|Primarch = Unknown (most likely [[Roboute Guilliman]] or [[Fulgrim]].)
|Homeworld = Battle Station Vigil
|Homeworld = Zaebus Minoris
|Strength = 1000
|Strength = Near-full strength
|Specialty = Obsessing over the Codex Astartes, getting their dicks sucked by [[Forge World]].
|Allegiance = [[Imperium]]
|Allegiance = [[Imperium]]
|Colours = Dark Grey with Yellow [[Pauldron]] trim
|Colours = Medium Grey and Black inner [[Pauldron]] with yellow trim and helm stripe
}}
}}
The ''''Red Scorpions''' are a [[Codex Astartes]]-compliant crusading Chapter who value genetic purity above all else and really, '''really''' hate [[Mutant]]s and [[Xenos]] (a '''lot!''').
{{Topquote|No one is more dangerous than he who imagines himself pure in heart: for his purity, by definition, is unassailable.|James Baldwin}}
The '''Red Scorpions''' are a Codex-compliant crusading Chapter who [[Nazi|value genetic purity above all else]] and really, '''really''' hate [[Mutant]]s and [[Xenos]] (a '''lot!'''). Calling them zealots is an understatement. However, to that end, they are exceptional at righteously exterminating the enemies of the Imperium; and will do so all while reciting scripture from the [[Codex Astartes]]. Despite their unknown origins, they have a certain vintage flair that harkens back to the earliest days of the imperium, as a result of being [[Forge World]]'s very own chapter.
==About the Red Scorpions==
==About the Red Scorpions==
[[Image:Brother Gez Tact Marine.jpg|200px|thumb|left|Their pure color scheme]]There are [[Codex]] compliant chapters, then there are the [[Ultramarines]], and then several orders of magnitude more ''compliant'' than even some of the most obsessive son of [[Roboute Guilliman|Grandfather Smurf]] (*cough* Leandros *cough*) we have the Red Scorpions. These guys consider the Codex Astartes to be a religious scripture of divine importance and will follow its teachings to the letter whenever the situation permits it. Their internal command structure is also highly authoritarian, where discipline is absolute and orders are to be obeyed without question.
There are Codex compliant chapters, then there are the [[Ultramarines]], and then several orders of magnitude more ''compliant'' than even the most obsessive son of [[Roboute Guilliman|Grandfather Smurf]] we have the Red Scorpions; these guys consider the Codex Astartes to be a religious scripture of divine importance (much like ''[[Matt Ward|your Spiritual Liege]]'' then) and follow its teachings to the letter (this is what their fluff states, at least; in practice, having apothecaries attached to tactical squads, having the chief librarian accompanied by honour guard, having the Chief Apothecary as second in command to the chapter master, blinging out their veterans gear, having a reduced scout company and sticking a helios launcher to a [[Land Raider]] chassis suggest they may not be THAT Codex compliant after all).
In addition to being '''even more Codex compliant''' than the Ultramarines it appears that the Chapter is also unique in that its [[gene-seed]] is even purer than that of the Smurfs and their successor chapters. In fact, they attach [[Apothecary|Apothecaries]] to many of their [[Tactical Squad]]s, so they can be extra sure that their fallen brothers' gene-seed gets collected before anything happens to it. Then there’s the fact that they're fundies on par with the [[Black Templars]]: not only are they one of the [[Fire Angels|few Astartes chapters]] that actually subscribes to the [[Imperial Cult]], but they also have many beliefs that take intolerance above and beyond what is normal for even Space Marines. Their intense hatred of deviations from the pure Human form (such as [[mutant]]s and [[Abhuman]]s) stand out in particular, and under no circumstance or dire need will they ever ally with [[Xenos]] of any kind. The only exception this rule are things like [[Navigator]]s and fellow Astartes, which the Scorpions reckon were gene-crafted by the Emperor himself, but even then there are limits to whom they are willing to [[Wulfen|put up with]].
In addition to being '''even more Codex compliant''' than the Ultramarines, it appears that the Chapter is also unique in that its [[gene-seed]] is even purer than that of the Smurf's and their successor chapters. In fact, they attach [[Apothecary|Apothecaries]] to many of their [[Tactical Squad]]s, so they can be extra sure that their fallen brothers' gene-seed gets collected before anything happens to it.
Anyway, this Chapter would be of little note were it not for [[Forge World]] having a [[Slaanesh|colossal hard-on]] for them, so if you live in the UK and don't mind selling a kidney to bankroll it then you too can be the proud owner of an army of Space [[Nazi]]s (they have dark grey-black uniforms, are obsessed with genetic purity, '''really''' hate mutants, are a crusading [i.e. warlike] chapter hiding a dark secret -- come on, somebody had to make the comparison).
Their isolationism and obsession with purity raises some interesting questions because the reason that so many Chapters are successors of the Ultramarines is because theirs is the purest geneseed of any of the ''loyalist'' Chapters (or at the very least tied with [[Lion El'Jonson]] of the [[Dark Angels]]). The only geneseed purer than Guilliman's is that of (pre-Heresy) [[Fulgrim]], but he isn't exactly the most reliable choice of [[Primarch]] because of that whole getting-possessed-by-a-[[Greater Daemon]], falling-to-[[Chaos]], killing-a-brother-Primarch-and-fatally-wounding-aforementioned-leader-of-/tg/'s-favourite-Chapter thing, so if he indeed was the Red Scorpions Primarch, they would probably want to keep it on the down low. Did I mention that coincidentally, the Red Scorpions are very secretive about their origins and even refuse to submit to genetic sampling by the [[Inquisition]], instead insisting that they report directly to the [[God-Emperor of Mankind|Emprah]] himself? [[Just as planned]]. One of these days [[Fabius Bile]] is going to fuck with their gene-seed... and then they will [[RAGE]] harder than even [[Angry Marines]] ever could. In fact, they probably would become Angry Marines.
Since Forge World loves them so much, the Deimos pattern predator and Land Raider Armored Proteus listed on their webstore (under the Horus Heresy section) are both painted with Red Scorpion paintjobs and have the Roman numeral for two on them. Since they are nestled in there with other Heresy-era vehicles with legion colour schemes that have their legion number in numerals on their hull somewhere, it kinda looks like the Red Scorpions ''are the lost second legion''... Or that the vehicles are attached to the second company.
Anyway, this Chapter would be of little note were it not for [[Forge World]] having a [[Slaanesh|colossal hard-on]] for them, so if you live in the UK and don't mind selling a kidney to bankroll it then you too can be the proud owner of an army of Space [[Nazi]]s (they have dark grey uniforms, are obsessed with genetic purity, '''really''' hate mutants, are a crusading [i.e. warlike] chapter hiding a dark secret -- come on, somebody had to make the comparison).
Also because of Forge World, they have access to lots of vintage wargear and they have a fetish for [[Power Armour#Maximus Armour|Mk IV Power Armour]] (which only FW sold decent, non-monopose models of for a long time), being one of the only two known chapters to still have the full [[STC|schematics]] needed to produce it (The other one being the [[Iron Hands]]). Also quite possibly the best special characters of any chapter; interestingly, they have eight ''(though four are the same dude)'', edging out ahead of everyone but the Ultrasmurfs, Space Wolves, and the Blood Angels.
*Space Wolves: 11+1 (Bran Redmaw has no datasheet of his own any more).
*Blood Angels: 7+1 (Tycho has two datasheets) ''(10 counting the other characters who can use their codex)''
*Ultramarines: 8 (Calgar has three datasheets while Tigurius has two) ''(10 if you count other characters who can use Ultramarine chapter tactics)''
*'''Red Scorpions: 8'''
*Dark Angels: 5
*Salamanders: 5 (coincidentally, three of those are forge world exclusive).
*Astral Claws: 4
*Minotaurs: 4
Also, they have access to all the best gear (probably because Forge World wanted to give them prettier models) and they have a Mk IV [[Power Armour]] fetish. And quite possibly the best special characters of any chapter (interestingly, they have FIVE, edging out ahead of everyone but the ultrasmurfs and Space Wolves (Salamanders: 4 Minotaurs: 2 Red Scorpions: 5 Astral Claws: 3 Space Wolves: 8 Ultramarines: 6). Speaking of whom...
==The Geneseed Question==
[[File:Scorpions Badab War.png|thumb|left|360px|The Chapter during the height of the [[Badab War]]]]Their isolationism and obsession with purity raises some interesting questions. The reason that so many Chapters are successors of the Ultramarines is because theirs is the purest [[geneseed]] of any of the ''loyalist'' Legions (or at the very least tied with [[Lion El'Jonson]] of the Dark Angels). The only geneseed purer than Guilliman's is that of (pre-Heresy) [[Fulgrim]], but for [[Drop Site Massacre|obvious]] [[Slaanesh|reasons]] he isn't exactly the most reliable choice of [[Primarch]]. If he indeed was the Red Scorpions Primarch, they would probably want to keep it on the down low.
Did we mention that coincidentally, the Red Scorpions are [[Blood Ravens|very secretive about their origins]] and even refuse to submit to genetic sampling by the [[Inquisition]], instead insisting that they report directly to the [[God-Emperor of Mankind|Emprah]] himself? [[Just as planned]]. One of these days [[Fabius Bile]] is going to fuck with their gene-seed... and then they will [[RAGE]] harder than even [[Angry Marines]] ever could.
When speculating about [[Traitor Legion Loyalists#List of suspected chapters|chapters with possible traitor geneseed]] it is important to distinguish tactical and cultural traits from the purely "genetic" ones. Just because a chapter likes to siege doesn't mean they descend from the [[Iron Warriors]], but if a chapter shows an innate preference for rationalism or displays a martyr complex, then perhaps they do carry the geneseed of [[Perturabo]].
With the Red Scorpions, there are several parallels to be drawn to the pre-Fulgrim [[Emperor's Children]]:
*"Horus Heresy 1: Betrayal" mentions that ''"The nature of the IIIrd Legion's psychology meant that they would carry the precise meaning and intent of any order without deviation and with their last breath if needed."'' This carries striking similairities to their obsession with their beloved Codex Astartes, and implies said obsession is rooted within their gene-coding. This also contrasts with the post-Fulgrim legion, known to be a fighting force renowed for it's creative tactics and speed.
