Rogal Dorn and his Imperial Fists respond to Horus’ betrayal and treachery at Istvaan III after Nathaniel Garro’s daring Flight of the Eisenstein!
Via our good friends at Lexicanum
The Imperial Fists operated closely alongside the Emperor of Mankind during the Great Crusade. The Legion served as the Emperor’s personal Praetorians and fought directly alongside him more than any other legion. The Emperor bestowed the name “Imperial Fists” upon the VII Legion early in the Great Crusade, a reference to when many saw the lands conquered by them it was as if “the hand of the Emperor had descended and gripped with an unbreakable fist.” The Emperor also granted them the right to wear the Laurels of Victory as part of their heraldry. After the successful conclusion of the Ullanor Crusade, the Emperor returned to Terra, ordering the Imperial Fists with him where they were tasked to fortify the Imperial Palace.
Rogal Dorn and the Imperial Fists were the first loyalists to learn of the Horus Heresy other than those attacked on Isstvan III. While attempting to reach Terra as ordered by the Emperor after Ullanor, the Legion responded to a distress call from the Eisenstein. Rogal Dorn discovered Death Guard Captain Nathaniel Garro and remembrancer Mersadie Oliton, who carried news of the events which had transpired on Isstvan III. In response, Dorn ordered the bulk of the Imperial Fists to the Isstvaan system while he and the Legion’s veteran companies returned to Terra to inform the Emperor of Horus’ treachery. Significantly, each deployment faced difficulties from the Warp Storms that had enveloped the galaxy, which made navigation nearly impossible.
On Terra, Dorn assumed command of the Imperium’s armed forces. There, the Imperial Fists oversaw the fortification of the Imperial Palace, as previously ordered before the Heresy, and other duties relating to its defense, such as counter-intelligence.[13] They nonetheless also fought scattered battles throughout the Galaxy, such as against the Iron Warriors in the First Siege of Hydra Cordatus
Dorn immediately organised the Imperium’s response to Isstvan III. After making contact as best as possible with the other Legions, which the Warp storms hampered, Dorn ordered that Horus be confronted on Isstvan V where his forces were entrenching themselves. Discussing the reasoning of this strategy with Malcador The Sigillite, he stated that “…kill the head and the body will die.” Notably, Dorn elected to keep his veteran companies on Terra while apparently assuming the bulk of the Legion which had been ordered to the Isstvan system would join the assault on their own initiative if they were able to navigate there successfully.
