Obsidian Hand

The Obsidian Hand is the elite bodyguard of the Primarch Lukas Keath, tasked with his protection both on the battlefield and off it. They are the harbingers of doom for the enemies of mankind and its saviours in equal measure, burning away the foe with promethium or warpfire in gargantuan conflagrations that strike awe into any who witness them in action. Once the enemy has been softened up enough they advance to fight in close combat, shattering bodies with blows from hammers or cutting of limbs with single sword strokes.

History
Their inception did not come until nearly halfway through the great crusade, several decades after Lukas's discovery and the end of the Feuerreich Crusade. Only by then did Lukas feel the need for for a formal bodyguard rather than simply choosing a unit to accompany him from those at hand. As he himself was a psyker it stood to reason so too should be his protectors, thus it was that any candidates for the Obsidian Hand, as the organization would be named, were to be drawn from the ranks of the Legion's Librarius. The finest among them would be named the legion champion, charged not only with the typical duties of combating enemy war leaders or champions but also with commanding the Hand in the absence of the Primarch, acting as his emissary, and overseeing the training of new members.

Never rising above company strength the Obsidian Hand remained throughout the Great Crusade, Halcyon Age, and the Ruins an exclusive force, comprised of the greatest warriors in the Legion. At many of the Legion's defining battles the Obsidian Hand played a key part, shattering the enemy or reinforcing wavering Imperial forces.

Equipment
As befit the elite of their legion the wargear of the Obsidian Hand was of peerless quality, Cataphractii-Terminator Armor hand crafted by the Artificers of the legion's Armorium, Force Weapons forged in the heart of dying volcanoes, and Heavy Flamers fuelled by tanks of enriched promethium that burns hot enough to melt ceramite, flesh, and bone alike.

Tactics and Training
The Obsidian Hand, unlike Librarians or sanctioned psykers, fought as traditional squads with a sergeant leading between five and ten battle brothers. Rather than using their psychic abilities individually they combined their powers to truly devastating effect. It was this penchant for coordinated actions that set them further apart from their fellows and made them so effective. But they did not stop there, training in the use of conventional weapons for when the situation did not call for a raging inferno of warpfire or an avalanche. In battle they were a battering ram of ceramite, flesh, and discipline, teleporting into the heart of battle or riding inside a Land Raider to do the butcher's work.

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