*Outside observers have noted that the Red Scorpions show a "surprising" capacity to innovate, despite their inflexible personality. Unorthodox practices such as using a reduced scout company, attaching apothecaries to tactical squads, giving the chief librarian an honour guard, and sticking a helios launcher to a [[Land Raider]] chassis suggest they may not be THAT Codex compliant after all. This is doubly interesting because it all happens ''in spite'' of what their Chapter culture instils into them and not because of it, hinting the penchant for creativity might be tied to that oh-so-pure genseed of theirs.
*The Scorpions are religious, which not being the default for astartes, begs the question of why. According to the [[Inquisition]]; the IIIrd legion may not have literally deified the Emperor in the times of the [[Great Crusade]], but the strength and passion of their belief in was equal to that of any later adherent of the [[Ecclesiarchy]]. With the [[Imperial Truth]] gone, it would make sense for loyalist remnants to have slowly drifted towards the [[Imperial Creed]].
*Many of their views on leadership (such as the emphasis on leading from the front and by example) bear near-perfect parallels to the teachings of Solomon Demeter, Fulgrim's loyalist 2nd company captain who was killed at Istvaan III. How could've these teachings survived to reach the Scorpions when Demeter didn't is unknown, though it's possible that a few astartes outside the 2nd Company took up his views.
*[[File:Scorpions Mastodon.jpg|thumb|right|295px|Where does this [[Mastodon]] come from?]]The armoury of the chapter is loaded with ancient patterns of wargear. Aside from their MKIV suits, many of their Predators are [[Predator Tank#Deimos Destructor Pattern Predator|Deimos-pattern]], and lots of their Castaferrum dreadnoughts are MKIV (the non-boxnought variant of the regular dread). They are also not without actual Heresy-era relics: [[Land Raider#Phobos Pattern|Proteus Raiders]], a [[Spartan Assault Tank]], and a pair of [[Dreadnought#Leviathan Pattern|Leviathan dreads]]. The Chapter's oldest recorded action may be in M35, but their arsenal is that of a 2nd or 3rd Founding chapter. And unlike the [[Minotaurs]], the provenance of their wargear cannot be explained by High Lords favoritism.
fanmade 1994
==Campaigns==
HISTORY OF THE RED SCORPIONS
Forge World has created a rather neat history for them, that while nowhere near as complete as the one [[First Founding|more popular chapters]] enjoy, is still deserving of some mention:
After the Ultramarines chapter was broken up in the period after the Horus Heresy, the Red Scorpions chapter was formed from the ranks of the Ultramarines. Ultramarine Brother-Captain Sergas Surtek received permission from the Emperor in M32.951 to form the Red Scorpions.
*'''The Berillia Massacres''' - The Shining Blades chapter turns renegade and renames itself [[The Flawless Host]]. They spend short of a century harassing and pillaging isolated imperial outposts until they decide to a assault a Red Scorpions [[Space Marine Strike Cruiser|strike cruiser]] and use the geneseed of the dead to bolster their ranks. Upon learning of this, the Scorpions recalled all of their companies to the sector where the Flawless Host was located and proceeded to beat the ever loving shit out of the Slaaneshi warband. The renegades swear to exact vengeance upon all those that dare tarnish their [[Pretty Marines|bishounen glory]]. This is the chapter's earliest recorded action, taking place in M34.
In the first year of the 33rd millenia the gene seed for the Red Scorpions chapter was fully developed, and the first generation of warriors were established. The Emperor gave them thier codex that year and assigned them the homeworld of Telron Beta.
*'''Helios Campaign''' - The Red Scorpions are tasked with cleansing the world of Helios from [[Chaos Cults]]. Their paranoid asses cannot stand the idea of relying on the [[Astra Militarum|imperial guard]] for fire support, so they decide to create the [[Land Raider#Helios Pattern (Forge World)|Land Raider Helios]] instead.
Telron Beta was a huge feral world. Consisting soley of nomadic warrior tribes known for their ferocity and unreasoning loyalty. These tribes eventually formed the gene-base for all future Red Scorpion marines, giving them the tenacity they are now revered for.
*'''Second Aegisine Crusade''' - The chapter spearheads a [[Drop Pod]] assault upon a Forge World held by the [[Dark Mechanicus]] in order to secure a landing zone for their allied [[Imperial Knight|knight house]] and [[Titan (Warhammer 40,000)|Titan legion]] to safely deploy. For nineteen hours the Chapter was forced to defend the foetid swamps of the landing zone against hordes of Darkmech troops and [[Daemon Engine]]s, [[Awesome|but they refused to break]]. Once the war was over and the scorpions were taking their leave, Knights and Titans lined the route taken by the Red Scorpions as they marched to the landing zones, [[Awesome|bowing to them in homage as they passed by]].
Not long after the inception of the chapter and the settling of the homeworld the Red Scorpions were called into action. A large force of world eater chaos marines had invaded a planet only 2 systems away from the homeworld. The Red Scorpions, though barely settled in, and badly equipped set out to destroy them.
*'''Ordon Rift Crusade''' - The Red Scorpions get lost while exploring the dangerous Ordon Rift region and nothing is heard from then in more than 300 years, leading the [[Adeptus Terra]] to believe the Chapter was done for. Turns out they found out the rift was a cozy place and established their [[Fortress-Monastery]] in the orbit of the feral world of Zaebus Minoris. Where exactly this place is located differs depending on the galaxy map and the 40k editions, but it's somewhere around [[Sisters of Battle|Ophelia]], [[Krieg]], [[Ambull|Luther McIntyre]], and [[Mortifactors|Posul]]. This is to be expected, for in their usual paranoia, the Scorpions have kept its exact location and routes largely secret.
The battle lasted over 2 years, in which over 500 of the Red Scorpions were utterly destroyed, and few of their gene seeds were recovered. However, the purity of the Red Scorpions was such that not one succumbed to the power of chaos, and eventually, the scourge was completely eliminated.
*'''The Crucible of Endikon IX ''' - Oh boi, where do we even start with this one. Endikon IX was a hive world that had suffered for decades the attacks of [[Eldar Corsairs]]. When the reinforcements finally arrived, the resulting void battle between the Xenos and the [[Imperial Navy]] destroyed most of the imperial guard's troop carriers. As a means to counter the lack of manpower, the [[Raptors (Chapter)|Raptors]] suggested engaging the Eldar in a series of hit-and-run strikes to wear down their forces. But the Scorpions, in their infinite wisdom, refused to have any part of what they deemed [[Lawful Stupid|"cowardice in the face of the enemy"]] and proceeded to initiate a full drop assault [[Leeroy Jenkins|without any support]]. The Imperium eventually won the battle but the Scorpions lost [[FAIL|67 out of the 83 battle-brothers that participated in the mission]], as opposed to the Raptors who only lost a handful of brothers in [[Just As Planned|a protracted harrying campaign to eliminate the remaining Aeldari]]. Despite this, the Red Scorpions [[Tales of Fail|proudly list Endikon IX amongst their greatest battle honours]].
One of the casualties during this battle was the founder himself, who was killed only after single handedly killing an entire squad of Lightning Claw Terminators. His wounds were too great for the medic that arrived all too late. His deed however, prevented the World Eaters from destroying a field hospital full of wounded marines. Luckily his gene seed was recovered and was placed back into the pool of the chapter.
*'''[[Vraks|Siege of Vraks]]''' - During the final phases of the conflict, the Scorpions donated a hundred Marines (from various companies) to the cause. [[Carab Culln]] himself would place the teleport homer that allowed the Terminators of the 1st Company to secure the [[Death Korps of Krieg]] a breach in the final defensive wall. As the tide of the war turned in the favour of Chaos, the Scorpions were recalled as part of the forces sent by the Imperium to finish the job. They led the assault on one of the Citadel's main gates, and later were tasked with cleansing the apostate cardinal's palace once the imperials had established a foothold inside.
The Red Scorpions recieved the Emperor's highest commendations for thier valor in that battle. Due to the low number of progenoid recoveries in the war however, the Red Scorpions were relieved from tithe until their chapter had returned to full strength. This took over 500 years, and some members of the inquisition believe this may be one reason for the near insanity of the chapter.
*'''The Amphelion project''' - The Adeptus Mechanicus decide that it would be a good idea to keep a zoo of Tyranids on Beta Anphelion IV in order to study them. Contact is, naturally, lost and Inquisitor Solomon Lok of the Ordo Xenos gathers up some Red Scorpions and Detachment D-99 of the [[Elysian Drop Troops]] to investigate. Jurassic Park IN SPESSS ensues, and the Marines escape while leaving Lok and the Guard to die horribly. Though in the Scorpions defense, Lok attempted to leave Culln for dead at Amphelion and threatened the chapter when they [[Noblebright|refused to leave the planet without him.]] Wait, then what's the justification for leaving the Guardsmen to die? (They are just guardsmen, duh?)
Due to the badly battered state of the chapter, and the extreme grudge the World Eaters now held against them, the Red Scorpion homeworld was now in a critical position. Attack was feared by the new Brother-Commander Varion Sarlon, and he knew, even with the ferocity and strength of his brothers, his homeworld was in serious danger. The Emperor ordered that the newly founded marine chapter of the Fire Hawks have their homeworld located in the same system as the Red Scorpions, to protect them from possible destruction.
*'''[[Badab War]]''' - You know this one: [[Lugft Huron]] declares independance from the [[High Lords of Terra]], and a fuckton of chapters are sent his way to remind him why that is not a thing. [[Carab Culln]] leads the loyalists to victory against the Tyrant of Badab, and for their service, the High Lords reward the Red Scorpions with a "Vexilla Imperialis". This fancy banner quickly becomes one of the chapter's most prized relics and is given to [[Sirae Karagon]].
Originally both chapters were loathe to this agreement due to the fact that expansion within the system was now going to have to be shared. And production would be difficult, at minimum. Tension began to grow between the two chapters not long after the Red Scorpions reached full strength.
