Iron Shields

"Heresy and Xeno filth! No matter the numbers we will stand against them for the Emperor!"

- Brother Rothgar, Forge Guard The Iron Shields are an 8th Founding Successor Chapter to the Iron Hands. Their Chapter Master is the veteran Mabiefen Hafoc. Like the Iron Hands they were once considered a Codex Divergent chapter mainly due to their system of organisation. They are most commonly used as a 'firefighting' formation, sent across the Segmentum Tempestus to counter Xenos threats.

Homeworld
Malveratus is located in the Silvanus Sub-Sector in the Segmentum Tempestus. It was the site of the long war between the Iron Shields and the Biel-Tan Eldar who claimed the world as their Maiden planet Athuariel. The vast human populace that lived there Millenia ago has dwindled to their surviving descendants who toil to support the Chapter Monastery, the Basilica Ferrax.

Malveratus itself is a temperate world, much of the planet has recovered from the devastation of war but left among the forests are the ruins of great cities and fortifications rarely glimpsed. It is rumoured among the ruins roam horrific mutations, feral Orks and even creatures of Chaos.

Though the Chapter maintain their base on the planet, they have very little to do with the administration of the planet which remains under the Planetary Governor installed by the Imperium, nor do they recruit from the world's population preferring to separate themselves as much as possible.

Timeline

 * M34 - Iron Shields Founded under legendary Chapter Master Carleman Forge and deployed to Segmentum Tempestus.
 * M35 - Iron Shields participate in the wars during the Nova Terra Interregnum.
 * 449.M35 - Iron Shields recover an STC after a decade long battle against Xenos culminating in a xenocide on Oriel V against the native species. The STC is found to be unusable.
 * 610.M36 - Iron Shields join the Crusades in the Segmentum Tempestus.
 * 030.M37 - Iron Shields fleet enters what will become the Silvanus Sub-Sector.
 * 031.M37 - Warp storms cut off the Iron Shields.
 * 032.M37 - The War for Malveratus sees the Iron Shields decimate and conquer the planet against Eldar, Ork and Renegade resistance. Chapter reorganised into House system to maintain fighting power.
 * 291.M37 - Warp storms around Silvanus end.
 * C.300.M39 - The Silvanus Crusade launched to pacify the rest of the Sub-Sector.
 * 672-990.M41 - Warp storms engulf the Segmentum Tempestus.
 * 811-836.M41 - The Havoc, civil war breaks out among the Iron Shields.
 * 837.M41 - The Iron Shields return to Codex organisation.
 * 997.M41 - Hive Fleet Leviathan enters the Segmentum Tempestus.

The Founding
The Iron Shields were part of the 8th Founding of chapters during the 35th Millenium. Their role was envisioned to be one of a mobile defensive force in the Segmentum Tempestus which had long been suffering Xenos incursions after The Howling had isolated thousands of Imperium worlds.

After decades of Strategic Prognostication, the Emperor's Tarot revealed that the chapter would have to be unshakeable in it's devotion, and unrelenting in it's war against the Xenos. Thus the Iron Shields were created using the gene-seed of Ferrus Mannus and the Iron Hands Chapter and sent along with an Astartes fleet to help bring order back to the worlds of the Segmentum.

As the chapter built up strength, their early assignments were restricted to support roles alongside the Iron Hands and their brother chapter the Red Talons as preparation for autonomous campaigns. After several decades of support roles the Iron Shields were declared ready to undertake their own duties in the Segmentum Tempestus and were deployed on a century long Crusade to engage and destroy all Xenos encountered.

Segmentum Tempestus
Over the course of the next few centuries the Iron Shields were without a homeworld. Instead the Iron shields struck against Xenos forces from their battlefleet. The Chapter gained a reputation for brutal force, often flattening battlefields with orbital strikes and levelling cities to exterminate the enemy. Towards the end of the Millennia continued their crusade against Ork incursions into the North of the Segmentum trying to maintain a secure cordon on the border with the Segmentum Solar.

The Nova Terra Interregnum
The Iron Shields were part of the vast Imperial forces assigned to fight against the Nova Terran forces in the Interregnum Civil War throughout M35 and were part of the brutal wars known as the Cataclysm of Souls.

The War for Malveratus
In M37 the Iron Shields patrolled the sectors of the Tempestus. After just one year of the expedition the Sub-Sector which would later become the Silvanus Sub-Sector was engulfed in Warp Storms and cut the Iron Shields from the Astronomican. Taking advantage of the warp storm, the Biel-Tan Eldar attacked Imperial space. The Iron Shields were called to defend the planet of Malveratus which had once been known as the Eldar Maiden world of Athuariel near to Biel-Tan space. When the Iron Shields had arrived the defence forces had been wiped out and the populace had surrendered to the Eldar invasion force. The Iron Shields mounted a rapid assault against the garrison fleet. After the Biel-Tan fleet had been destroyed, the Chapter fleet commenced a heavy bombardment of the planet before descending to mop up the survivors.

When it appeared that the planet had been pacified the Biel-Tan returned, the Chapter, with a skeleton Planetary Defence Force, began the bloody defence of the planet, more and more resources were poured into the war by both sides until after decades of war the entire chapter was fighting on the decimated planet.

