Firewing
The Firewing was one of the six "wings" of the Hexagrammaton in the Dark Angels Legion during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy,[1]
Overview
The smallest of the six Wings of the Hexagrammaton, the Firewing was dedicated to all the bloody subtleties of warfare. It was the hidden blade of the Legion, the knife in the dark and the blade against the throat of the foes' commanders. Within its ranks were to be found an eclectic mix of stalkers, champions and Moritat killers, all bound by their shared expertise in the arts of blade and knife, duellists and assassins without peer. The Firewing sought the destruction of the enemy through the violent depletion of their command structure, whether in honourable duels at the heart of a battle or at the hands of subtle killers far from the battlefield. When given free rein upon the field of battle, the initiates of the Firewing chose to wage a war of wills against the enemy, seeking to break their resolve rather than slaughter their ranks. They counted knowledge among the keenest of their weapons, allowing them to strike at the enemy's weakest points where their limited numbers would be most effective. As such they possessed the most extensive library of any of the Wings, a vault that contained the detailed accounting of thousands upon thousands of Xenos and sub-human empires, and which was guarded by a sub-sect of the Firewing dedicated to the cataloguing of those records. Of all the Wings, they remained least changed from their origins in the Wars of Unity on Terra, with many of the eldest marshals of the Firewing being veterans of that conflict and steeped in the culture of Terra and its nearest colonies.[6a]
The Calibanite influence had little impact on the entrenched and complex systems of ritual within the veteran ranks of the Firewing, whose marshals had long made a tradition of recruiting only from Terra and the densely-populated colonies that surrounded it. It was also notable for its strong links to the Sons of Horus, who recruited from a number of the same worlds, a connection that turned to the bitterest hatred with the outbreak of the Horus Heresy, for it would pit those once sworn to eternal loyalty against each other.[6a]
Long before the events of the Heresy, during the Second Rangdan Xenocide in 862.M30, the Firewing would sustain severe casualties, reducing it to a fraction of its former size at the time as its initiates stood toe-to-toe against Rangdan warmasters and reavers.[6a]
The Firewing included unique troops known as the Enigmatii.[6] Its troops favored Mk.VI Power Armour due to its advanced augur and vox systems.[6b] The wing was also known to recruit those Legion librarians who were skilled in the art of Divination, valuing their skills for premonition and uncovering that which is hidden.[7b]
The Master of the Firewing is known as the Firebringer.[7c]
Known Members
- Griffayn - Voted Lieutenant
- Vastael - Voted Lieutenant
- Pelagor Marner - Lance-Decurion, 52nd Chapter of the First Host[2]
- Atreus Deucalion - Marshal[5]
- Alais Decur - Sergeant[6b]
- Aravain - Librarian[7]
Vessels
- Forest Sepulchre - Battleship[7a]
Notes
The Firewing flame symbol resembles the heraldry of the Consecrators, a Successor Chapter of the Dark Angels.[3]
See Also
Sources
- 1: Angels of Caliban (Novel), Chapter 20
- 2: The Horus Heresy Book Six - Retribution, pg.72
- 3: Warhammer Community - Secret Orders of the Dark Angels (last accessed 14 January 2018)
- 4: Warhammer Community: The Road to Thramas – Part 1: Wings of the Dark Angels (Posted 09/12/2019) (last accessed 9 December 2019)
- 5: The Horus Heresy Book Five pg.106
- 6: The Horus Heresy Book Nine pg.166
- 7: Lion El'Jonson: Lord of the First (Novel) Part 1 Section 3