*'''[[Indomitus Crusade]]''' - The Red Scorpions join [[Roboute Guilliman]]'s damage control efforts in the aftermath of the [[Great Rift]]. At some point during the crusade, Culln is mortally wounded by a Tyranid known as "The Great Beast of [[Sarum]]" and is entombed inside a Leviathan Dreadnought. [[Casan Sabius]] becomes the Red Scorpions new Chapter Master.
Due to the limited size of the gene-pool, the chapter began to develop strange qualities. Those marines that had survived the war were the most loyal, and unreasoning of the whole chapter, added to that the founder's gene-seed, and the in-bred tenacity of the nomads of the homeworld, and the result was obvious. The Red Scorpions had become utter purifists, their bravery was unmatched, and thier adherence to the codex was unheard of.
The Red Scorpions began to tire of the Fire Hawks ruling over thier system. The Fire Hawks had quickly seized all of the planets in the system while the Red Scorpions were recovering. The Red Scorpions began preparing for war with the Fire Hawks. Members of the Inquisition quickly moved in to prevent the imminent war.
In the year M34.186, the World Eaters set out to take their revenge. Knowing that the two chapters had been on the brink of war, they assumed that war had allready consumed them, and revenge was now at it's most attainable point. They did not however know of the large peace-keeping forces of the Inquisition, and the Adeptus Arbitus that had swarmed in to prevent the war. Over 8,000 World Eaters landed on Telron Beta supported by Daemons of Khorne.
The Chaos forces were taken completely by surprise. The Red Scorpions were so prepared for war with the Fire Hawks, that they had become nearly battle frenzied on a permament basis. Thier armories were swollen with ammunition and supplies that could feed a thousand years of conflict. Even some of the Inquisitors that had served on Mars were utterly astounded by the sheer volume of military supplies. Even the nomads had been armed to the teeth and trained for battle.
The World Eaters instantly realized their mistake, but were no less intent on total immolation of the Red Scorpions. They called back for reinforcements, and before the Fire Hawks knew what happened, over 10,000 Chaos Marines had swarmed into the system. The Fire Hawks, while helping the Red Scorpions defend their own planet, had not bothered to leave a sufficient defensive force behind. Their homeworld was quickly overwhelmed, as were many of the other planets in the system. The Inquisition desperately pleaded for reinforcements fearing total destruction of both chapters. Unfortunately all of the nearby chapters were involved in quelling the ork assaults on many of the surrounding worlds.
The Red Scorpions and the Fire Hawks were now pinned down on Telron Beta. Fire Hawk Brother-Commander Regio Annote expressed severe doubts on the survival of the chapters, and even considered a tactical retreat. Luckily, he did not express this to the Red Scorpions, who were already battle-frenzied and fully prepared to fight to the last man. Had he done so, the entire situation would have turned hopelessly sour with Red Scorpions killing Fire Hawks for battle cowardice.
Instead, the Red Scorpions surprised even the Inquisitors with their ferocity. They managed to regain control of the entire fourth continent, and were beginning to press on to the third. This early victory in the face of utter hopelessness stimulated the Fire Hawks to fight with renewed vigor, and they quickly seized control of the second continent. Inquisition forces, along side the nomads managed to overtake the fifth continent, and now, only the largest, the first continent remained.
The Chaos forces were utterly astounded by the tragic turn the war had taken on them. Though they did not dare ask for more troops, fearing the Daemons would have them destroyed for losing such an "assured victory". They did however mass troops from the other, now well controlled planets on the continent.
The battle lines were drawn, and it looked like a gruesome battle, with either side being the potential losers. Red Scorpions led the assault on the continent, pushing straight to the center with a solid line, against the orders of the Inquisition. This left the entire chapter completely enclosed in the center of the continent by chaos forces. Fire Hawks, and Inquisition forces tried desperately to carve deep enough to reach them, but were halted nearly 400 miles south of them.
What the inquisition did not know is that the Red Scorpions had made a B-line for their largest underground cache of weapons. Here the Adeptus Mechanicus had stored in secrecy a huge number of terminator suits, specially outfitted for the Red Scorpions. Originally the intention was to outfit the entire chapter in terminator armor for the war with the Fire Hawks. Chaos forces had not found the massive armory, though much of it was laid to waste by heavy shelling from orbital ships in the initial landing.
Yet, over 250 suits of specially crafted Red Scourge terminator suits remained. Additionaly, 100 suits of Mark II Devestator Armor was also left. The Red Scorpions suited up and unleashed their wrath on the once again over-confident Chaos forces, and literally tore their way through the lines, completely conquering the northern third of the continent. When the Inquisition learned of this, they, along with the Fire Hawks, now proceded to scissor the remaining chaos forces, and along-side the Red Scorpions, completely liberated the planet. Wiping clean every last infected beast.
When the Red Scorpions learned of the valiant effort put forth by the Fire Hawks to attempt to reach them during the siege, all former hatreds were forgotten, and a special bond was formed between the two chapters.
Now with their planet freed, the two chapters assailed the rest of the planets in the system, and were able to easily overcome the depleted forces of the World Eaters. Both chapters claim that not one tainted filth escaped that system alive after the two brother chapters set down on the planets, though the Inquisition still holds otherwise.
It was assertained that all of the worlds previously held by the Fire Hawks in that system were too far gone with infection to be redeemed, so soon they were toxin-balled, and completely wiped clear of all life. The Fire Hawks were still grateful to the Red Scorpions for their valiant efforts to redeem the homeworld of the Fire Hawks, despite previous conflicts. And it was decided in the interests of brotherhood that the Fire Hawks would move to the adjacent system to start anew.
After the wars, which lasted over 200 years, the two chapters partook in a ritual mixing of their gene seed. 100 gene-seeds from each chapter were traded, to forever bond the two chapters, and both chapters signed a pact that would ensure that any futher wars would be fought together. To this day many Red Scorpion forces will be found with a contingency of Fire Hawks, or vise-versa. And the mixing of the gene-seeds prevented the Inquisition from having to deal with the overly battle-mad problems of the Red Scorpions. The Red Scorpion seed also assisted the Fire Hawks by completely eliminating the taint of cowardice that had been in them.
What the inquisition did not know however, was the fact that the Red Scorpions had managed to steal many of the gene-seeds from the fallen inquisitors, Astropaths and Ordo-Maellus while fighting the battles on Telron Beta. Originally the High Adeptus had feared for the Red Scorpions due to the fact that in the three thousand years up to this war, not one psyker or librarian was born among them, nor did it seem that any were to come. The Red Scorpions took this as thier chance to finally mix some "psyker blood" into their gene-pool, not to mention the fabled power of the inquisition. Later the inquisition did learn of this through study of the gene tithe, but it was too late to do anything about it, and the adeptus terra was loathe to condemn one of thier most formidable chapters for making themselves even more powerful, especially after winning two wars against impossible odds.
The Red Scorpion gene seed did suffer however some mutation from the original seed that was given to them. The mass depletion, intense mixing, and hostile conditions of their lives, coupled with the rituals and practices of the chapter changed them drasticly. One such change was the utter loss of the ability to gain knowledge from the ingestion of their foes. Up to now, the only foes they had ever fought were chaos, which they were not about to eat the corpses of. It was forbidden within the chapter to eat the fallen enemies because of this, and eventually, this implant was completely forgone. Most noted however is the venemous glands in the mouth of the marines. These were enhanced greatly by the apothecarion and eventually became much much more potent then the originals. The Red Scorpions became well known for their devestating effects in close quarters fighting, and are among the most feared hand to hand warriors in the galaxy. Fueled by the preference of hand to hand combat by the nomadic tribes of their world, the Red Scorpions have become tuned to close combat far more than any existing chapter. Red Scorpion initiates and scouts are most noted for their hand to hand efficiency, and not their ballistics usage. They are trained practically from birth in this art, and are therefore different from other marine scouts. (ws= 4 bs= 3)
The nomadic tribes of the homeworld are also revered in the chapter for their efforts in the onslaught. Originally the Inquisition feared that the Red Scorpion homeworld would also need to be purified to avoid potential infection of the marines. However, it was found that the nomadic nature of the tribes saved them, by allowing them to take to the hills, and hide from the forces of chaos. Though many had been killed, and infected, a large number, nearly 20%, had survived the war completely untainted. The Inquisition was initially wary of this, and for over two thousand years kept a watchful eye on them to assure that none had gone unchecked, literally checking every nomad on the planet twice.
The Red Scourge armor, or so it was named by the Chaos forces who initially felt its wrath was the paramount of the Red Scorpion technology. The Red Scorpion Adeptus mechanicus are well known for their resourcefulness, and ingenuity (another trait taken from the tribes), frequently invent new weapons, and vehicles to assist the chapter in it's wars. The Armor however was the greatest creation of the Red Scorpions. It was based on the lightning claw armor, and modified to replace the claws, with enormous power claws to literally crush the enemy. Often in battle the claws are used to shatter the weapons of the unfortunate opponent. (RS marines can combine 3 or more successful attacks into a single weapon shatter intead of wounding the opponent) The claws themselves are much like the power claws found on many ork dreadnaughts, but they are powered by the same fields used by lighting claws, making them even more devestating. It is considered an extreme honor by the Red Scorpions to use these suits of armor, and any Red Scorpion marine of sufficient worth may volunteer to wear this armor. Many comanders, captains, seargents and even chaplains have worn this armor into battle with devestating results. (any terminator squad, or character with a WS of 5 or more may wear Red Scourge armor into battle instead of Terminator armor for an additional 10 points, not including the terminator armor)
Also well known is the use of ad-hoc armaments on vehicles. This stems from the original confrontation with the World Eaters where the Red Scorpions were horribly under-provisioned, and had to virtually build tanks from spare parts on the field. The Red Scorpions began to create strange tanks from rhino hulls, and modifying them highly to suit the conditions they required on the battle field. After the war, the Adeptus Mechanicus on Telron Beta continued this practice, this time however with adequate supplies, creating powerful, and devestating war machines. Simple rhinos were converted into deadly assault tanks capable of punching through enemy lines and laying down fire that would eliminate whole platoons. Often the las cannons on predators were replaced with multi-meltas to transform them into deadly assault tanks.