The situation was grim, but became desperate when an Ork tribe under Warboss Bluddspitta descended on the planet. Both Iron Shield and Eldar began to fall back against the growing Ork horde. Despite slaughtering thousands upon thousands of the Orks, the Iron Shields and the Biel-Tan were forced into a compromise. Farseer Ultharyon of the Biel-Tan Swordwind proposed an alliance against the Orks and judgement on the planet's ownership after the war. Chapter Master Vortegan accepted the offer despite the misgivings of his Chief Librarian, Silvanus.

With the Iron Shield-Eldar alliance agreed, the war against the Orks began in earnest, months of fighting culminated in a vast battle in the ruins of Malveratus' capital city - known only as The City. There, led by Silvanus, the Chapter Librarian, a cadre of surviving Battle Brothers stormed the Ork defenses and with Eldar support and unnerving ferocity engaged Warboss Bluddspitta in combat. Harnessing all his power, Silvanus threw aside Nobz and Weirdboyz alike before obliterating Bluddspitta in an overwhelming psychic blast.

Weakened and exhausted from the years of battle, Silvanus was easily overpowered and killed when Farseer Ultharyon turned against the Iron Shields whilst the Orks scattered. The battle that followed levelled the city, the Iron Shields called down orbital fire upon themselves in a desperate attempt for vengeance against the Eldar. Faced with such a slaughter, the Biel-Tan attempted to extricate themselves, as they fled, Vortegan fought his last battle against Ultharyon, cornering him among the mountains of Ork, Astartes and Eldar dead. Alone in battle, Ultharyon met his end against Vortegan's Lightning Claws, while the Chapter Master himself died days after, redeemed.

Malveratus - The Aftermath
The Chief Librarian Silvanus became a Chapter hero after the war, and his name became legend among friend and foe alike in the sector. Vortegan was not so lucky, though the killing of Ultharyon went some way to restoring his name, the stain of collusion with the Xenos remained and he became an allegory for the Iron Shields' hatred of the alien, and of the weakness against which they must always strive. Over the next two centuries the Iron Shields rebuilt, the City was replaced with the Basilica Ferrax, the Chapter monastery, and around it were settled the surviving inhabitants. Outside of the new city, there was nothing but blasted wilderness and ruin from which feral Orks and mutants roamed and were periodically hunted by the Chapter.

A Chapter council was created, attended by the Captains and other seniors of the Chapter so that no one man could once more overrule what was considered to be the better decision. The Company system was replaced with the more autonomous House system so that the Chapter could better deal with the manifold threats of the sector.

Beliefs and Reputation
It is said that the Iron Hands geneseed, rarely used, was chosen for their harsh and uncompromising nature. So it was with the Iron Shields who quickly gained a reputation for devotion to the Emperor, and ferocity to his enemies. This was most famously seen at the Battle of Malveratus, when the civilian population under Biel-Tan rule was subjected to a vast planetary bombardment prior to landing, and the civilian government executed after landfall. The Iron Shields are also renowned for their disdain towards those outside of the Adeptus Astartes, but conversely famed for their strong ties among battle brothers.

Unlike the Iron Hands, the Iron Shields have tried set themselves apart from the ideal of machinery and instead rely on what the Imperium had provided, believing that Ferrus Mannus had proclaimed that they should trust in the strength of their flesh rather than attempting to improve upon the Emperor's work. However there are some who believe that the transition from flesh to machine is a necessity for their continued service to the Emperor, and the issue has never fully been resolved.

Geneseed
The Iron Shields are one of the rare successor chapters to the Iron Hands. While there has never been a physical flaw found in their geneseed, it is often debated as to whether their hatred of weakness is a product of their genetics or of chapter culture. Further, like the Iron Hands, if the Inquisition have concerns, they have yet to come to light for the Iron Shields remain unmolested.

The Chapter
The Iron Shields have undergone a number of organisational changes during their history. While initially founded as a Codex Compliant Chapter, they were later forced to use a divergent organisation system, inspired by the Clans of the Iron Hands and necessitated by the escalating war on Malveratus. There were nine Houses, equivalent to Codex Companies in size, but all operating as a Battle Company. The Iron Shields retained their Veteran Company (known as the Forge Guard) which acted under instruction from the Chapter Master, often operating as a surgical strike force to support Houses in combat.

After Mabiefen Hafoc's seizure of power the Chapter was reorganised once more to bring the all too independent Houses back into line. With resistance within the Chapter broken, it was brought back into Codex compliance in terms of organisation with the battle and reserve companies restored.

Recruitment
No aspirants are taken from Malveratus but rather from the Sector at large, the chapter regularly campaigns to maintain peace and accept worthy candidates for the trials on Malveratus. As a holdover from the pre-Havoc days, different companies will often have a core set of worlds they prefer to recruit from, House Haxan (now 5th Company) for example recruited exclusively from their eponymous system after their noted actions in the crusades there.

Many failed aspirants are retained as Chapter serfs, some are even cast out to live among the general populace of Malveratus to satisfy the needs of the Basilica Ferrax.

Chapter Master Mabiefen Hafoc
Born on the Feral World of Asgerd VII, one of the main recruitment centres of the Chapter, Mabiefen was taken as an aspirant for House Carleman, the 3rd Company of the Iron Shields. During this time much of the sector was under constant threat of warp storms and many of his early actions were localised campaigns.

His promotion to Captaincy of House Carleman came during the Exterminatus of the Xenophiles on Terentia X taking over from his deceased Captain Helmgar Thrax.

Mabiefen is most famously known for his participation during the Havoc, a 25 year civil war in the chapter during which he took power and suppressed the power of the Astartes Houses.