Crimson Fists
| Crimson Fists aka The Marines Hispanic | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Battle Cry | "There is only the Emperor." "He is our shield and protector." |
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| Founding | Second Founding | |
| Successors of | Imperial Fists | |
| Chapter Master | Pedro Kantor | |
| Primarch | Rogal Dorn | |
| Homeworld | Rynn's World | |
| Strength | Somewhere around full strength after Ultima Founding | |
| Specialty | Tactical flexibility, Heroic last stands, Sheetrock hanging, and spanking Orks | |
| Allegiance | Imperium of Man | |
| Colours | Blue and crimson red | |
"My choice is made, it was made centuries ago, when I became an initiate in the Great Hall of the Arx Tyrannus. I chose to serve the Chapter Master unto my dying breath, and through him the Emperor of Mankind. I will not throw away my life for the sake of pride. I will honour instead the commands of Chapter Master Kantor. I will fight the enemy with every weapon at my disposal, every warrior at my disposal, even if I have to create those warriors for myself. While I live, the Chapter lives. I am the shield hand of Dorn, and I. Will. Not. Yield."
- – Veteran Sergeant Sandor Galleas
"War of Armageddon? Just a regular Monday."
- – A Crimson fist
"Whoever will come to us with a sword, from a sword will perish."
- – Alexandr Nevsky
The Crimsons Fists are a second founding chapter of the Imperial Fists, formed by the younger and more level-headed members, led by uberbadass Alexis Polux. Noted for their crimson gauntlets, which were inspired by the blood of their enemies after a good fisting a ritual with Rogal Dorn and an Imperial Fist successor Chapter Master having a manly handshake with cut palms, signifying blood brotherhood between them. The name sounds more like a particularly painful sex act of Slaanesh that ends in internal bleeding, but whatever, they're still cool. Also in damn near every artwork they are in, it's a last stand. Like seriously, they might as well be the king of dying heroically, as seen even in the OG Rogue Trader. Still, who doesn't love a good fisting final, defiant stand?
Overview[edit]
They got fucked over during an Ork invasion on Rynn's World, their home planet, when a stray missile fired from their orbital defense grid struck their own fortress. The damn thing somehow missed its original target, bypassed ALL of the fortress' void shields (we'll get to this freak accident later), and hit the armory directly, not exploding until it was hundreds of meters underground. The chances of this happening are about as likely as rolling 100 d20s and only getting 1s on all of them. (If you're curious, the probability of that happening is one in 1.267651x10130. Seriously.)
But it's okay, because the Crimson Fists still managed to beat the Orks with only two-hundred and twenty-eight marines, 100 of which were killed the actual number of marines that survived their fortress monastery being destroyed isn't stated (Rynn's World mentions 16 including Pedro Kantor and Alessio Cortez). Kantor had sent a significant force to New Rynn City to defend it (because, you know, Crimson Fists aren't complete arseholes and will make time to defend the civilians). All that's known is that after the Imperial fleet came to Rynn's World to screw up the Orks there were only a couple of companies left. A Land Raider appropriately named Rynn's Might somehow managed to skillfully pilot itself using only its machine spirit and take out a good chunk of the invading Ork horde, including a warboss, with hellishly accurate weapon fire. When it ran out of ammo, it then tried to run over the Orks and when its treads were clogged with bodies and its doors smashed open, it was entered by Lootas seeking to take it, after which it vented the reactor and killed them all with hot plasma. The Crimson Fists were able to recover the Machine Spirit of Rynn's Might, and are now trying to find a new vehicle to house the Machine Spirit. They probably need a Titan chassis to contain that much awesome (and a literal mile of parchment for its purity seals).