Most reknown however is the Red Scorpion's strict adherence to the codex. Their belief is that the emperor himself wrote the words, and chose the colors for their chapter. To question the word of the emperor is heresy, therefore to deviate from the codex, is heresy also. Red Scorpion vehicles and armor is painted with the utmost of care and precision, and after each battle every detail is painted back into place, to assure that even the emperor himself would be satisfied with any vehicle at any time, should he ever decide to inspect them.
This adherence is taken to an extreme by the Red Scorpions, more so than any other chapter in the imperium. On one occasion they refused to serve with even the Ultramarines, due to a mispainted detail on the track of one of their land raiders. They refused to enter combat with them until the track was repainted. On another, more severe occasion, the Red Scorpions actually went to war over a paintjob after lending a tank to the Novamarines. During the battle the Novamarines repainted the tank in camoflauge hues, and returned it to the Red Scorpions this way. The Red Scorpions were furious, and demanded that they repaint it immediately. The Novamarines paid no attention to them, until a force of Red Scourge marines landed in their homeworld's armory, and completely destroyed every vehicle there. A war broke out between the two chapters, and was eventually stopped by the Inquisition. To this day however, any chapter that borrows any equipment from the Red Scorpions is sure to return it exactly as it was, even spending years making sure every detail is perfect. Many members of the Inquisition still laugh to themselves over the unique, and rather fitting form of revenge taken on by the Red Scorpions in that particular case, though out of line. One Inquisitor was quoted as saying "Those Red Scorpions, total nuts... but you gotta hand it to them, they know how to get the point across real fast."
Due to the intense history of the Red Scorpions dealing with chaos, they refuse to deal with any tainted race. They will not serve with beastmen, under any condition, and utterly refuse to serve with squats for reasons unknown. (It is said that they are angry with the squats for taking credit for one of their vehicle designs.) They will never serve with an eldar force either. The reasoning behind this is that the eldar use a force known as the "Striking Scorpions". A term which the Red Scorpions find repulsive. Even though the eldar did indeed name their force long before the Red Scorpion founder was even born, the Red Scorpions refuse to deal with the eldar until this problem is solved. They have even gone as far as to send delagates to the eldar craft worlds, demanding that they change the name of these squads. They also readily volunteer to participate in any attack on eldar forces containing these units. The Red Scorpions despise ogryns too, but respect them for their ferocity in hand to hand combat. They despise the ratlings for thier aloof ways, and total lack of combat skills of any sort, referring to them as, "the little cowards". Red Scorpion forces are most often found along side Fire Hawk forces, and on rare occasions they serve with the mentor legion. The Mentor Legion has befriended them for a mutual trade of the technology the Red Scorpions love to brag about. The Red Scorpions also gladly accept new ideas from the Mentor legion, which they quickly incorporate into their new designs. However, unless strictly ordered, the Red Scorpions will not serve with most other chapters for a variety of reasons ranging from paint jobs to cowardice to "they just aren't brutal enough" as put by Commander Carab Culln.
After the liberation of their homeworlds from the clutches of the chaos forces, Red Scorpions found themselves in battle more and more often with chaos forces. The High Adeptus often sent them far out of their way to attack chaos forces due to thier extreme aggression versus them. Only on one occassion did the Red Scorpions ever actually fight tyranids. This battle was viewed as an utter disaster by many. Due to the Red Scorpion preference for hand to hand combat, they often forego heavy weapons altogether. This led to near disaster in the battle with genestealers. Luckily the Fire Hawks had seen this problem before it occurred and sent a massive contingency of devestators to assist in the battle. Though to this day the Red Scorpions still brag about how quickly their Red Scourge managed to slay the hive tyrant in hand to hand combat.
Many of the systems near Telron Beta are heavily infested with orks. Often the Red Scorpions are called on to assail these planets and deal with the ork problems. It is secretly noted that while the Red Scorpions despise the orks for being inhuman, they share a secret bond with them, for their mutual use of on-the-field modifications to support weaponry. Though the Red Scorpions correctly believe themselves to be far beyond the orks in this field.
The Inquisition often encounters many problems when dealing with the Red Scorpions. The Red Scorpions are far from heretics, and will obey any order given to them, however, they view the inquisition as "often getting in the way of the Emperor's will". Though it may seem like heresy to some, they will often completely disregard orders given by the inquisitors if they feel it is not what the emperor would truly wish them to do. The inquisition will often send surrogates to the Red Scorpions to deal with them, not wishing to create uneeded problems. Though one time this nearly ended in disaster when a Soriatus Squad landed on Telron Beta for a surprise armory inspection. Not ever having dealt with female marines before, the Red Scorpions instantly thought them to be some sort of hideous Chaos or Eldar farse on the marines, and assaulted them with an entire comapniy of Red Scourge. Though fully prepared for a problem, the Soriatus were simply no match for the Red Scorpions in hand to hand, and were quickly slaughtered. War nearly broke out, with both sides not having any idea what was going on. Finally the inquisition was called in (by both sides even) to deal with the problem. To this day the Red Scorpions will not serve with the Sister Soriatus, mainly due to thier lack of close combat skills.
In the year M41.501 Carab Culln was inducted as a scout marine. Originally he was a pledge to become a librarian, however it was found he was not powerful enough to control such powers. As was usual for the Red Scorpions, they hid this fact from the Inquisition, feeling that Carab Culln was too good a combatant to be absorbed by the emperor. Soon he rose in the ranks of the Red Scorpions, and eventually took command of the chapter in the year M41.622. During this time the librarians trained him, and eventually he attained the powers of a full initiate. Obviously the inquisition was furious when they found out about this, but by this time Carab Cullen was more than powerful enough to be risk free.
Interestingly enough, the Red Scorpion homeworld has absolutely no desert areas. It is almost all steppe and wide open plains. After Carab Culln took control of the planet, he decided to do something about this long time problem. He sent out expeditionary forces to all the nearby planets and searched for scorpions. Eventually over 400 species of scorpions were amassed in a artificial bioshpere created for them. They were all studied, and eventually one was found that was particularly suited to the steppe environment. In all actuallity, what had happened was this:
Adeptus Arbitus complaint #458021 vs. Red Scorpion Commander Carab Culln.
Charge: Releasing insect plauge.
This is a formal complaint by Superior Judge Antalion Arnaq of the Adeptus Arbitus Telron Beta against Commander Carab Culln of the Red Scorpions.
Commander Culln has brought into this system a strain of highly poisonous scorpion like insect life forms. These scorpions have swarmed over the planet, killing several of my troops, and much of the local government. Initially we began to spray the insects with a toxin to destroy them. However, Commander Culln has seen fit to make it a capitol crime to kill any of these insects. We demand that something be done about this problem before our entire force is killed by stinging insects.
Inquisition report follows:
Inquisitor Delnor Attabne. Apparently in their study of various insects for population of their homeworld, over 400 were brought to a controlled environment. Unwittingly they were all placed in the same cage, and ultimately only one strain survived the situation. Obviously this was the most lethal of the bunch. Incidentally, these scorpions also happen to be red. They somehow escaped the controlled environment, and have adapted to the steppes. The Red Scorpions have developed a liking for these insects, and also created a drug, when administered, will make them immune for life against the potent toxin of the scorpions. I have hereby ordered that this drug be given to the local government and administered to the entire population of the planet. Commander Culln has been reprimanded for his actions, and hopefully no further problems along these lines will arise.
Carab Cullen is perhaps the worst of all the Red Scorpion commanders yet to come to power, at least in respect to his purifisim, and disrespect for the inquisition. Though he will obey orders, he often goes out of his way to make things miserable for any visiting inquisitors. The local arbitus have complained on numerous occasions about weapons testing too close to their palace, and other various problems. Commander Culln has requested on numerous occasions that the Arbitus be moved to an adjacent planet, and that they don't belong on his homeworld in the first place. On many occasions the Red Scorpions have set forth to drive the arbitus off their planet, by doing everything from pranks such as setting ogryns on fire, to tricking ratling snipers into thinking that the arbitus' using their training grounds are actually target dummies for the ratlings to practice on. Obviously the arbitus is in no position militarily to do anything about this other than complain, and the Inquisition is loathe to deal with the Red Scorpions in the first place. Though the arbitus claim the right to the homeworld still, they have moved most of thier operations to Telron Alpha.
The Badab war is perhaps the most interesting of all the Red Scorpion wars. In M41.901 Lufgt Huron, Master of the Tiger Claws attacked and destroyed an inquisition fleet as it entered orbit around Badab. Though the Red Scorpions and the Fire Hawks were very close to Badab, they initially refused to assist the Inquisition in dealing with the problem. This was due to respect for the Tiger Claws in not assisiting the local arbitus when they had asked them for assistance in dealing with the Red Scorpions.
Initially the Tiger Claws had secretly petitioned both the Red Scorpions and the Fire Hawks to join him in a revolt, thinking they were on his side. The Red Scorpions immediately refused such an outright heretic action vs. the Emperor, and sent his messenger back in pieces. This infuriated the Tiger Claws, and in M41.904, after gaining the loyalty of the Mantis Warriors, lamentors, and Executioners, the Mantis Warriors attacked a Fire Hawks ship passing through the sector. The Fire Hawks immediately retaliated, with minor assistance from the Red Scorpions. The Emperor at this time had approved the Red Scorpion request for a unique color scheme for it's close assault troops. A small unit consisting of scouts and assault troops wearing this new armor set down on the moon of Angstrom in the Lamentor system. Immediately they found a band of units massing for war. They attacked brutally, but were eventually destroyed by the overwhelming forces of the lamentors on the moon. It was said that the noble scouts truly proved their worth that day however, astounding even the Red Scorpions. The Red Scorpions immediately sent out a massive force of Red Scourge marines, in conjunction with the Minotaurs, quashed the threat to imperial shipping in 907. The Red Scorpions managed to retrieve all the gene-seeds from the bodies of the scouts, and were soon recalled to their normal duties. This was mainly due to the fact that Novamarines were being sent in to help with the situation. During this war many problems arose between the Minotaurs and the Red Scorpions. Being that the minotaurs were not a particularly stringent group about their chapter colors, and often the Red Scorpions would refuse fighting with them after seeing the horrid condition of their land raiders. Not to mention the fact that the Minotaurs often used camoflauge in combat, something the Red Scorpions see as "the colors of cowardice".
