ebookpocket.com #2208 - Death Glory
#2208 - Death Glory
Chapter 2193: The Glory of Death
Speaking of Space Marine honor badges, the most famous of these is the Terminator Cross, which is also one of the most well-known badges in the Space Marine Chapter. It was clearly stipulated during the Second Founding that only Terminator veterans of the Chapter's First Company are qualified to wear it. Legend has it that this badge contains a tiny fragment of the power armor worn by the Emperor and Horus during their final battle, but after ten thousand years, this legend is difficult to verify. Anyway, Solzhenitsyn has never seen an ancient Terminator Cross badge that has been passed down since the end of the Great Heresy.
And frankly, no matter how big the Emperor's armor is, how many pieces can it be divided into?
It feels a bit strange to think about it.
Of course, Solzhenitsyn couldn't award this level of medal, but compared to the Imperial Guard and the Navy, or other mortal armed forces, the Space Marines' medals are definitely more elaborate. In addition to some traditional Imperial medals, they also designed medals specifically for this expedition. Of course, because Solzhenitsyn was busy with other affairs, the design was actually carried out entirely by Vileitz.
First of all, all Space Marines participating in the Maelstrom will receive a Maelstrom Guardian Medal. The medal is silver-white in color and is about the size of an adult's fist. The center is a relief of a hand pierced by a sword, representing the expeditionary force's victory over the Red Corsairs. It is surrounded by 112 miniature diamonds, symbolizing the 112 large and small battles in which Space Marines participated in this expedition. The edge of the medal is decorated with gold.
Because all participating Space Marines, regardless of rank, can receive this medal, it is more like a commemorative medal in a sense.
After that come the specific medals of merit.
The first is the Sentinel Medal, awarded to outstanding recruits. This is also one of the traditional Imperial Space Marine medals, usually used to commend outstanding recruits in the Tenth Company of Codex Chapters. Its appearance is two crossed daggers with a silver skull in the center. However, most of the chapters transferred for this expedition were combat companies, so the soldiers who received this honor were all from the Astral Knights, White Templars, Ascetics, Lamenters, Ranger Warriors, and Star Phantoms, totaling twenty people.
Among them, the Astral Knights included Jacob, Herbert, and Donderazzi, with Donderazzi coming from the Eleventh Company.
"You are all the most outstanding seeds. I look forward to you growing into the pillars of your respective chapters in the future. Your chapter masters and the Throne have high hopes for you."
After speaking, Solzhenitsyn personally attached the medals to their shoulder pads, while those who were not wearing power armor had them attached to their chests.
After the recruit medal is the soldier medal.
One is the Skull Maxim Medal, which is awarded to outstanding battle brothers or sergeants. As a traditional medal, the selection of this medal is also very traditional. The company commander selects three candidates, and then anyone who gets the approval of two-thirds of the warriors in the company can receive the medal. However, not every company has warriors who can receive it. If none of the candidates in the company can get the support of two-thirds of the battle brothers, then the company will not have any recipients. The overall shape of the medal is gray-iron, decorated with skulls and short maxims.
There are a total of 52 recipients of this medal, including 6 Astral Knights, namely Murad of the First Company, Robin of the Second Company, Oscar of the Third Company (because the Fifth Company has not yet been truly established), Vahag of the Sixth Company, Bahram of the Tenth Company, and Sablin of the Eleventh Company.
Surprisingly, the Minotaurs Chapter also nominated 5 people. Many people thought they would not accept the expeditionary force's awards.
After the Skull Maxim Medal is the Sharpshooter's Glory Medal, which is awarded to battle brothers who have perfectly executed long-range sniper missions. The medal looks like a bolter, but it is gold in color and engraved with intricate patterns and lifelike skull reliefs. A crosshair can also be seen on the skull's forehead. There are a total of 34 recipients of this medal. Among the Astral Knights, only one warrior from the Tenth Company named Heskesh Vernon used a heavy sniper rifle modified by the armory to kill 32 Chaos Space Marines and more than 400 enemies of various types during the years of expedition.
After the Sharpshooter's Glory Medal is the Deathwing Medal, which is awarded to battle brothers who have inflicted heavy blows on the enemy by piloting flying vehicles. The shape is a skull with lightning marks and wings spread left and right. The lower jaw of the skull also holds a dagger. The total number of recipients of this medal is 34, the most of which are from the Dark Angels Chapter, with a total of 6 aces with more than 30 kills. It should be noted that the Space Marine statistics of kills are not based on the standard of "aircraft", but at least Hell drakes, Hell blades, and Thunderhawks are real combat aircraft. It has to be said that the foundation of the First Founding Chapter cannot be underestimated, followed by the Lamenters Chapter, while the Astral Knights only have Sergeant Karno of the Rahm Squadron who received the medal.
After the Deathwing Medal is the Ironclad Medal, which is awarded to crew members who drive ground armored vehicles and create brilliant achievements. The shape of the medal is similar to two crossed tracks with a conical shell in the center surrounded by maxims. A total of 41 crews received the medal, including 3 crews from the Astral Knights, totaling twelve people, all from a Brutal Blade Squadron. In addition, Josip Suarez from the Iron Hands also received the medal.
After the Ironclad Medal is the Storm Rider Medal, which is awarded to motorcycle riders, Land Speeder pilots, or crew members of transport vehicles such as Land Raiders and Thunderhawk gunships who have performed outstandingly in combat. The total number of people reached 136. Surprisingly, the chapter that received the most of these medals was actually the Dark Angels, not the White Scars, but Kosaro Khan had no objection to this, because the number of Dark Angels participating in the war was indeed more than the White Scars, but if you add the number of awards from several successor chapters, it is actually more than the Dark Angels.
After the Storm Rider Medal is the Slayer Medal, which is awarded to battle brothers who have destroyed enemy super-heavy armor or daemon engines with individual weapons. The main relief of the medal is a dragon's head pierced from bottom to top by a spear. A total of 63 warriors received the medal. In fact, there should have been more, but it is not easy to determine who really destroyed the target on the battlefield, especially those super-heavy armors that have often been severely damaged before being destroyed. In the end, only cautious choices can be made for candidates who are convinced by everyone. They have basically completed the results of single-handedly hunting targets.
After the Slayer Medal is the Sacred Bastion Medal, which is awarded to Terminator veterans and Dreadnoughts who participated in the expedition. Because Dreadnoughts are inconvenient to appear, the Techmarine will receive it on their behalf. The entire medal looks like a Terminator Cross, but the skull on it has been replaced with a fortress with a shining sun in the background.