| abstract
| - The Sons of Medusa is a Loyalist Successor Chapter of Space Marines drawn from the unforgiving Iron Hands Chapter whose existence was ratified by an Imperial edict of the High Lords of Terra in 011.M37. The Sons of Medusa is a Chapter with a history of ruthless efficiency in the merciless persecution of the Imperium of Man's foes. Like their forebears, they are extreme devotees of the Emperor of Mankind and look with disgust upon those who lack their strength of will. They are a distinguished Chapter whose long roll of battle honours can be traced back to the early 37th Millennium. Like their progenitors, the Sons of Medusa are afflicted by the almost obsessive desire to replace what they perceive as their weak flesh with the strength provided by cybernetic replacements. They also maintain extremely close links with the Adeptus Mechanicus and their belief in the Machine God. Though they are Successors of the First Founding Iron Hands Chapter, the Sons of Medusa are a highly unusual case, in that they were not created by way of any conventional means. The Chapter's roots are to be found in the dark days of the Moirae Schism, during which the servants of the Cult Mechanicus were split in two by a doctrine that claimed to be able to read the future in minute fluctuations in the blessed Astronomican. Furthermore, the future the schismatics read in the wave functions spoke of a future age in which the Cult Mechanicus and the Ecclesiarchy were merged as one unified creed adhered to by the entire Imperium. Needless to say, neither body would countenance such a thing and internecine war soon split the Adeptus Mechanicus in two. Ordinarily, the so-called Moirae Schism might have been contained within the ranks of the Adeptus Mechanicus and need not have resulted in bloodshed. It was unfortunate then that the schism occurred during an age when the Imperium as a whole was also split in two -- the so-called Nova Terra Interregnum. With the Imperium's ruling bodies fighting themselves and one another, the schism was able to spread far and wide, soon penetrating the consciousness of groups with close ties to the Adeptus Mechanicus. One such group was the Iron Hands Chapter. A highly divergent Chapter, the Iron Hands organise themselves into all but autonomous Clan Companies instead of the Codex Astartes-prescribed, centrally organised system. As the doctrines of the Moirae techno-mystics took hold, some Clan Companies embraced them while others rejected them entirely. Soon, the Chapter was riven with discord and an all-out Chapter civil war between the opposed factions seemed inevitable. It was only by convocation of the Chapter's Great Clan Council that such a destructive end was averted, and it was agreed that those Iron Hands who would not renounce their new beliefs should leave the Chapter, and that neither side would ever take up arms against the other. Despite their effective banishment, the schismatics still considered themselves Iron Hands and loyal servants of the Imperium. They took to a new existence crusading against the foes of the Imperium and when the Nova-Terra Interregnum was ended and the Imperium launched its Great Cull against those deemed to have strayed too far from the Emperor's light, the exiles were at the fore of the campaign. By this time, their ranks had been swollen by others of the Iron Hands who shared their beliefs, as well as by continuation of the standard gene-seed propagation procedures. By the end of the Great Cull, the exiles numbered several hundred Space Marines, amounting to a nascent Chapter in their own right. In recognition of the exiles' service during the Great Cull, the High Lords of Terra formally recognised them as a Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes, and the title "Sons of Medusa" was bestowed upon them. Thus, the Chapter was never founded as such, marking its origins as virtually unique in the annals of the Adeptus Astartes. Centuries after its unusual creation, the Sons of Medusa Chapter resembles one modelled on the Codex Astartes. There are differences however, and these are rooted in the Clan Companies of the Iron Hands. The thousand or so Battle-Brothers of the Sons of Medusa belong to one of three War Clans, each of which comprises a single Battle Company, a Tactical Company, and a Support Company that includes numerous specialist squads. This takes the Chapter's numbers up to around 900 brethren, and the remaining hundred or so are Scout Marines, split between each of the three War Clans. Thus, the Chapter broadly adheres to the Codex Astartes while maintaining its own internal chain of command that differs significantly from Roboute Guilliman's vision.
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