Though they were particularly valiant in their efforts during the war, they were given no merits for their actions, because of the refusals to fight along side many of the forces. Interestingly enough, the Fire Hawks were given many awards for their bravery, even though most of their fighting was primarily due to circumstance.
Not surprisingly, there is a second account of the Angstrom incident, as accounted by the inquisition forces that were supposedly leading that squad. Inquisitors report that they had given direct orders to the scouts to halt, and to hold their current location until reinforcements from the Fire Hawks arrived. Almost immediately the scouts, eager to prove themselves took up pursuit of a routing enemy squad, and intented to follow it to their secret base. What happened, in short, was the squad led them into a trap, jammed their communications, and slaughtered them. The assault platoon tried to reach them in time, but were all too late. The assault troops let out there vengence on the lamentors in that ambush, but were too few to destroy them. When found, there were hundreds of fallen Lamentors around a pile of about 40 Red Scorpions. The lone survivor was mortally wounded, and blind, and reportedly, unkowingly, killed one of the Fire Hawk apothecarions in a final lash. He had seemingly thought the lamentors had come back to defile his troops, and showed impressive courage to save their bodies. Though it was unfortunate that he killed the apothecarion. The Fire Hawks realized this was an accident, and never told the Red Scorpions about the killing of their medic, and merely told them that their entire force was found dead. To this day the name of the Apothecarion and the brave survivor are regarded with honor by the Fire Hawks, who view it as a reminder of their once bloody past with the Red Scorpions. Best friends, locked in mortal combat, not knowing each is the other's brother.
Red Scorpions in Combat:
==Daily Rituals==
As previously stated the Red Scorpions are known for their ferocity in combat. Primarily in hand to hand, and in the use of vehicles. They are also insane speed demons.
06:00- Wake up: The Red Scorpions exit their beds. The beds are made out of only pure cotton sheets. Any sheet that is discovered to be less than 100% cotton is burned by the Reclusiarch for heresy. The offending Brother is then also burned for Heresy.
The Red Scorpions love to use anything that will give them a speed advantage over their opponent. Often they use bikes, and jump packs to flash into hand to hand combat before the enemy knows what hits them. The Red Scorpions will also use Land Speeders whenever possible due to thier quick acceleration, and offensive capabilities.
The Red Scorpions show a extreme preference for hand to hand combat, and will allways have a large portion of thier army dedicated to close combat. Any Red Scorpion army must contain at least 30% close assault troops, or characters primarily suited for hand to hand combat. Often Red Scorpions will field a squad of Fire Hawks as a devotional tribute to their brotherhood, and these troops are not considered allies, but merely a portion of their squads. Often Red Scorpions will field dreadnaughts or strangely converted tanks and land raiders to assist them in battle. Most often speed is a major factor in thier attacks, so quick moving vehicles are preferred over all else.
Red Scorpions, unlike other marines, will not accept allies. They will not dedicate any portion of their force to any other army. They will however, if ordered, serve as allies for Imperial Guard armies. Though grudgeingly, they will accept Imperial Agent assistance, under certain conditions. They will never serve with any portion of the Adeptus ministorium, nor will they serve with any non psycik inquisitor. They will gladly serve with grey knights, due to the strict adherence to codex beliefs of that chapter. They will also happily serve with Adeptus mechanicus, (mainly the mentor legion) and the Aeptus Astra Telepathica, due to their high regard for psycik powers. They will serve with Adeptus arbites, if nothing more than to annoy them.
The Red Scorpions have perhaps the largest selection of dreadnaughts and vehicles allowed to any marine chapter. They can field just about any Imperial vehicle, or support weapon, provided that at least one vehicle on the field is a conversion of some sort. (such as a rhino with a bulldozer blade) Any vehicle or dreadnaught outfitted specially for close combat can count towards the 30% close combat percentage.
Special vehicles of the Red Scorpions.
07:00 - Morning Firing Rites: The Red Scorpions prepare to shoot at the 100% biodegradable targets, and each Bolt that will be shot during the practice is carefully examined by the Techmarines in order to make sure each shot is as pure as possible. Any "unpure" bolt is carefully put into a hazardous waste container and shipped to Mars.
Two of the most infamous vehicles of the Red Scorpions are the Gorgon and the Red Destroyer.
The gorgon is a modification on the imperial gorgon, though not based on it. A rhino hull is converted to an open top, then a bulldozer blade is fitted to the front. A small turret is placed on top, most often mounted with a pair of heavy plasma guns that will fire every other round at maximal power. Often a Hunter Killer Missile is also mounted to the vehicle to add to it's destructive potential, as is additional armor.
Points cost: 220 points.
The Red Destroyer is a modification on the older Imperial Dreadnaught. It has been refitted with two large power claws, and a tail. The tail is swept over the head, and is armed with a las-cannon. This Dreadnaught is primarily used in close combat, to tear through enemy lines.
Cost: same as close assault dreadnaught. Powerclaws act same as powerclaws on ork dreadnaught.
Personalities:
11:00 - Morning Battle Practice: The Red Scorpions, finally finishing their Firing Rites, proceed to engage each other in simulated combat. Battle brothers are encouraged to try and kill those they deem to have inferior geneseed, so that the purity of the chapter may yet remain intact.
Commander Carab Culln:
Commander Culln is primarily the same as any other Imperial commander, aside from his limited psyker abilities. He is considered to be a first level psyker, and can only obtain librarian powers. He will often choose to lead a squad of Red Scourge marines into battle, and when he does, he also wears the Red Scourge armor.
Cost: 110 points. All other stats same as army list.
Chaplain Argosos Noration:
This chaplain is always purchased as a mighty hero, and has the same stats as any other. However, in close combat he always chooses a particular set of weaponry. He arms himself with a Crozius arcanum, a plasma gun, a power sword, and a rosarius. He does however, receive one extra attack in close combat, which may be taken only once per battle. This attack is a deadly acid spit. His acidic glands are the most powerful to date of any marine, and thus, the only ones capable of doing harm in a battle situation. Though it takes him all day to muster enough acid to make a succesful spit, when he decides to do so it is an automatic strength 4 hit with a -1 save modifier. Other marines, of any chapter are immune to this, including chaos marines.
Cost: 150 points.
Standard Bearer Alarion Zionate:
This standard bearer was to be the leader of his nomadic tribe, but was drafted as a marine initiate. Therefore he wears the ritual helmet of his tribe, a horned helm. He is allways accompanied by his two servants, who are vetran marine seargents. He usually fights with a power axe. He may take additional wargear, and up to one wargear card, as may his servants. The three are considered to be one character for victory points calculations, and must remain within 2 inches of each other.
Total cost for Alarion and 2 servants: 120 points
Apothecarion Ramses Telach:
This is a standard apothecarion in all respects but one. He is extremely adept at his art of surgery on the battlefield, and thus may re-roll any failed attempt on a patient only once(per patient).
Cost: 50 points
Inquisition notes on the Red Scorpion chapter.
13:00 - Afternoon Meal: A light meal of meat and fruit is served. Any food that you wish to consume must first get the approval of the Librarian, who compares the image in the cookbook to the current look of said food. Any food that does not perfectly resemble the image is burned for Heresy.
Other than chapter owned records, and notes from the logs of Ultramarine commanders who served with Sergat, there is no actual record of the inception of this chapter. Unless this information has been obscured from us in some manner, it is highly possible this chapter was formed without Imperial permission. Though at this time, little action is possible, without proof of some form. The information may have also been lost somehow, though at this time it is impossible for us to know.
Chapter information taken from the Fire Hawks has been very useful in piecing together the past of the Red Scorpions. According to early Fire Hawk records, they had absolutely no idea the homeworld they were assigned to (originally Telron Beta) was inhabited. To this day the Fire Hawks are unsure of the origins of their brother chapter. The Fire Hawks originaly attempted to absorb the Red Scorpions into their own chapter, and this, above all else, is the actual reason for the two chapters going to war. Though niether chapter will admit it to this date, the two chapters did indeed declare war. There was indeed a massive battle consisting of over 200 marines from both chapters, which was barely stopped by members of our organization before the chaos fleet descended on the planet.
The Red Scorpion preference for hand to hand combat was not originally a preference, it was originally a blatant lack of actual weaponry. It is the belief of this Inquisitor that the Red Scorpions never recieved an imperial edict. Most likely it was a lone captain who decided to start his own chapter, and built his own armories from there. This also accounts for the large portion of ad-hoc weaponry utilized by the Red Scorpions.
One of the growing fears that I have about the Red Scorpions is the similarity between them and the Empire. Commander Culln's psyker powers resemble in a vauge sense that of the emperor. They have their own armories, and rarely requisition anything from the Adeptus mechanicus. They have in a sense, attempted to be totally self sufficient.
The only question remaining in my mind is the origin of the codex they adhere so tightly to. Even Sergat himself was strictly adhered to it throughout his life, and there is a good possiblity that there was some form of original codex given to them, which they might be hiding from me.
End of Imperial Documentation.
High Adeptus Report on Chapter #128 Legiones Astartes Red Scorpions:
14:00 - Tactical Indoctrination: The Red Scorpions are educated on why they must follow the Codex Astartes as closely as possible. Any Battle brother who does not understand this concept is promptly punished with the proper application of a Crozius to his head for failure to try and be pure.
In order to quell the increasing fears by the inquisition about the Red Scorpion Chapter, we are de-classifying these Imperial records and giving them to the Inquisition and the Fire Hawks. Portions deleted for security.
High Adeptus Command, Imperial Order #458-234.45B
Date: M32.951
Special Mission: Priority 1 Alpha.
Codename: Red Plauge
Mission Objective: Seek, Destroy, Inhabit.
Orders as Follows:
Effective immediately Sergat Surtek is ordered to gather a portion of the ultramarines who are best suited to deep space conditions. It is also imperative that they be the absolute best that chapter has to offer. They will not be told of thier mission until they are unable to contact anyone, and well within deep space.
