[X] Plan: SCREW YOU EVIL DAD! L Variant
-[X] Name: Steel Champions
-[X] Chapter Colors: Steel Primary, Gold Secondary
-[X] Chapter Symbol: A Shield with a Golden Sun.
-[X] Chapter Motto: "Against Darkness, Stand Defiant!"
—[X] When Fighting Iron Warriors: "Steel Surpasses Iron!"
-[X] Librarians: The Chapter's Librarians are particularly well trained, and have far greater resistance to the temptations of the warp. They are far less likely to fall to Perils of the Warp, and offer more potent psychic support.
-[X] Heavy Weaponry: The Chapter is well supplied with heavy weaponry, and can field a larger proportion of Devastator squads.
-[X] Extra Rhinos: Though many would call them simple metal boxes, the Rhino is a capable transport and this Chapter has some to spare.
Name: Steel Champions
Chapter Symbol: A Shield emblazoned with a Golden Sun.
Chapter Mottos: "Against Darkness, Stand Defiant!/Steel Surpasses Iron!"
Homeworld: The planet of Truy II is a hot climate world dominated by oceans and deserts, leaving agriculture especially dependent on the many rivers that run through it's continents. Traditionally managing to survive via these means and a great deal of agricultural knowledge, the locals of this Death World have still grown adept at fighting, primarily due to attacks from the Chimera IFV sized Bandit Scorpions, Boiling Mud Drakes, and most feared of all, the infamous Truy II Daemon Hunting Hippo.
Standing out on this planet is the Fortress Monastery of the Steel Champions, an imposing structure brimming with guns of all kinds, a fortress with fortifications far more sturdy than any individual bastion on their sister world of Truy I - though the Steel Champions still consider the Fortress World's
overall defensive layout superior to that of their homeworld.
The Terror of the Eye: The Steel Champions have a truly unfortunate curse, one which allows them to see the dread Eye of Terror at all times - even when it shouldn't be physically possible for the gaping wound in reality to be visible. Much of the Chapters' culture revolves around dealing with this unfortunate reality, and it is considered a valued tradition to take up the art of pottery as a coping mechanism. The Chapter's Librarians are especially invested in this art and have learned how to imbue clay with their psychic powers - letting them grant it supernatural traits and abilities, such as being as hard as adamantium or being able to hold greater mass than their size should allow.
The Pots of Vendetta: Whenever an individual or faction greatly wrongs the Steel Champions, a pot is made depicting the crime in question and is placed on a dedicated pedestal within the Steel Champions Fortress Monastery. Attached to this pedestal is a plaque, detailing the exact conditions needed in order for the matter to be settled. When the vendetta is settled, a second pot is created depicting the deed. The Steel Champions do not have much storage space for these completed vendettas, so more often than not they simply allow the Ecclesiarchy, some of the city states from their homeworld, or even the occasional Rogue Trader to take them. Given the great skill they develop over their long lives, the works of the Steel Champions are considered valuable indeed, and form the centrepiece of many an art enthusiast's collection.
The Tablet of Accusation: A massive tablet, made in the aftermath of an altercation with the Dark Angels. The vendetta behind this tablet is unique, for it represents the very first one declared against another loyalist Imperial faction. Due to this, as well as other events that neither of the Chapters speak of, the Steel Champions do not just put the Dark Angels wrongs against
them on the tablet, but instead engrave every single wrong the Dark Angels have ever made against another Imperial organization onto it's face. Notoriously, the Steel Champions have on several occasions needed to expand the size of the tablet with the help of the clay manipulation abilities of it's Librarians.
The Panduran Conflict: A legendary piece of pottery, made by one of the greatest Librarians of the Chapter's history. The pot itself is said to be completely indestructible, and capable of holding nearly endless amounts of anything one could think to put into it. Once, a raiding party of Orks from the Greenskin empire of Greeeze managed to slay half of the company in charge of the Panduran. After repeatedly failing to smash it, the Ork Warboss responsible decided to take it for himself, in order to store the severed heads of his enemies in. Since that very day the Steel Champions and the Orks of Greeeze have been constantly launching dedicated attacks against one another in order to take possession of the Panduran, with the artifact having traded hands roughly 168 times as of the current millennia.
