend to be exactly what is necciary to claim victory.

He can be considered both a brutal and ruthless indvidual by his foes and some allies, but the countless civilians and Imperial Gaurdsmen his forces have saved know him as a benvolent servent of the Imperium and its peoples. In truth River Fist is simply a Space Marine, both avenger and gaurdian, and behaves as such. Though, he has been known to fly into a rage if the enemy, or his allies, use civilans as living sheilds or bargening chips in war.

His War Bike, Kahn's Vengance, is a poweful steed and has crushed countless Xenos and Barbarian warriors benith its tires, and its forward plow is lined with the fused skulls of various Ork, Dark Eldar, and Calpsian warriors who dared challange River Fist on the feild of battle. He also weilds The Spear of Thunder, a powerful and ancient relic from the Great Crusaide, this Power Spear is said to be imbued with the wrathfull spirit of Jaghatai Kahn himself and its arcs of disruptor energy seem to crackle violently when Dark Eldar are near.