Your mission is to hunt down a renagade chapter, the XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX marines, this chapter is believed to have fallen to chaos, and must be found and destroyed. Imperial agents have reported that a large force of world eater marines is set to meet with them in a system known as the Telron System.
Once the marines en route have been destroyed, you must pose as these marines and infiltrate the world eaters command. Once you have found out thier invasion plans for that sector, destroy them. Assume a homeworld in a nearby system, and set up a command base to coordinate defence for that entire galactic fringe.
If you encounter any other marines, you will tell them nothing, and accept no assistance from them, if they persist, destroy them. If members of the Inquisition find you, you are ordered to tell them nothing, and ignore any orders they give you, if it becomes nessecary, destroy them as well.
Your primary function will be defense against chaos. You will be given little or no weaponry, as to avoid arousing suspicion in the Adeptus Mechanicus. You will find adequate supplies on your ship to construct your own armor. When you have time, you will fabricate your own codex and history. Enclosed herein are your chapter colors:
(color information follows)
It is imperative that you follow these orders exactly as written. Do not deviate from them in the slightest. The Emperor is counting on you. If you encounter any problems, contact the Adeptus Terra directly, do not deal with the Inquisition or any other office of the Imperium.
Go with the blessings of the Emperor,
Warmaster XXXXXX Addendum : Fire Hawks.
You are hereby ordered to completely destroy the Fire Hawks chapter. Do not let one escape. Attempt to wipe out anyone who may have had contact with them in regard to your existence. We will determine the amount of information that has leaked out, and deal with it as nessecary.
Addendum : Emergency.
Emergency, disregard previous orders. Repeat, disregard previous orders in respect to the Fire Hawks. Chaos War Fleet invasion imminent. Inquisition forces are en route with orders to prevent your war with the Fire Hawks. They do not know of the invasion. You will coordinate the defense of that system. After you have destroyed the invasionary fleet, proceed to wipe out all inquisition, and Fire Hawk forces remaining.
Addendum : War.
You are hereby ordered to allow the fleet to invade all of the worlds in your system. A second fleet is en route. Once they believe they have crushed you, retake your planet, and procede to toxin-ball all other planets in that system, including the Fire Hawk homeworld. No reinforcements will be sent in order to prefent further leak of your existence.
Message from Commander Zion Antor Problem ----, khorne, ----- request permission, -------- red scourge.
(transmission garbled)
Permission is hereby granted to use the classified Red Scourge armor, regardless of the fact that others are present. Obviously we will need to deal with this problem down the road. The inquisition will be repremanded for interfering.
Addendum: Release of orders.
Due to the inquisition's high numbers of distress calls, you are hereby relieved of further duty. All items contained herein are to be kept secret, and are not to leak out under any condition. You will be placed in command of the Fire Hawks. Perform a ritual mixing of your chapter's gene seeds, but do not actually infuse their seed within your chapter. (note, on the Fire Hawks copy this was left out) All inquisition gene seeds aquired by your medics are yours, and you have permission to use them as you see fit. Also, permission is hereby granted for you to once again have psykers among you, and orders for a librarian contingency are contained.
From this point on you will be considered a normal chapter in most respects. You are not subject to orders from any member of the inquisition. Adeptus Arbites will be placed into your system to relieve suspision. You may do with them as you please, but you are ordered not to exterminate them.
Fire Hawks will be moved to an adjacent system. Your charge is to keep them in line. Thier blood is tainted with cowardice, and therefore they may not be trusted. Keep them infiltrated fully, and make sure they remain under Imperial control. (this section was also left out of the Fire Hawks copy)
End Transmission.
Addendum: Special Orders regarding Lufgh Huron.
It is our belief that the Tiger Claws are about to rebel. Feign sympathy and attempt to learn the extent of chaos infection. It is also rumored that 3 other chapters will join him. Find out which ones, and eliminate them.
Addendum: Abort!
Abort prior mission. The Three chapters have been identified. New orders as follows:
Coerse the Fire Hawks into sending a transport vessel through thier sector. It will promply be attacked. Convince the Fire Hawks to retaliate immediately.
The Minotaus will be moving in shortly after. IMPERATIVE. Keep them OFF the angstrom moon. Your orders are to invade the angstrom moon with all available forces. Enclosed is a new armor paint scheme that will disguise you. Push through to the --deleted-- and destroy it at any cost.
After the Angstrom incident is taken care of, you are relieved of duty from the war, as will be the Fire Hawks.
Addendum : Sister Soriatus
Warning, Soriatus craft en route to your world. They have inquisition orders to infiltrate your armories and ---deleted---. Do not let this occur. Destroy them, and their orbital craft at any cost. If questioned later, feign ignorance. I apologize for this inconvenience it will not occur again.
Addendum: Plea.
Commander Culln. The Inquisition is prying too deep. You are hereby given unrevokable permission to do with them as you please from this day forth. At all costs keep certain records secret. Do NOT allow them to fall into inquisition hands. If nessecary special agents will be sent to assist in a mock rebellion to take you from the public eye, and redeliver you into secrecy. We will send to them a highly cut copy of your current order history to shut them up. If they pry beyond this point, you are urged to coerse the Fire Hawks into Imperial rebellion. If so, you will be given new orders once this is accomplished. If they refuse, destroy them.
(the final section was not sent to either the Inquisition or the Fire hawks)
End Record Transmission.
==Significant Characters==
17:00 - Evening Firing Rites: The Red Scorpions fire off rounds at the targets yet again. It goes faster now, if only because the Techmarines had all afternoon to prepare for it.
18:00 - Evening Meal: A Grand feast of the finest, purest foods is prepared. Before the feast begins, the Librarian probes the serfs in order to ensure they cooked it correctly. Any serf that failed even slightly is forced to remake the food, then is turned into a [[servitor]].
22:00 - Free time: The Red Scorpions spend the little time they have checking their Ancestry online and reading books about Eugenics. In their spare time, they will brag all over the Imperium about how their genetics are purer than any other chapter.
*Carab Culln: Became their chapter master during the Badab War when their previous one was killed. Led the Loyalist forces against the Tyrant's Legion. Is also Awesome in game terms for a few reasons, one being that he is actually THREE different characters (Veteran Sergeant Culln, Commander Culln and Lord High Commander Carab Culln), another being that he is a terminator eternal warrior who gets an unholy number of relic blade attacks, and the last being that you get to replace sergeants in tactical squads with apothecaries. And the squads that don't go for that (wait, what?) keep combat tactics.
23:00 - Sleep: After growing bored of bragging about their amazing genetics, the Red Scorpions return to the purity of their bed. Any Battle brother who suffers from insomnia will often knock himself out to hide his inferior genetics, or pretend not needing to sleep to show his purity.
*Sevrin Loth: Their Chief Librarian. Respected enough that he gets his own honour guard, and the rest of the Red Scorpions sought his advice when trying to select their new chapter master after their previous one was slain. He is perhaps most famous for being the cheese Librarian with ML3 who pick his powers manually from one psychic discipline instead of rolling them and has a warp-charge-fueled 2++ save.
==Significant Characters==
*'''[[Carab Culln]]:''' Became their chapter master during the Badab War when their previous one was killed. Led the Loyalist forces against the Tyrant's Legion. Is also [[Awesome|awesome]] in game terms for a few reasons, one reason being that although he is one (in-fiction) character, he has FOUR different (in-game) character rules, from different times in his life:
**The Sergeant rules were from the Siege of Vraks, where he was a 2-wound sergeant for a Vanguard Veteran squad.
**The Terminator Captain rules in the Anphelion Project where he gets access to the sweet new Tears of the Scorpion which allow him to cause Instant Death and gives himself and his squad Counter-Attack and Stubborn.
**As a Chapter Master in the Badab War campaign he finally gets Eternal Warrior but trades his "Tear of the Scorpion" for the "Blade of the Scorpion", which allows him to make a smash attack like a Monstrous Creature. He also traded his squad upgrade for giving the whole army his Leadership score.
**The most recent (and therefore [[skub|best]] rules) in his invalid carriage form, he strides into battle wearing the chapter's shiniest [[Dreadnought#Leviathan Pattern|Leviathan Dreadnought]] suit. Comes Armed with Assault Cannon and Heavy Flamer which are both twinlinked, Powerclaw w/heavy bolter (that once per game, gets fired into close combat dealing mortal wounds but can't be fired afterwards) and Hunter-Killer missiles instead of a discharger because [[Phosphex]] is a lost technology. Also most likely some form of cream dispenser for all of his personal and your opponents [[butthurt]]. He will surely have special rules <s>once</s> if Fires of Cyraxus is ever released.
*'''[[Sevrin Loth]]:''' Their Chief Librarian. Respected enough that he gets his own honour guard, and the rest of the Red Scorpions sought his advice when trying to select their new chapter master after their previous one was slain. He is perhaps most famous for being the [[cheese]] Librarian with ML3 who picks his powers manually from one psychic discipline instead of rolling them and has a warp-charge-fueled 2++ save. Which no longer works. Curse you 7th Ed!
*'''Captain [[Casan Sabius]]:''' New named character from the forthcoming [[Imperial Armour#Fires of Cyraxus|Imperial Armour: Fires of Cyraxus]]. Armed with a gloriously bald pate, Melta-combi Pistol and what is most likely a mastercrafted power sword. Promoted to acting Chapter Master after Culln got mortally wounded and interred to a Leviathan Dreadnought. When Fires got put on an [[squatted|indefinite delay]], Forge World released his glorious [[Chapter Master]] version, armed with the same Blade of the Scorpion, but without the combi-pistol this time.
*'''Ancient [[Sirae Karagon]]:''' Since Sabius doesn't believe he is the legally rightful or worthy leader of the Red Scorpions, and since Culln isn't properly dead or out of commission, Sabius commands as the Lord-Regent until a new Chapter Master can be properly chosen and appointed. Karagon was promoted to Ancient-Invigilus and serves as Sabius's personal advisor and lieutenant. Has some awesome armor and a <strike>heretical</strike> green power sword. In an unforgivably lazy move, they didn't even bother to make rules for him, his "datasheet" just says to use him as a vanilla Red Scorpions Ancient.