Combat: The Steel Champions Chapter are experts at siege warfare and are renowned for their deep bond with both the Guard Regiments of Truy I, and with the Imperial Guard in general. Due to the nature of their preferred style of warfare, it is common for the Steel Champions to deploy to the warzone alongside the Imperial Guard, utilizing their extensive motor-pool of Rhino transports to move their forces where they are needed while at the same time making usage of masterfully deployed artillery and heavy weapons to ensure that any Guard positions they reinforce are secure from enemy assaults. During long deployments, it is not uncommon for the Chaplains of the Steel Champions to seek to learn the customs and traditions of the regiments that their companies fight alongside, and it's not unheard of for Steel Champion Chaplains to choose to conduct the funerary rights for the fallen Guardsmen, as well as their own dead, after a particularly long and gruesome campaign.
Chapter Organization: The Steel Champions Chapter deviates from the Codex Astartes in exactly one regard : it is precisely double the size of the average Chapter. This is because the Chapter homeworld, as well as the Fortress World within the same solar system, comes under massive attack from significant forces of Orks on such a regular basis that it was deemed a necessity for the Chapter to be allowed the additional Marines in order to both keep their home system secure and contribute to the well being of the wider Imperium. Though some complain about how they are allowed to defy the Codex in this way, when going beyond the limit of their numbers is usually considered a sign of near outright treason by an Astartes Chapter, the fact that it was none other than Roboute Guiliman himself who gave the first Chapter Master of the Steel Champions permission to breach the Codex's limits silences all but the most bitter complainants.
Truy I: The Fortress World of Truy I, sister world to the Steel Champion's homewordl, is the site of one of the most powerful systems of fortifications within the entirety of the Imperium. Due to the sheer size of the continuous assaults from the local Ork Empire of Greeeze, the Guard Regiments of Truy I and the Steel Champions Space Marines have grown immensely skilled at working together to defend their home system, and even when deployed outside of it will often seek to aid one another at any opportunity.
Alexandria Station: A massive space station constructed by the Steel Champions, Alexandria Station's most notable feature is a titanic blessed Aquilla Statue that consistently tracks the Eye of Terror throughout the sky, it's baleful gaze forever glowering back at the abyss that torments the Steel Champions at every moment. Though the initial motivation for it's creation was nothing more than sheer petty spite, the rest of the Imperium - most notably the Ecclesiarchy - have interpreted the great edifice as a form of holy site, and the station is indeed the home of an entire order of Sisters of Battle devoted to defending it. The Steel Champions are, for their own part, baffled by this - but all of the 'holy' artifacts that have been brought onto the station seems to greatly agitate the few Chaos forces that both actually make it into the system and survive fire from its many defenses, and so they quietly allow the faithful's oddities. Additionally, though is is not common knowledge, the vast Aquilla Statue atop Alexandria Station has a pair of ancient Lances of unimaginable power mounted in its eyes, presumably to add some additional defensive firepower.
Notable Events of the Steel Champions
-Following a successful purge of a building Ork WAAAAAGH! on the borders of Greeeze, the appearance of one of the mysterious 'Fallen' caused the Dark Angels to murder several squads of Guardsmen and torture three Steel Champions to death in search of information as to the whereabouts of the ancient traitor. In response, the Steel Champions declared vendetta, and ever since that day they have continued to record every single wrong ever done by the Dark Angels to another Imperial. It is said that the only reason the Steel Champions even tolerate fighting near the Dark Angels is so that they may record yet more of the Dark Angels' many sins. Due to suspicion of legion building, many of the First Legion's successor Chapters have been included on this list - their sins being marked separately from, but connected to, the Dark Angel's own.
-In the leadup to the infamous War of the Beast, the Ork Empire of Greeeze launched a major offensive into the Truy System. Thankfully, the invading Orks were beaten back, and the Steel Champions were thus alerted to the danger of the horrifically powerful Ork Warlord. Deciding that the threat to Terra could not be dismissed, a full 15 Companies were deployed to the aid of the Imperial Fists, while the remaining five remained in the Truy system to prevent the Orks of Greeeze from rallying and joining the Beast's apocalyptic WAAAAAAAGH!
