Editing Ashen Claws (section)

==History==
The 18th Chapter of the Raven Guard Legion took its name from the Xeric tribes of [[Terra]], a group of slaver warlords which supplied the Legion with savage new recruits. Since their [[Primarch]], Corvus Corax, wasn't found until over a century after the [[Great Crusade]] kicked off, these Legionnaires spent much of their time under the command of Warmaster [[Horus]]. The Ashen Claws were treated by Horus almost like an extension of his own Legion, rather than a Chapter of the Nineteenth; to this end, they even had a strategy named after them, in which a unit would be used as bait to allow the rest of Horus' forces to strike the unsuspecting enemy on their flanks (Eat your heart out, [[Tau]]).

Unfortunately, when put into action by Shade Captain '''Nerat Kirine''' during the Battle of Hell's Anvil, the bait in this instance just so happened to be the Thorosian Imperial Army assets attached to the Ashen Claw/Luna Wolf contingent; around 10,000 guardsmen were killed during the battle, [[Galactic Partridges|while the Astartes not only took all the credit for defeating the rebellious foe, but suffered virtually no losses in return]]. This incident (and the Chapter's unsavory Terran past) would weigh heavily on Primarch Corax upon his return to the Imperium, and would influence the way he viewed this particular Chapter through the rest of the [[Great Crusade]] and beyond.

While Corax tried his best to purge the Ashen Claws and the other Chapters of the Raven Guard of their old ways, he couldn't help but be reminded of his experience fighting against the repressive rulers of Lycaeus in his youth, due to the fact that his Legion had so often served in brutal occupational duties in his absence. When Horus ordered the Raven Guard to conduct a frontal assault on the [[Xenos|xenos]]-corrupted [[Human|humans]] of the Aukum-Sothos Cluster, Corax balked at the seemingly wasteful expenditure of Marines, but also saw an opportunity to rid his Legion of its more suspect battle-brothers. Therefore, when it came time for the Raven Guard to assault Gate 42, Corax ordered most of his Terran-born companies to fight in the vanguard, led by captains who he thought were closest to the Warmaster and his influence. In a costly battle, Corax personally led his sons to victory, but in the process lost thousands of Astartes. From this battle alone, the Raven Guard Legion was whittled down to 80,000 Marines, making it the smallest of all the Legiones Astartes.

Corax was secretly relieved that most of the Horus-influenced members of his command were lost in the battle, but the cost had been so high that he still vowed to never allow his troops to serve under Horus again. In the end it turned out to be a blessing in disguise, since the lack of Warrior Lodge-corrupted Legionnaires meant that the Raven Guard was relatively spared when the [[Horus Heresy|Horus Humbug]] kicked off and the other Legions suffered from internal revolts. However, even then his efforts to rid his Legion of Terran influences was not completely successful, since now-Praetor Kirine and several thousand Terran-born Ashen Claws survived the battle, now royally [[Rage|pissed]] at their Primarch for callously tossing them into a meat grinder, despite their genuine loyalty to the Imperium and their brethren. Corax, like any caring father, took all of his unwanted sons and sent them away to the galactic fringe of the [[Ghoul Stars]], ostensibly to carry out a Crusade action, but in reality just to be rid of these stubborn thorns in his Legion's side.

It was during their Crusade that the Ashen Claws learned of the conflict that engulfed the rest of the Imperium in death and destruction. By this point, trawling through the Ghoul Stars had given the Ashen Claws plenty of time to stew in their anger and depression, both at themselves for their shameful past, and their Primarch for abandoning them. Hearing about a galaxy engulfed in flames only amplified their disgust for both sides of the war, and thereafter the Chapter became a piratical raiding force concerned only for their own skin. In the chaos of the Heresy, the entire [[Nostramo]] Sector was abandoned by the Imperium, forbidden to all Imperial spacecraft and left to fend for itself against xenos, rebel, and Night Lord forces fleeing the Dark Angels after the [[Thramas Crusade]]. It was in this forgotten vacuum that the Ashen Claws found a refuge to eke out a living on the furthest edges of known space. Astropathic fragments intercepted indicates that as late as 062.M31 the Ashen Claws was still bringing worlds into compliance according to edicts of their 'Second Crusade'.

During the Heresy, the Ashen Claws would fuck with the many [[Night Lords]] holdings scattered around the sector, but also ran afoul of scattered Loyalist forces on several occasions. Notably, during the Battle of Desperation (real smooth, [[Games Workshop|GW]]), a three-way free-for-all developed between the [[Ultramarines]]' 10th Chapter, the Night Lords, and the Ashen Claws, during which the Ashen Claws temporarily aligned themselves with their Smurf brethren, only to quickly turn on them once they managed to dispatch the Night Lords fleet and raid the planet below; when the Night Lords mounted a counterattack on the Ultramarines, the Ashen Claws took the opportunity to slip away with their ill-gotten gains. This disrepute earned them the title of Renegade, leaving them to be hunted by both Chaos and Imperial Space Marine Chapters alike.

One strange exception, however, lies with a fellow exiled Chapter: the [[Space Sharks|Carcharodons]]. Having formed a bond of sorts millennia ago with the Ashen Claws, this particular Chapter relies upon their Renegade brethren in desperate times, when it is in dire need of fresh Aspirants. Normally, the Carcharodons would usually harvest new manpower from Imperial worlds during their Red Tithes, but in rare instances, the Ashen Claws are relied upon as a last resort. Even then, this relationship isn't all sunshine and rainbows: more often than not, the Ashen Claws drive a hard bargain, trying to milk the Carcharodons of as much Imperial hardware as possible in exchange for Aspirants drawn up from the many tribes and Renegades of Atargatis Prime.

In the late 41st Millennium, the Ashen Claws would come to the aid of the Carcharodons to slaughter [[Genestealer Cult|Genestealer Cultists]] on Piety V, showing that even the most fragile of alliances can be strengthened through a session of wholesome, cathartic genocide.

Oh, and [[Chapter Master]] [[Tyberos the Red Wake|Tyberos]] of the Carcharodons ''may'' have [[Blood Ravens|"gifted"]] himself his supremely badass [[Lightning Claws|lightning claw]]/[[Chainfist|chainfist]] hybrids from the Ashen Claws; perhaps that might explain why the Ashen Claws get so damn pissy with his Chapter to begin with.