*'''Veteran Sergeant Haas:''' Awesome sergeant with a bionic arm and the most bitchin' armour around. He's the only man you will ever see leading a Sternguard Veteran squad with artificer armour and giving them Relentless. Pretty much the perfect example of how the Red Scorpions love to give their veterans awesome equipment that even captains sometimes lack.
*'''Dreadnought-Brother Halar:''' A notable dreadnought for some reason, despite not being a venerable dreadnought. His first "death" was during an action alongside the [[Raptors (Chapter)|Raptors]] chapter where they decided to throw clever tactics out the window and charge head-first into the enemy army, losing the majority of their battle force in the process, but the Red Scorpions still look at it as one of their finest achievements; meanwhile, the Raptors just facepalm. Halar's special rules give him +1 WS/A and if he dies but doesn't explode - he hangs around for another turn before finally succumbing. He dies properly in the Anphelion Project, and dies so hard that the Techmarines can't even repair his sarcophagus for another occupant (he wrestled a carnifex).
*'''Master Apothecary Kregor Thann:''' Poison and bioweapon aficionado, currently doing research for the [[Deathwatch]]. He and his [[Watch Captain]] have taken upon themselves the admittedly nigh-impossible task to create a chemical that the [[Tyranids]] can't simply adapt themselves out of.
*Veteran Sergeant Haas: Awesome sergeant with a bionic armour and the bitchinest armour around. He's the only man you will ever see leading a tactical squad, with artificer armour and an iron halo. Pretty much the perfect example of how the Red Scorpions love to give their veterans awesome equipment that even captains sometimes lack.
File:Red Scorpions Dreadnought model.jpg|[[Forge World]] gave it a model (beacause of course they did). Sadly, it is now out of production.
File:Red Scorpions Tartaros Termi.png|A [[Terminator#Tartaros|Tartaros Terminator]], eat your heart out [[Minotaurs]].
File:Cyraxus-image--1.jpg|They were about to get a lot of new [[fluff]] in [[Imperial Armour#Fires of Cyraxus|Fires of Cyraxus]].
File:Angels-Revenant-contemptor.JPG|Looks like [[Carab Culln]]'s wasn't the only [[Dreadnought#Leviathan Pattern|Leviathan Dreadnought]] in the armoury.
File:Red-scorpions-Kharybdis.jpg|A [[Drop Pod#Kharybdis Assault Claw|Kharybdis Assault Claw]] of the Chapter. (right)
File:Scorpions vs Genestealers.jpg|[[Genestealer|GENEstealers]]? Not on my watch!
Medium Grey and Black inner Pauldron with yellow trim and helm stripe
"No one is more dangerous than he who imagines himself pure in heart: for his purity, by definition, is unassailable."
– James Baldwin
The Red Scorpions are a Codex-compliant crusading Chapter who value genetic purity above all else and really, really hate Mutants and Xenos (a lot!). Calling them zealots is an understatement. However, to that end, they are exceptional at righteously exterminating the enemies of the Imperium; and will do so all while reciting scripture from the Codex Astartes. Despite their unknown origins, they have a certain vintage flair that harkens back to the earliest days of the imperium, as a result of being Forge World's very own chapter.
There are Codex compliant chapters, then there are the Ultramarines, and then several orders of magnitude more compliant than even some of the most obsessive son of Grandfather Smurf (*cough* Leandros *cough*) we have the Red Scorpions. These guys consider the Codex Astartes to be a religious scripture of divine importance and will follow its teachings to the letter whenever the situation permits it. Their internal command structure is also highly authoritarian, where discipline is absolute and orders are to be obeyed without question.
In addition to being even more Codex compliant than the Ultramarines it appears that the Chapter is also unique in that its gene-seed is even purer than that of the Smurfs and their successor chapters. In fact, they attach Apothecaries to many of their Tactical Squads, so they can be extra sure that their fallen brothers' gene-seed gets collected before anything happens to it. Then there’s the fact that they're fundies on par with the Black Templars: not only are they one of the few Astartes chapters that actually subscribes to the Imperial Cult, but they also have many beliefs that take intolerance above and beyond what is normal for even Space Marines. Their intense hatred of deviations from the pure Human form (such as mutants and Abhumans) stand out in particular, and under no circumstance or dire need will they ever ally with Xenos of any kind. The only exception this rule are things like Navigators and fellow Astartes, which the Scorpions reckon were gene-crafted by the Emperor himself, but even then there are limits to whom they are willing to put up with.
Anyway, this Chapter would be of little note were it not for Forge World having a colossal hard-on for them, so if you live in the UK and don't mind selling a kidney to bankroll it then you too can be the proud owner of an army of Space Nazis (they have dark grey-black uniforms, are obsessed with genetic purity, really hate mutants, are a crusading [i.e. warlike] chapter hiding a dark secret -- come on, somebody had to make the comparison).
Since Forge World loves them so much, the Deimos pattern predator and Land Raider Armored Proteus listed on their webstore (under the Horus Heresy section) are both painted with Red Scorpion paintjobs and have the Roman numeral for two on them. Since they are nestled in there with other Heresy-era vehicles with legion colour schemes that have their legion number in numerals on their hull somewhere, it kinda looks like the Red Scorpions are the lost second legion... Or that the vehicles are attached to the second company.
Also because of Forge World, they have access to lots of vintage wargear and they have a fetish for Mk IV Power Armour (which only FW sold decent, non-monopose models of for a long time), being one of the only two known chapters to still have the full schematics needed to produce it (The other one being the Iron Hands). Also quite possibly the best special characters of any chapter; interestingly, they have eight (though four are the same dude), edging out ahead of everyone but the Ultrasmurfs, Space Wolves, and the Blood Angels.
Space Wolves: 11+1 (Bran Redmaw has no datasheet of his own any more).
Blood Angels: 7+1 (Tycho has two datasheets) (10 counting the other characters who can use their codex)
Ultramarines: 8 (Calgar has three datasheets while Tigurius has two) (10 if you count other characters who can use Ultramarine chapter tactics)
Red Scorpions: 8
Dark Angels: 5
Salamanders: 5 (coincidentally, three of those are forge world exclusive).
Their isolationism and obsession with purity raises some interesting questions. The reason that so many Chapters are successors of the Ultramarines is because theirs is the purest geneseed of any of the loyalist Legions (or at the very least tied with Lion El'Jonson of the Dark Angels). The only geneseed purer than Guilliman's is that of (pre-Heresy) Fulgrim, but for obviousreasons he isn't exactly the most reliable choice of Primarch. If he indeed was the Red Scorpions Primarch, they would probably want to keep it on the down low.
Did we mention that coincidentally, the Red Scorpions are very secretive about their origins and even refuse to submit to genetic sampling by the Inquisition, instead insisting that they report directly to the Emprah himself? Just as planned. One of these days Fabius Bile is going to fuck with their gene-seed... and then they will RAGE harder than even Angry Marines ever could.
When speculating about chapters with possible traitor geneseed it is important to distinguish tactical and cultural traits from the purely "genetic" ones. Just because a chapter likes to siege doesn't mean they descend from the Iron Warriors, but if a chapter shows an innate preference for rationalism or displays a martyr complex, then perhaps they do carry the geneseed of Perturabo.
With the Red Scorpions, there are several parallels to be drawn to the pre-Fulgrim Emperor's Children:
"Horus Heresy 1: Betrayal" mentions that "The nature of the IIIrd Legion's psychology meant that they would carry the precise meaning and intent of any order without deviation and with their last breath if needed." This carries striking similairities to their obsession with their beloved Codex Astartes, and implies said obsession is rooted within their gene-coding. This also contrasts with the post-Fulgrim legion, known to be a fighting force renowed for it's creative tactics and speed.
Outside observers have noted that the Red Scorpions show a "surprising" capacity to innovate, despite their inflexible personality. Unorthodox practices such as using a reduced scout company, attaching apothecaries to tactical squads, giving the chief librarian an honour guard, and sticking a helios launcher to a Land Raider chassis suggest they may not be THAT Codex compliant after all. This is doubly interesting because it all happens in spite of what their Chapter culture instils into them and not because of it, hinting the penchant for creativity might be tied to that oh-so-pure genseed of theirs.
The Scorpions are religious, which not being the default for astartes, begs the question of why. According to the Inquisition; the IIIrd legion may not have literally deified the Emperor in the times of the Great Crusade, but the strength and passion of their belief in was equal to that of any later adherent of the Ecclesiarchy. With the Imperial Truth gone, it would make sense for loyalist remnants to have slowly drifted towards the Imperial Creed.
Many of their views on leadership (such as the emphasis on leading from the front and by example) bear near-perfect parallels to the teachings of Solomon Demeter, Fulgrim's loyalist 2nd company captain who was killed at Istvaan III. How could've these teachings survived to reach the Scorpions when Demeter didn't is unknown, though it's possible that a few astartes outside the 2nd Company took up his views.
Where does this Mastodon come from?The armoury of the chapter is loaded with ancient patterns of wargear. Aside from their MKIV suits, many of their Predators are Deimos-pattern, and lots of their Castaferrum dreadnoughts are MKIV (the non-boxnought variant of the regular dread). They are also not without actual Heresy-era relics: Proteus Raiders, a Spartan Assault Tank, and a pair of Leviathan dreads. The Chapter's oldest recorded action may be in M35, but their arsenal is that of a 2nd or 3rd Founding chapter. And unlike the Minotaurs, the provenance of their wargear cannot be explained by High Lords favoritism.
Forge World has created a rather neat history for them, that while nowhere near as complete as the one more popular chapters enjoy, is still deserving of some mention:
The Berillia Massacres - The Shining Blades chapter turns renegade and renames itself The Flawless Host. They spend short of a century harassing and pillaging isolated imperial outposts until they decide to a assault a Red Scorpions strike cruiser and use the geneseed of the dead to bolster their ranks. Upon learning of this, the Scorpions recalled all of their companies to the sector where the Flawless Host was located and proceeded to beat the ever loving shit out of the Slaaneshi warband. The renegades swear to exact vengeance upon all those that dare tarnish their bishounen glory. This is the chapter's earliest recorded action, taking place in M34.