Let's also not forget that there's a part from the Rynn's World novel where Captain Cortez saves a mother and her kids, one of which is only a baby, from being murdered by Orks. Kantor is quite displeased at this, knowing that there are very few Crimson Fists left and they could not afford to take refugees along for the ride. However, he mentions they can tag along if they can keep up with the Astartes. Eventually the mother fatigues and falters, falling to her knees. The column of marines halt as their Chapter Master moves to the back, where the reader is led to believe that he is about to kill her given his wrist-mounted Storm Bolter is very, very close to her head. She pleads that her children were so heavy and she tried, and what does Kantor do? Let me stress that he did not want her in the first place. What does he do? He replies with, "You did well to bring them this far. It is time someone else carried you now." And then he picks her up in his arms, along with 2 of her kids, and rejoins his Battle-Brothers. Upon carrying half the family to the relative safety of a nearby forest, Kantor has a couple of his marines find food for the family. Later on, the marines save a group of about 60 pilgrims from a large group of Orks, then lead the entire group to the safety of New Rynn City. Do you see the Ultrasmurfs doing such a doubly heartwarming and doubly awesome act of kindness? Of course not *cough*FallofDamnos*cough* Yes, repeatedly. They help save civilians from the tyranids in "Shadow of The Leviathan", and Graham McNeill shows that they care about the lives of people in his Ultramarines novel series. Then again, the whole point of the book was the Fists learning to care about Rynn's World, and its people, as before that point they just saw it as their base (they didn't even recruit from the place). This was due to the fact they were a fleet-based chapter for most of their history and only received Rynn's World a thousand years before the Orks invaded it. Meaning what Kantor did wasn't just being a cool guy, it was character development, showing the Fists weren't just merely defending a world, they were defending their home.
The Crimson Fists 1st Company is known as the Crusade Company and consists of 128 marines after the Crimson Fists decided to get shit done during the Crusade of Righteous Retribution. During the crusade, the Fists were unable to procure new recruits, and slowly suffered attrition until they ended up with only 128 marines left. Sounds kind of pathetic until you realise that the crusade lasted for over 300 years, meaning that the Fists lost fewer than 3 marines a year. It's now considered a bad omen if they don't have a full strength Crusade Company.
It's also worth noticing that only 9 years after the Battle for Rynn's World, the Crimson Fists were already sending forces to fight in the Zeist Campaign. Crimson Fists obviously do not fuck around.
They've recently been boosted back up to around full strength with the Ultima Founding which probably means the Primaris Marines outnumber the regular marines.
Crimson Fists are so awesome they were the cover art for the 3rd Edition Space Marine codex and Rogue Trader. Yes, they were the cover of the very first edition of Warhammer 40K ever. Suck it Ultrasmurfs!
The Fists also have a bit of an unpleasant history with other Chapters; thanks to their exceptional zeal and loyalty, they've been repeatedly tasked with exterminating Chapters deemed heretics, such as the Soul Drinkers, Marines Vigilant (though in fairness they felt guilty about that afterwards), and the Sons of Gideon. Thanks to this reputation as team-killing fucktards working for megalomaniacal psychopaths in silly hats, they don't get along too well with the likes of the Space Wolves, White Scars, and probably most other chapters with a rep for defying the Emperor's pet psychos.
How the fuck did that missile incident happen?[edit]
Well the first option is just "these things happen." As the case of HMS Hood proves, sometimes you just roll a nat 1 critical miss and die a stupid death. But that's not really narratively satisfying, so various writers have tied themselves into knots to make it sound plausible. First it was implied it was a standard missile fired from an orbiting defensive platform, meaning it normally should have done NOTHING to such a mighty stronghold beyond a small crater. They claimed the missile bypassed the void shields entirely, hit a piece of mountainside that was really super-duper weak (and somehow the Crimson Fists didn't know about it) and went deep down into the mountain. The missile detonated the Crimson Fists' weapon stockpile, causing their chapter a lot of hurt.
This was fixed by Steve Parker; the missile was actually fired from one of the fortress's anti-ship weapons bastions, and the void shields had to be dropped to fire them. It was also the type of antiship missile that formed a melta field over the warhead to bore through ship armor before detonation, to make "tunneled through two hundred meters of solid rock" less stupid. Which is why silos like that should be, and usually are, kept in an orbiting installation rather than near the fortress, so you don't have to drop your shields to fire. While this would expose the silos, you can have one missile each and hide dozens of them far away from one another.
Nah, the Kaptin in charge of the ship told everyone that he would do this and it happened. Ork don't gotta explain.
A new theory has emerged from the madness of the warp. See the Crimson Fists had a habit of pissing off certain people. Not the Inquisition, but something more complicated. During their history, the Crimson Fists clashed with the Ultramarines and Mortificators to the point of almost full blown civil war. The only reason this did not happened is because of the fact the Black Templars would step in on the side of the Crimson Fists and probably anyone who hates the Ultramarines (That is a long list of organizations and chapters). However a sabotage attempt makes a fair amount of sense and given how the Crimson Fists were not enemies of the High Lords or the Inquisition (They did their dirty work for them) the Ultramarines and their successors are a potential suspect.
