Iron Scorpions

"Change is blasphemy, arrogance is sin"

- Iron Champion Tharkon Stormforge, second brotherhood

The Iron Scorpions are a successor chapter of the Imperial Fists, boasting the number of exactly 2000 marines at their disposal. They are most famed for their iron wills, fearlessness and igourous dedication to the emperor, and although they have had a dark past, today they have proved themselves to be some of the finest space marines in the Imperium.

They are known to be allied with Storm Eagles, Grey Knights, The Ditch Fighters, whilst holding the Blazing Claws and Onyx Knights above all other loyalists with disposition for various reasons.

The Founding
The Iron Scorpions were formed during the thirteenth founding. After their creation, the chapter appeared to be strongly based over the Codex Astartes, following it fully, and by every word, in the pursuit of the perfect space marine chapter. They became a very famous and trustworthy chapter over the centuries, and rose to a place of honour second only to the other powerful codex chapters such as the Blazing Claws and the Ultramarines.

However, they were never famed for their humility, as the marines had fallen into arrogance. The Iron Scorpions looked down upon the other space marine chapters as only imperfect, seeing only themselves as the true servants of the Emperor. Even the first founding chapters had noticed their disrespectfulness.

The marines of the chapter began to take risks, seeing themselves as invincible. They attacked massive chaos and tyranid fleets, numbering even up to tens of thousands, the original number of 1000 marines dropped to a low 580 in only a few decades, and yet they continued, believing in survival of the fittest. Even though they thought they were still a great chapter, the Iron Scorpions fell their high position of honor.

It was when the chapter fell to the number of 400 marines, the Imperium predicted their eventual doom. Only a few of the remaining marines in the chapter saw this future, but unfortunatley most of them being killed after their attempts to rise up against the other marines.

The Volnash Heresy
It was when rumors spread that the chapter had started to worship Arzal'uth, the last "sane" person left in the chapter, Urexus Banesword had rose to the position of Captain of the 1st Company, seeing the error of the chapter's ways, he stood his ground and called for the re-creation of the chapter. Almost half of the chapter realised their wrongdoing, but the other remainder, led by the traitorous Captain of the Second Company Aruxan Volnash, saw them as only weaklings. What followed was a terrible battle in the corridors of Phalanx 87, the mobile space fortress serving as their fortress monastary. Nobody could be trusted, and the war dragged on for a long 91.2 hours.

After the week of warfare in the cramped and winding passages of this ancient ship, the faithful rose victorious.

The surviving heretics, the Legion of Eternal Suffering estimated to be about 200 marines, fled the space fortress. Their last recorded position was somewhere between the perdus rift and the spatial anomaly known as Hadex.

After then, the chapter started to drift away from full dedication of the Codex, believing it as only the introductory guide to the training of a space marine, and that all chapter must find their own ways to glory.

The captain of the first company, and now Chapter Master, re-invented the ways of the chapter. He changed the ranking system, his new title becoming Iron Warden, and wrote a system of guidelines for every marine to follow, the Thirteen Commandaments of Iron. The chapter also slowly grew to the present number of 2000 marines.

Beliefs
The Iron Scorpions are most noted for their unshakeable faith in the emperor, great dicipline and overall fearlessness in the face of utter danger, a personality liked to Iron itself, hard and unbreakable. They are also known to be very stubborn, another "Iron" like trait.

They hate all enemies that appose the Imperium above all, so much so that they almost always work alone and unobserved by most of the imperium, only banding with the finest and most pure servants of the emperor, such as the Grey Knights Chapter. Although this behaviour has known to draw suspicion form the Inquisition, more than ten thousand years of unblemished service have kept their honour high.

They also have relations with the Storm Eagles chapter for an unknown reason, but it appears that both the chapter's owe their lives to each other.

The Iron Scorpions believe in humility, fearlessness and utter ruthlessness in battle, which forms the backbone of all beliefs in the chapter. These beliefs are summarized in a litany of thirteen guidelines known as "The Thirteen Commandments of Iron", upon becoming an neophyte, and for the rest of their life, the marines are expected to follow the commandaments fully, by every word. If a marine were ever to break even one of these commandaments, he would be disrespected and untrusted until he has redeemed himself through great bravery and/or deeds. This persuit of perfection is very similair to one of the aspects of their founding chapter, the Imperial Fists, who constantly feel the need to punish themselves for even the smallest inadequacy. Some of them are common throughout all space marine chapters, while others are somewhat unique.

Every Commandment can only be properly followed if the others allow it, in other words, the entire thirteen must be followed as long as they comply with the other commandaments.

