The Crimson Fists
Chapter History:
The Crimson Fists are one of the oldest Space Marine Chapters, being part of the Second Founding in the 31st millenium. They are descendants of the original Imperial Fists Legion, which had the great honour of being based on Terra itself. The Crimson Fists took their name from the ritual which Rogal Dorn, Primarch of the Imperial Fists, conducted to initiate the new Chapter Masters. Both Dorn and the Chapter Master slit the palms of their left hands and clasped them together in a strong warrior's handshake; their blood mingled together, physically strengthening the Chapter Master's gene-seed and forming a symbolic bond between the Primarch and his genetic sons.
The endeavors of the Chapter have been recorded in the many volumes of the Rynn Chronicles, although much of this valuable history was lost with the unfortunate destruction of the Crimson Fists' Fortress-Monastery on Rynn's World. Those few burnt and tattered tomes that remain tell of nearly ten thousand years of illustrious devotion to the Emperor and unflinching prosecution of the Crimson Fists' duties.
"Once a Crimson Fist becomes a full Battlebrother, his left gauntlet is painted crimson. Upon becoming a member of the Crusade Company he is allowed to paint his right glove also. The most honoured Crimson Fist warriors are gifted with one of the Chapter's ancient power gloves as a symbol of their might at arms."
The most legendary campaign executed by the Crimson Fists was the Crusade of Righteous Liberation, conducted for three hundred years during the 36th Millenium. At this time, now known to Imperial historians as the Age of Apostasy, the Imperium was wracked by internal strife and physically disrupted by swirling warp storms. Much of the turmoil arose from a massive schism within the religious organisation of the Ministorum of Terra. After the arch-traitor Goge Vandire was finally killed, the Crimson Fists took it upon themselves to wrest back control of Imperial worlds that had fallen from the Emperor's grace. The whole Chapter left Rynn's World aboard its battle barges and strike cruisers and forged its way through the warp storms to liberate those planets which had fallen into anarchy or been invaded by alien races.
The first such world they came across was Welte, which they found subjugated by the Ork warlord Ghar Nazzghar - loathed by many at the time as the brutal Plunderer of Polemis. A force taken from four different Companies descended upon Welte, whilst the rest of the Chapter dropped back into the warp to locate other such stricken worlds. Led by the valiant Captain Sandriaz, the Crimson Fists fell upon Ghar Nazzghar like a blue storm. They struck at his ore mines, burnt the slave factories and wrecked the ramshackle convoys that transported food and weapons across Welte's treacherous dust bowls. Ghar Nazzghar's Orks soon found themselves scattered across much of the world trying to protect the few installations that still stood.
It was then that Brother-Captain Sandriaz mustered his force once more and attacked Nazzghar's stronghold in the ruins of what was once Welte Prime, the world's capital. With most of his warbands chasing ghosts across the dust bowls, Ghar Nazzghar could do nothing as the blue-armoured Space Marines advanced relentlessly through the shattered town. Nazzghar himself led a final counter attack, but he and his cadre of burly Ork warriors were wiped out as they ran the gauntlet of the Crimson Fists' deadly fire. With Ghar Nazzghar dead, the Crimson Fists left Welte, leaving the fragmented Orks to the Imperial citizens who had been so brutally enslaved and repressed.
Welte was just the first of eighty four worlds re-conquered by the Crimson Fists during the Crusade of Righteous Liberation. Over the Crusade's three hundred years, the Chapter's numbers dwindled through age and battle losses; whilst crusading, the Crimson Fists were unable to recruit initiates to replace their losses. Finally, after breaking the four-century long rebel siege of Barenthal on Excelsiva II, Chapter Master Kordova declared the Crusade of Righteous Liberation to have ended. Only one hundred and twenty eight Space Marines were left and ever since then, the numbers of the Chapter's First Company has always been kept at one hundred and twenty eight warriors, and its Captain is also always the Chapter Master. They are known amongst the Crimson Fists as the Crusade Company, and it is considered a bad omen if the Chapter goes to war without the Company being at full strength.
Like other Imperial Fists descendants, the Crimson Fists have always been noted for their zealous devotion to the Emperor, even more so than other Space Marine Chapters. On at least two occasions this has led to the Crimson Fists being called upon by the High Lords of Terra to exterminate a fellow Space Marine Chapter. The first of these was the Sons of Gideon, who were deemed Excommunicate after a routine Inquisitorial inspection had found the Chapter's geneseed had been corrupted to such a degree that chemical imbalances in the Space Marines' brains had driven them insane. The Crimson Fists destroyed their homeworld of Gideon IV and the proceeded to hunt down the remnants of the Third Company which had escaped the attack and was butchering it's way through the four billion inhabitants of the Colar star system The second Chapter to have suffered the wrath of the Crimson Fists were the Marines Vigilant. The Chapter had fallen under the mind-control of a rare warp entity which had eradicated all martial instinct of the Space Marines, rendering them useless as a military force. The unfortunate Marines Vigilant put up no resistance at all as the Crimson fists used orbital mass drivers to turn the renegade Chapter's verdant home planet into lifeless desert. The Crimson Fists' willingness to turn on their brother marines has earnt them something of a reputation as the Adeptus Terra's lapdogs amongst the more unorthodox Space Marine Chapters, such as the Space Wolves, White Scars and Exorcists.
"Nothing is known of the fate of Rogal Dorn, Primarch of the Imperial Fists. Some myths claim that he yet lives, secretly commanding the Companions of the Adeptus Custodes - the exceptionally deadly warriors who guard the Golden Throne itself."
At the present time, the Crimson Fists are currently recovering from a catastrophic war against yet more Orks, during which a malfunctioning missile detonated the armoury of their Fortress-Monastery, totally destroying it and wiping out a large proportion of the Crimson Fists' initiates and stored geneseed. However, if there is one thing that rings clear in the annals of the Crimson Fists, it is their stubborn tenacity to fight to the end. Lord Kantor, the current Chapter Master, has already combated several attempts for the Chapter to be disbanded due to irrecoverable battle losses and has vowed bloody vengeance on all of Ork-kind; those who are wise in such things know that this is not an empty boast.
Chapter Organization:
The Crimson Fists are in most respects a Codex chapter. As a result of a large crusade the Crimson Fists were once reduced to a mere 128 Marines. From that day the chapters 1st Company, known as the Crusade Company, has been kept at 128 Marines, and its Captain is also always the Chapter Master. It is considered a bad omen if the Chapter goes to war without the Company being at full strength.
Chapter Colors:
The Crimson Fists took their name from the ritual which Rogal Dorn, Primarch of the Imperial Fists, conducted to initiate the new Chapter Masters. Both Dorn and the Chapter Master slit the palms of their left hands and clasped them together in a strong warrior's handshake; their blood mingled together, physically strengthening the Chapter Master's gene-seed and forming a symbolic bond between the Primarch and his genetic sons. The Crimson Fists have also carried this on into their colours. Their basic armour colour is a deep blue, usually with metallic trimmings. Once a Crimson Fist becomes a full Battlebrother his left gauntlet is painted crimson, upon becoming a member of the Crusade Company he is allowed to paint his right glove also. The most honoured Crimson Fist warriors are gifted with one of the chapter's ancient power gloves as a symbol of their might at arms.