Helios Campaign - The Red Scorpions are tasked with cleansing the world of Helios from Chaos Cults. Their paranoid asses cannot stand the idea of relying on the imperial guard for fire support, so they decide to create the Land Raider Helios instead.
Second Aegisine Crusade - The chapter spearheads a Drop Pod assault upon a Forge World held by the Dark Mechanicus in order to secure a landing zone for their allied knight house and Titan legion to safely deploy. For nineteen hours the Chapter was forced to defend the foetid swamps of the landing zone against hordes of Darkmech troops and Daemon Engines, but they refused to break. Once the war was over and the scorpions were taking their leave, Knights and Titans lined the route taken by the Red Scorpions as they marched to the landing zones, bowing to them in homage as they passed by.
Ordon Rift Crusade - The Red Scorpions get lost while exploring the dangerous Ordon Rift region and nothing is heard from then in more than 300 years, leading the Adeptus Terra to believe the Chapter was done for. Turns out they found out the rift was a cozy place and established their Fortress-Monastery in the orbit of the feral world of Zaebus Minoris. Where exactly this place is located differs depending on the galaxy map and the 40k editions, but it's somewhere around Ophelia, Krieg, Luther McIntyre, and Posul. This is to be expected, for in their usual paranoia, the Scorpions have kept its exact location and routes largely secret.
Siege of Vraks - During the final phases of the conflict, the Scorpions donated a hundred Marines (from various companies) to the cause. Carab Culln himself would place the teleport homer that allowed the Terminators of the 1st Company to secure the Death Korps of Krieg a breach in the final defensive wall. As the tide of the war turned in the favour of Chaos, the Scorpions were recalled as part of the forces sent by the Imperium to finish the job. They led the assault on one of the Citadel's main gates, and later were tasked with cleansing the apostate cardinal's palace once the imperials had established a foothold inside.
The Amphelion project - The Adeptus Mechanicus decide that it would be a good idea to keep a zoo of Tyranids on Beta Anphelion IV in order to study them. Contact is, naturally, lost and Inquisitor Solomon Lok of the Ordo Xenos gathers up some Red Scorpions and Detachment D-99 of the Elysian Drop Troops to investigate. Jurassic Park IN SPESSS ensues, and the Marines escape while leaving Lok and the Guard to die horribly. Though in the Scorpions defense, Lok attempted to leave Culln for dead at Amphelion and threatened the chapter when they refused to leave the planet without him. Wait, then what's the justification for leaving the Guardsmen to die? (They are just guardsmen, duh?)
Badab War - You know this one: Lugft Huron declares independance from the High Lords of Terra, and a fuckton of chapters are sent his way to remind him why that is not a thing. Carab Culln leads the loyalists to victory against the Tyrant of Badab, and for their service, the High Lords reward the Red Scorpions with a "Vexilla Imperialis". This fancy banner quickly becomes one of the chapter's most prized relics and is given to Sirae Karagon.
Indomitus Crusade - The Red Scorpions join Roboute Guilliman's damage control efforts in the aftermath of the Great Rift. At some point during the crusade, Culln is mortally wounded by a Tyranid known as "The Great Beast of Sarum" and is entombed inside a Leviathan Dreadnought. Casan Sabius becomes the Red Scorpions new Chapter Master.
06:00- Wake up: The Red Scorpions exit their beds. The beds are made out of only pure cotton sheets. Any sheet that is discovered to be less than 100% cotton is burned by the Reclusiarch for heresy. The offending Brother is then also burned for Heresy.
07:00 - Morning Firing Rites: The Red Scorpions prepare to shoot at the 100% biodegradable targets, and each Bolt that will be shot during the practice is carefully examined by the Techmarines in order to make sure each shot is as pure as possible. Any "unpure" bolt is carefully put into a hazardous waste container and shipped to Mars.
11:00 - Morning Battle Practice: The Red Scorpions, finally finishing their Firing Rites, proceed to engage each other in simulated combat. Battle brothers are encouraged to try and kill those they deem to have inferior geneseed, so that the purity of the chapter may yet remain intact.
13:00 - Afternoon Meal: A light meal of meat and fruit is served. Any food that you wish to consume must first get the approval of the Librarian, who compares the image in the cookbook to the current look of said food. Any food that does not perfectly resemble the image is burned for Heresy.
14:00 - Tactical Indoctrination: The Red Scorpions are educated on why they must follow the Codex Astartes as closely as possible. Any Battle brother who does not understand this concept is promptly punished with the proper application of a Crozius to his head for failure to try and be pure.
17:00 - Evening Firing Rites: The Red Scorpions fire off rounds at the targets yet again. It goes faster now, if only because the Techmarines had all afternoon to prepare for it.
18:00 - Evening Meal: A Grand feast of the finest, purest foods is prepared. Before the feast begins, the Librarian probes the serfs in order to ensure they cooked it correctly. Any serf that failed even slightly is forced to remake the food, then is turned into a servitor.
22:00 - Free time: The Red Scorpions spend the little time they have checking their Ancestry online and reading books about Eugenics. In their spare time, they will brag all over the Imperium about how their genetics are purer than any other chapter.
23:00 - Sleep: After growing bored of bragging about their amazing genetics, the Red Scorpions return to the purity of their bed. Any Battle brother who suffers from insomnia will often knock himself out to hide his inferior genetics, or pretend not needing to sleep to show his purity.
Carab Culln: Became their chapter master during the Badab War when their previous one was killed. Led the Loyalist forces against the Tyrant's Legion. Is also awesome in game terms for a few reasons, one reason being that although he is one (in-fiction) character, he has FOUR different (in-game) character rules, from different times in his life:
The Sergeant rules were from the Siege of Vraks, where he was a 2-wound sergeant for a Vanguard Veteran squad.
The Terminator Captain rules in the Anphelion Project where he gets access to the sweet new Tears of the Scorpion which allow him to cause Instant Death and gives himself and his squad Counter-Attack and Stubborn.
As a Chapter Master in the Badab War campaign he finally gets Eternal Warrior but trades his "Tear of the Scorpion" for the "Blade of the Scorpion", which allows him to make a smash attack like a Monstrous Creature. He also traded his squad upgrade for giving the whole army his Leadership score.
The most recent (and therefore best rules) in his invalid carriage form, he strides into battle wearing the chapter's shiniest Leviathan Dreadnought suit. Comes Armed with Assault Cannon and Heavy Flamer which are both twinlinked, Powerclaw w/heavy bolter (that once per game, gets fired into close combat dealing mortal wounds but can't be fired afterwards) and Hunter-Killer missiles instead of a discharger because Phosphex is a lost technology. Also most likely some form of cream dispenser for all of his personal and your opponents butthurt. He will surely have special rules once if Fires of Cyraxus is ever released.
Sevrin Loth: Their Chief Librarian. Respected enough that he gets his own honour guard, and the rest of the Red Scorpions sought his advice when trying to select their new chapter master after their previous one was slain. He is perhaps most famous for being the cheese Librarian with ML3 who picks his powers manually from one psychic discipline instead of rolling them and has a warp-charge-fueled 2++ save. Which no longer works. Curse you 7th Ed!
Captain Casan Sabius: New named character from the forthcoming Imperial Armour: Fires of Cyraxus. Armed with a gloriously bald pate, Melta-combi Pistol and what is most likely a mastercrafted power sword. Promoted to acting Chapter Master after Culln got mortally wounded and interred to a Leviathan Dreadnought. When Fires got put on an indefinite delay, Forge World released his glorious Chapter Master version, armed with the same Blade of the Scorpion, but without the combi-pistol this time.
Ancient Sirae Karagon: Since Sabius doesn't believe he is the legally rightful or worthy leader of the Red Scorpions, and since Culln isn't properly dead or out of commission, Sabius commands as the Lord-Regent until a new Chapter Master can be properly chosen and appointed. Karagon was promoted to Ancient-Invigilus and serves as Sabius's personal advisor and lieutenant. Has some awesome armor and a heretical green power sword. In an unforgivably lazy move, they didn't even bother to make rules for him, his "datasheet" just says to use him as a vanilla Red Scorpions Ancient.
Veteran Sergeant Haas: Awesome sergeant with a bionic arm and the most bitchin' armour around. He's the only man you will ever see leading a Sternguard Veteran squad with artificer armour and giving them Relentless. Pretty much the perfect example of how the Red Scorpions love to give their veterans awesome equipment that even captains sometimes lack.
Dreadnought-Brother Halar: A notable dreadnought for some reason, despite not being a venerable dreadnought. His first "death" was during an action alongside the Raptors chapter where they decided to throw clever tactics out the window and charge head-first into the enemy army, losing the majority of their battle force in the process, but the Red Scorpions still look at it as one of their finest achievements; meanwhile, the Raptors just facepalm. Halar's special rules give him +1 WS/A and if he dies but doesn't explode - he hangs around for another turn before finally succumbing. He dies properly in the Anphelion Project, and dies so hard that the Techmarines can't even repair his sarcophagus for another occupant (he wrestled a carnifex).
Master Apothecary Kregor Thann: Poison and bioweapon aficionado, currently doing research for the Deathwatch. He and his Watch Captain have taken upon themselves the admittedly nigh-impossible task to create a chemical that the Tyranids can't simply adapt themselves out of.
Consecrators (founding unknown, but likely after 2nd Founding) • Sons of Medusa (separated from parent Chapters, ratified by edict) • Steel Confessors (de facto 22nd Founding, de jure ratified by edict) • Ashen Claws (separatist Raven Guard Legion exiles, nominal loyalists)
Venerable Dreadnought.
Forge World gave it a model (beacause of course they did). Sadly, it is now out of production.
A Tartaros Terminator, eat your heart out Minotaurs.
They were about to get a lot of new fluff in Fires of Cyraxus.
Looks like Carab Culln's wasn't the only Leviathan Dreadnought in the armoury.
A Kharybdis Assault Claw of the Chapter. (right)
GENEstealers? Not on my watch!