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The Thirteen Commandaments of Iron

 * 1) Revere the Emperor above all, serve him and protect all that serve in his name.
 * 2) Fear is a promise of defeat.
 * 3) Make every blow your strongest and every shot strike true
 * 4) Alliance only breeds corruption, only the Emperor's finest may be trusted
 * 5) Show the enemy no mercy, no respect and no pity, death is the only gift for them
 * 6) Respect the Iron warden and all those under his command, for they know the way around the terrors you will be facing
 * 7) Arrogance is an offence equal to that of heresy, for only the Emperor is perfect
 * 8) The only disraction that may cloud your mind is your duty to the Emperor, hate of the Imperium's enemies, and perfection of the art of war.
 * 9) Finish what fallen brothers have failed to accomplish
 * 10) Question change until all knowledge of it is gained, for the old ways have ensured our victory since our rebirth, new ways can only be prefected through error and failure - And failure is never an option.
 * 11) Be tempted by nothing blasphemous, for even the slightest hint of heresy will spread.
 * 12) Avenge all deaths of your brothers second only to the death of Rogal Dorn
 * 13) Obey these Thirteen Commandaments down to even the last word.
 * }
 * }

This rigourous dedication to the thirteen rites have gradually had an effect upon the marines of the chapter. Even though thier arrogance has been banished, they still disrespect many chapters becuase they violate their own beliefs, especially unorthodox chapters such as the Space Wolves. In contradiction to that, they give chapters that seem to follow their commanaments huge amounts of respect and would even offer to die for them, such as the Ultramarines and the Grey Knights.

Ranking System
 Scout - Recruits start off as scouts where they form part of a squad, usually in squads of 5-10 led by an Iron Scout.

They utilise scouting roles and snipers, and wear scout armour, with the usual "No trim" on their shoulder pads.

 Iron Brother - The Marine has now earned the right to wear full power armour, and have their helmets painted silver, symbolising true worthiness to the chapter. They now group in squads of 10-20 as strike squads led by Iron Guardiun. Sometimes they may take specialized roles if the situation demands it:

Ordnance Brothers- (Devastator) Provide heavy fire support, favouring lascannons

Sky Brother- (Assault Marines)

Veteran roles-  When a marine reaches the first company, there are a lot of roles he may be induced into.

Steel Brother- (Sternguard Veteran) Elite warriors of the Chapter, they are unstoppable bringers of the emperor's wrath, equipped with the finest weapons and adorned with many glistening honours.

Sky Warrior- (Vanguard Veteran) Just as powerful and honourable as the Steel Brothers, but with jump packs.

Iridium Warriors- (Tactical Dreadnought, or better known as, a Terminator) Veterans They go to war encased in the strongest adamantum terminator armour. They are equipped with the deadliest weapons known to the Imperium, including power fists and storm bolters.

Are Known as Mithril Warriors if equipped with Thunder hammers, storm sheilds, or lightning claws.

Iron Guardiuns-(Veteran Sergeant) The strongest of the veterans, these individuals lead them into battle using their great leadership skills and foresight learned in the many years in the ranks.

Steel Guardiun- The Company Champions, Uniform similair to a paladin's except it is covered in carved honours, and wear advanced carapace armour

Iron Champion-(Commanders of other companies) The Highest Steel Brothers leading the companies.

Iron Warden- Chapter Master and captain of first company

Dreadnoughts- Dreadnoughts are known as Adamantine Guardiuns, the most revered brothers who have fallen, returned to the battlefeild once more.

Other special roles-

Librarians- Known as Ironkeepers, and have their entire painted in blue and silver, rather than just pure blue

Apothrecaries- The apothreacies are known as Iron Preists, their entire arour is painted white except their shoulder pads, backpacks and helmets.

The Chaplains have kept their traditional uniforms and names.

Companies
The Chapter is comprised of 2000 marines, which are broken down into ten compaines, known as "Brotherhoods". Each Brotherhood is comprised of 200 Marines. Every Brotherhood has their own speciality and name, and also each have their own uniform variations, which are worn by the sergeants of each squad. Unlike most chapters, the company colours are all very similair, and sometimes the only definate classification between marines are the company numbers written on their right shoulderpads.

Brotherhoods

1st Brotherhood of the Iron Citadel (Blue-silver):


 * Commanded by the Chapter master, Iron Warden Urexus Banesword. The champion brotherhood, consisting of 200 veterans of a thousand campaigns.


 * Unlike most chapters, even these brothers at the highest level on honor stray away from arrogance, and offer to take positions usually taken by brothers of lower companies. A common example of this is Terminators going into war counting as troops.

2nd Brotherhood of the Ancient Scorpion (White):


 * Commanded by Iron Champion Tharkon Stormforge

3rd Brotherhood of the Shining Skull (Yellow-Green):


 * Commanded by Iron Champion Oran Darkblade

4th Brotherhood of the Mithril Hammer (Metallic white):


 * Commanded by Iron Champion Irundimus Volcar

5th Brotherhood of Dark Fist (Dark Black):


 * Commanded by Iron Champion Umbranax

6th Brotherhood of the Guilded Sword (Grey):


 * Commanded by Iron Champion Arzan Urhamus.
 * Reserve Company

7th Brotherhood of the Grey Shadow (Dark Grey):


 * Commanded by Iron Champion Drhakus Maulax.