-The 15 companies sent to join the battle against the Beast arrive and manage to fortify just in time to face a significant bulk of the invading Ork forces. The battle was fierce, and the Steel Champions held on against all odds until, mere moments before the Beast's defeat, the Steel Champion's Chapter Master himself was slain, falling in combat with several of the biggest Nobs ever recorded during the conflict short of the Prime-Orks themselves. In the end however, the Imperial Fists successor Chapters managed to drive off the remaining Orks in time, and were able to recover most of the Steel Champions bodies, equipment, and most importantly of all, their Gene-Seed. Within good time, the newly reforged Imperial Fists and their successors would return the equipment and gene-seed to the Steel Champion's homeworld. In thanks for this, the Steel Champions would become the sworn allies of the Imperial Fists, and in turn many of the Sons of Dorn would come consider the then-'fatherless' Steel Champions as their brothers, if not in gene-stock, then most certainly in spirit.
-After a fairly long recovery period, during which they mainly focused on repelling Ork raids, the Steel Champions would cooperate with the Iron Hands on an operation against the ones who would once have been their brothers - the Iron Warriors Traitor Legion. Initially the two chapters utterly dominated the field of battle, until the Iron Warriors breached the Imperial Guard fortress of BR-14 and used a foul ritual to convert the brave Guardsmen within it into Chaos Spawn. When the Steel Champions committed themselves to driving the Chaos Spawn back, the Iron Hands concluded that the battle had already been lost, and retreated - leaving the rear of the Steel Champions vulnerable to the enemy. Though surrounded, the Steel Champions managed to successfully clear BR-14 of Chaos Spawn, and seemingly through spite alone managed to fight their way out of the encirclement with minimal losses both among themselves and their allied Guardsmen. Enraged over their abandonment, the Steel Champions declared vendetta against the Iron Hands, while at the same time vowing to pay the Iron Warriors back a hundredfold for their petty acts against the Imperial Guard of BR-14.
-A WAAAAAAAGH led by the legendary Blood Ax warboss Orkdyssius managed to conquer large sections of the Fortress World of Truy 1, by hiding inside a supply ship and attacking the fortress chain from the inside. The Steel Champions quickly deploy to fight off this invasion, and after a full decade of bloody fighting alongside the local Imperial Guard, manage to drive the Ork invaders out once again.
-The Blood Angels and Steel Champions work together to defeat an Emperor's Children warband led by Lucius the Eternal. Fully aware of Lucius the Eternal's ability to possess the body of his killer, and utterly unwilling to give the Chaos Champion the pleasure of overtaking one of their own, several Steel Champions forcibly held down the Chaos Warrior before shoving him into a sealed Drop Pod. This Drop Pod was than towed via a several ship length long holy chain into orbit of a Daemon World of Khorne, were it was then promptly dropped - making the Slanneshi champion someone else's problem in the process. Naturally, as the Blood Angels and Steel Champions had worked together to kill every other Chaos Marine on the battlefield before the Steel Champions could even attempt to pull off this rather mad plan, the two Chapters had ample opportunity to form bonds of camaraderie, and the Ninth Legion quickly became among the closest allies of the Steel Champions.
-The Steel Champions head to the world of Red Garden in order to investigate reports of Eldar activity, only to find the ancient Xenos mysteriously absent. Unbeknownst to them, the situation had already been resolved - the Eldar Craftworlds of Ulthwe and Saim-Hann had gotten into an altercation with Biel-Tan, for the former two had seen that if Biel-Tan successfully massacred the inhabitants of Red Garden as they intended, than the Steel Champions would immediately begin abusing both Biel-Tan and Saim-Hann's commitments towards defending Exodite worlds to force them to either abandon their exodite countrymen or take assuredly crushing losses. Unwilling to pay for Biel-Tan's actions, the other Aeldari quickly forced Biel-Tan to back down and leave.
-In the battle of Blood Cage, the Steel Champions would outmaneuver and brutally slaughter a large force of World Eaters, utterly annihilating the servants of Khorne before they could threaten the recruiting world of an allied Fleet Based Imperial Fists Successor Chapter.
Unique Units of the Steel Champions
-Steel Masks: The Steel Champions utterly refuse to use Servitors that have been converted from humans. Thankfully, to make up for this, they have managed to acquire the facilities needed to grow their own servitors from scratch - technology that has sadly been lost by much of the Imperium. Steel Masks are more heavily armored than normal servitors, with even the Steel Masks expected to serve far away from the frontlines requiring a great deal of firepower to bring down. Because Steel Masks were never human to begin with, the Steel Champions prefer to augment the faces of the Steel Masks to make their artificial nature more apparent - a practice that is the reason for the Steel Mask's name.