Notable Members[edit]
- Alexis Polux: Founding chapter master of the Crimson Fists; they got their name from him. He died 800 years after the chapter was founded when some sneaky xenos dicks shot him in the head with a poison dart, but got the last laugh when he told his successor how to defeat the sneaky dicks with his dying breaths.
- Pedro Kantor: Current chapter master of the Crimson Fists. Has a major hate-on for Orks, like all the other Crimson Fists who lived through Rynn's World, and proved he has a heart when he carried an exhausted mother and her children to safety.
- Alessio Cortez: Fuckawesome captain who is probably insane. Has broken nearly every bone in his body and is currently about ninety percent scar tissue and sheer manliness. He got an arm torn off by an Ork warboss during the invasion of Rynn's World, but pointed out that technically he hadn't lost it because it was right over there. Disappeared while fighting Eldar, but he might still be out there.
Daily Rituals[edit]
06:00- Wake up Call: The Crimson Fists awaken from their beds made of Ork bone. Generally, a captured loudboy will be used as a substitute for an ancient Bird called a "Rooster". His usefulness spent, they proceed to beat the Ork to death with their bare fists.
07:00- Morning Prayer: The Crimson Fists will pray to the Emperor. They will also force Orks to pray, just so they can pray louder than the Orks. One of the most common prayers is a prayer for patience when dealing with the inevitable arguments over what a tortilla is.
08:00- Morning Firing Rites: Targets are set up in a field to be shot. A large portion of them are either captured Orks or painted to look like Orks.
09:00- Morning Battle Practice: The Ork cage is opened, and the Crimson Fists fight against their angry pets. Beating an Ork to death with one's fists is encouraged.
10:00- Breakfast: The Crimson Fists gather to eat before their arduous afternoon. Sauce for their churros is provided by dead Orks.
11:00- Tactical indoctrination: The Crimson Fists gather to make fun of Orks. Making fun of Ghazkull Uruk'Thraka is encouraged. Whoever throws the best insult gets to hold the chapter standard.
13:00- Afternoon Battle Practice: The Crimson Fists let the Orks out again so they can curbstomp them again. Typically, the afternoon battle practice takes longer due to the Orks being mad over the previous fight.
16:00- Evening Firing Rites: The Crimson Fists gather the most noteworthy Orks from the previous practice, and practice shooting them. Battle Brothers will be punished if they kill the Ork in the first shot.
18:00- Evening Meal: The Crimson Fists feast upon the Orks they killed. Their favorite dish is Ork paella.
20:00- Evening Battle Practice: The chapter practices Aerial and Mechanized maneuvers, whilst spreading Orkoid fungus, ensuring they have a plentiful supply of Orks for tomorrow.
22:00- Free Time: The chapter takes recreational time. Activities include games like Pin the Tail on the Ork, Kick the Ork, and Ork wrangling. Any Orks that die are immediately sent to resupply the snack bar.
24:00- Bedtime: The chapter retires for the evening. Before they go to sleep, they choose a loud boy to be the alarm Ork for the next day.
Naming Scheme[edit]
The Crimson Fists are (in)famous on /tg/ for being the Spanish Marines, primarily due to to how their Chapter Master Pedro Kantor and his best bud Alessio Cortez were named. This has bled into all media where the Fists are featured -- novels, games, even RPG supplements like Deathwatch. Even the Fall of Cadia features Captain Ruis Tracinto as part of the reinforcements that managed to make it to the planet.
This is not to say that every member of the Fists sport Hispanic-Iberian names -- Captain Ashor Drakken of the Badlanding incident comes to mind -- but an overwhelming number of them do.
In-universe, most of the Spanish-named marines (like Kantor and Cortez) come from the feral world of Blackwater, which is one of the major sources of recruits for the Chapter. They're considered... odd, by non-Blackwater born Marines.
Gallery[edit]
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It really says a lot about their love for Power Fists when they provide the TV Tropes Image...
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Just Pedro Kantor being awesome nothing unusual really...
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"What do you mean by we have to hunt xenos other than orks?"
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Last Stand of the Crimson Fists. Maybe their most popular representation.
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The Crimson Fists being the first look of many for the Spess Mehreens.
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Seriously, someone has to tell them that "Last stand" is not a viable strategy.Pfft, please, it's worked for them so far and it looks awesome.
Vidyas[edit]