8th Brotherhood of the Spectral Flame(Metallic black):


 * Commanded by Iron Champion Burdan Ghaloc

9th Brotherhood of the Steel Wrath (Gunmetal Grey):


 * Commanded by Iron Champion Zan Thur Vorrack

10th Brotherhood of the Iron Sheild (No trim):


 * ommanded by Iron Champion Kranthax Quarzun
 * Reserve Company

Recruitment
Being that they have no homeworld, the Iron Scorpions recruit via different methods than to most chapters. Like the Black Templars, the chapter established recruitment fortresses on most worlds they conquer. They only select a few Neophytes each year from each world, usually the finest warriors available from the planets. Being that there are so few Neophytes for each training centre, each marine are able to receive huge amounts of complex training because of the time saved.

Combat doctrine
The only thing the Iron Scorpions haven't fully abandoned from the Codex Astartes,is the tactical information inside. It holds the basis for Imperial cities, giving blueprints for certain buildings and road systems, and also issuing a standard outline for defences; the Codex also gives guidelines for keeping Imperial populations in line, prescribing social structures and PDF recruitment techniques. Other than that, they have built upon the battle methods inside the book, making some of their tactics quite unique, but amazingly effective.

Vehicles
The vehicles utilised by the chapter strictly follow what has been written in the Commandments of Iron. Their weapons allow for a high degree of specialised types of warfare, particularly siege and infiltration tactic.

''Vehicles courtesy of User:Thomaslove92. Thanks!''

Battle Cry
"Hold arrogance and change below us as a mere stepping stones on the past, onwards to our future glory!"

Also known to use the following alternate mottoes:

"We strike with the wrath of Rogal Dorn and the Emperor!"

"Iron willed, striking them down with the strength of Steel!"

"From the shadows we strike! No Mercy!"

Fleet
Being a fleet bound chapter, the entire chapter are based in a large space fleet. Below are listed the most important and commonly seen vessels in the fleet, though usually a massive amount of associated crafts accompany them.
 * The Iron Citadel (Phalanx 87)- Mobile space fortress, rumored to be older than the chapter itself. It is the Fortress-monastary Iron Scorpions. This fortress is also home the the first brotherhood.
 * Dorn's Revenge- Battle barge, flagship of the Iron Scorpions Fleet. It is also the headquarters of 2nd Brotherhood.
 * Rune Lance II- Strike Cruiser, 3rd Brotherhood, the Rune Lance I was destroyed during an encounter with Hive Fleet Kraken.
 * Iron Voyager- Strike Cruiser, 4th Brotherhood.
 * Dark Spire- Strike Cruiser, 5th Brotherhoods.
 * Doomblade- Strike Cruiser, 6th Brotherhood.
 * Storm's shadow- Strike Cruiser, 7th Brotherhood.
 * Grey Phantom- Strike Cruiser, 8th Brotherhood.


 * White Scorpion III- Strike Cruiser, 9th Brotherhood, originally known as the Black scorpion, the Black Scorpion I was horribly wrecked after many crusades, and was rebuilt to form Black scorpion II. This ship was again destroyed beyond repair, and being declared as cursed, the ship was deserted, and a brand new strike cruiser was built, renamed the White scorpion III.

Genetic Traits
The gene-seed of this chapter have mutated, affecting some of the organs implanted during the creation if all space marines. having many major and minor effects.

Major flaws

The lyman's ear implantation has evolved to were the marine can hear subsonic sound waves, mostly caused by distant tremors. This skill adds to their fighting abilites in cramped spaces such as space hulks and hive cities, detecting nearby enemies. Their black carapace organ is also overgrown to the point where their skin seems to be stiff, a condition they call "Steel Skin.", this is also increasing their average weight making them harder to knock down in an assault or from a heavy payload of firepower. Along with the benefits however, comes disatvantages, the extra weight added by their carapaces decrease their average overall speed, and therefore the marines must take much more fitness training to meet the requirements of a capable space marine.

Minor flaws

Along with the genetic conditions such as Steel skin, the entire chapter have yellow eyes.

Appearance and Heraldry
Unlike most chapters, the Iron scorpions prefer not to adorn themselves in honors, seeing them only as a distraction, and at most, a sign of arrogance. They prefer to stick to the bare minimum of adornations, basically only the imperial eagle on their chest and the skulls scattered around their power armour. They do however use a great deal of symbols and other insignia promoting their success in battle, examples include all kinds of kill markings, from roman numerals, stars and etc.

The colours chosen by the chapter also serve another, rather simple purpose, to make them stand out from others, to prevoke fear so that the enemies can see them from a distance, helpless to end or hide from their advance. One of the most noticable are the diagonal yellow-green stripes painted onto sections of their armour, a tradition that began from large amounts of kill markings painted on armour and weapons.

It is quite often pointed out by observers that when this chapter bands with the Storm Eagles, it seems to be two opposites fighting as one. The eagles being unseesn because of their large use of camoflauge, and the Iron Scorpions being seen from miles away.

Chapter Symbol
The insignia denoting the chapter itself if a stylised image of a scorpion, enclosed within a triangle. The scorpion is a symbol of persistence, though it may not be quick like that of an eagle, it is stubborn, armed with two peircing claws and a deadly tail as a killing blow. The triangle is a symbol of strength, the pyramid and triangle are both geometrically very solid shapes, being highly resistant to warping - this is reflected by the use of the shape in their heraldry