Trujan Guard: While obviously not actually an official part of the Chapter, the Trujan Guard, the Imperial Guard Regiments hailing from the Truy system, and the Steel Champions deploy together often enough that it is all but expected to see either a Steel Mask aiding a force of Trujan Guard or for several Trujan Guard regiments to deploy to assist a Steel Champion company.
Notable Enemies of the Steel Champions
Orkdyssius: One of the smartest warbosses to have ever lived, Orkdyssius is known to have launched multiple raids out of the empire of Greeeze, and even managed to cheat death at the hands of the Dread Host Custodes cohort when his forces drew too close to Terra. Even to this day, the specter of his potential re-emergence looms over Segmentum Solar.
Morkillies: An Ork Warboss that had been considered all but invincible, he was impossibly able to weather the full firepower of three full companies of Steel Champions during one of the early battles outside of Truy II. If it hadn't been for a Steel Champion sacrificing himself to shove an armed Vortex Grenade into Morkillie's pre-existing open wound, it's entirely possible that Truy II would have fallen that day.
Gorkules: One of the most terrifying Orks in the history of the Imperium, Gorkules emerged from Greeeze leading a WAAAAAAAGH of vast proportions after having accomplished 'da twelve tasks of Gork an Mork.' In the end, it would take the combined forces of the Imperial Fists, Steel Champions, countless Guard regiments, three Sisters of Battle convents, the Dread Host of the Custodes, and a Vindicare Assassin utilizing a bullet tipped with one of the single most deadly concoctions ever created by the Venenum Temple to finally bring Gorkules down.
Unique Artifacts
Dread Jars: Jars lined on the inside with runes that make them as hard as adamantium, and cause them to suck in and imprison any Daemon in their presence when thrown. The Steel Champions, for their part, consider this ability to mainly be a way of taking powerful Daemons off of the battlefield, and when the battle is won usually arrange for the Grey Knights or Ordo Malleus to take possession of the used Jars. The last thing the Steel Champions want is anything Daemon possessed near their home system if they can avoid it. Oddly enough, the Blood Ravens are known to have been 'gifted' a handful of these jars on occasion - and given that the Steel Champions still maintain good relations with the Blood Ravens, these 'gifts' may well be exactly that.
Diplomatic Relations
Space Marines: The Steel Champions are strongly allied with the Salamanders, Blood Angels, Blood Ravens, Ultramarine, and Raptors, and ever since the War of the Beast have stood as the sworn brothers of the Imperial Fists and their successor Chapters. On the contrary, however, they are known to despise the Dark Angels, Iron Hands, and Red Scorpions for their many slights and wrongs against both the Steel Champions and their allies.
The Marines Malevolent, meanwhile, have been known to have the Steel Champions outright target them with artillery fire instead of the official enemy. Every Space Marine Chapter approached on the subject has unanimously refused to censure the Steel Champions for these incidents.
-Space Wolves: Oddly enough, the Space Wolves and Steel Champions get along fairly well, with the Rout even willingly sharing drinks of Fenrisian Ale, the only drink strong enough for an Astartes to get drunk from it, with the latter - Something the Steel Champions greatly appreciate.
Angels of Absolution: Being the only Dark Angels Chapter the Steel Champions don't utterly hate is a notable feat in its own right.
Ordo Malleus: The Steel Champions are seen stalwart allies against Chaos. Indeed, so solid is their reputation it is more common for Inquisitors watching the Steel Champions to be on the lookout for
other Inquisitors seeking to pilfer Dread Jars to use in radical experimentation than it is for them to be watching signs of the Steel Champions themselves causing issues.
Imperial Guard: The Steel Champions are stalwart allies of most Guard Regiments, and in most cases, the feeling is mutual. It would be hard to name another Space Marine Chapter in the Imperium that has worked together as often or as well with the Imperial Guard, nor one that is willing to give even the lowest ranks of the Astra Militarum such respect.
+50 Reputation
Added New Training Option
Artillery Masters: This chapter possess a great masters at employing artillery in times of war.
OOC: Thanks to my beta for thier hard work.
