#vanquishers

Well, the Vanquishers are a 26th Founding chapter, so there’s only about three hundred years of history to them.  This may contribute some to their risk-taking and seemingly careless attitude as they build the early glories of their chapter and strive to match the ancient legacies of their peers.  They have fought the Tau on several occasions in high-speed armour confrontations, and have likewise battled the Tyranids and Necrons as these new xenos threats reared their heads.  They participated in both the 2nd and 3rd Wars for Armageddon, fighting the great Waaarghs of Ghazghkull Thraka, though on neither occasion did they actually arrive at the famed war-world itself, instead combating groups of orks that had splintered off from the main thrust, preventing them from taking lesser objectives whilst the Imperium’s main strength was elsewhere.

One of the chapter’s most celebrated vehicles is the Wicked Lisel, one of the Leman Russ Vanquishers from which they take their name.  In 747.M41 the Vanquishers took part in countering a major Black Crusade perpetrated by a conglomeration of warbands dedicated to the Chaos god of excess, amongst which were the renegade Titan Demi-Legion known as the Hell Flayers.  The Vanquishers’ armored divisions took to harrying the colossal Chaos titans, buying time for other Imperial forces to arrange a counterattack.  At one point during the endless maneuvering, a Subjugator-class daemon engine broke from its brethren and made a run for the nearest city.  Wicked Lisel peeled off from the Vanquisher’s formation on an intercept course, daring fire from the titan’s brethren as it closed with the abomination.  Though it’s main cannon did little more than ping the shields of the great machine, Wicked Lisel succeeded in drawing the attention of the Slaaneshi crew, but by then the tank had reached such close range that it was unable to bring its elevated weaponry to bear.  The two machines engaged in frantic maneuvering, Wicked Lisel constantly turning into the titan’s own turns so as to stay in the rearguard where it was safe from the Subjugator’s field of fire.  In time, surely frustrated from the fruitless chase, the Subjugator took stride, attempting to open the distance between the two, only for Wicked Lisel to fire a shot up into its chassis, its short range bypassing the titan’s shields and disabling the gyros balanced the great machine, causing the Subjugator to crash down onto its face, utterly helpless.  The forces of Chaos were ultimately defeated in the campaign, with Wicked Lisel tallying a total of nineteen armour kills.

Also infamous in the chapter’s histories is the tale of the ‘emergency wet drop’ of the Curtain Call, another of the chapter’s signature tanks.  When inbound to a new warzone during the 2nd War for Armageddon, one of the chapter’s transports was suddenly attacked by ork fighters which succeeded in damaging the mass-conveyor’s hold.  The Curtain Call and its four-man crew was sucked out through the hole left by the ork missiles and left plummeting more than fifteen kilometers towards the ground.  As it fell, battle telemetry later confirmed that Brother-Pilot Merdok exited the vehicle and clung to the fender, using his body as a makeshift aerilon to ensure that the vehicle rolled nose-down.  Gunner Burox then swiveled the tank’s main gun and, once Merdok was back inside, began to fire, pushing the tank northeast as it fell such that its course took it over a nearby lake.  The tank then swiveled its gun to the fore and resumed fire, breaking the surface of the lake such that the surface tension was disrupted before the tank slammed into the water not far from the shore.  The Curtain Call then exited the lake under its own power and, after a two-day drive through enemy territory, rejoined the chapter’s forces somewhat worse for wear, ending the long engagement with eight armor kills.

“Why are you so damned cheerful?” growled a voice from next to him.

Captain Micos of the Vanquishers turned to see his counterpart from the Watchkeepers, Captain Felleren, glowering at him, his scarred face twisted in a disapproving frown.

Despite the glare, Micos could not dampen his own expression.  “Because, brother, today I am granted the honour of standing closer to the Ultramarines than ever before.”

Felleren’s glare was unwavering.  The pair of them stood close to the tail-end of the gathered column of space marines, lined for the ceremony in order of succession.  As members of the Twenty-Sixth Founding, the Vanquishers and Watchkeepers would be among the last to be recognized.  “You’re no closer to the Ultramarines than you have ever been,” Felleren finally replied.

“This is true,” Micos agreed with an amicable nod.  “But now, for the first time, we have someone standing behind us,” he said with a gesture towards the behemoth of a marine that stood on his other side.  Still helmeted, the representative of the Knights Cerulean turned his head briefly, but otherwise the primaris marine did not acknowledge the remark.  “As such, our standing relative to the full length of the line has decreased considerably.  I find that ample reason to smile, brother.”

If a space marine’s glare could kill, Felleren’s dark glower would have rendered Micos down to atoms.  “That,” he declared, “is the most idiotic thing I have heard you say all day.  You are an idiot, and now I am more the idiot for having listened to your idiocy.”  With that, he turned away, and did not look towards Micos again.

Hell yes.  Hell yes.  HELL YES.

The Watchkeepers have a love-hate relationship with the eldar because often enough their goals of “don’t let the entire time-space continuum as we know it collapse into a slurry of warpstuff and causality paradox” align that from time to time they have actually worked in concert.  Despite that, the farseers of the eldar race that have had cause to conflict with the chapter bear them an especial loathing.  They have also run afoul of more than one Necron lord attempting to reawaken sleeping tombworlds or reactivate ancient tools of the Necrontyr dynasties.