Gdolkin had fought with all the rest before, against the alien, the mutant and the heretic. He was surrounded by the battle-brothers of Librarian Melchor's retinue as well as the tactical squads of Sergeants Vincien and Erastus.

Brother-Librarian Melchor sat with his head bowed, as if in a state of prayer. There barely seemed room in the restraining straps of the steel seat for the huge man's Terminator armour. The bionics of his face glinted in the ruddy cabin light. Silver tracery picked out the sigils that warded against possession by warp entities, the crimson light making it look like the holy runes were written in fresh blood.

Fluttering on wings made of swan feathers and steel pinions was a grotesque psyber-cherub, scroll scraps wrapping its body, illuminated with prayer passages from the Liber Psykana, to help mould it to its purpose of boosting Melchor's already formidable psychic powers. The malformed child-thing imitated the attitude of its master, its eyes closed as if in sleep, its chin resting on its hairless chest and its monkey hands pressed together as if in supplication to the primarch and the Emperor, as the Thunderhawk bucked and rocked through the thermal currents of the planet's atmosphere.

The Librarian was truly an example to the other Iron Hands: an iron will encased inside an iron body.

Brother Reuban sat next to him, another of the warriors forming Melchor's command and directly responsible for the Librarian's protection. The ruddy light of the hazard glow-globes glittered back from the lenses of his two augmetic eyes, making them appear to be fashioned from ruby quartz. Reuban's eyesight was as sharp as any other's within the clan company and he wore his optical augmetics with as much pride as he wore his ritual battle scars. The bionic eyes were battle-honours that had been earned fighting the greenskin aliens on the desert plains of Na'jadar. An ork trukk had tried to take the autocannon emplacement he was holding in a head-on collision. Reuban's sharp-sighted firing, even then, had ruptured the crude vehicle's fuel tank, the resulting explosion of promethium burning out his eyes. He had continued to man the gun emplacement, killing another two dozen orks and gretchin, whilst blind, before an attack bike squadron had liberated the position.

The Iron Hands' banner-bearer Dothan Kansbar, Apothecary Caduceus, who had helped Gdolkin perform many surgical procedures upon himself, Iron-Brother Ibrus and Initiate Gobard made up the rest of the command squad.

The Iron Hands would go into battle with two command units leading them: that of Librarian Melchor and Iron-Father Gdolkin himself. Such a deployment was not uncommon within their Chapter - just as the Chapter as a whole was governed by a council rather than one Chapter Master - and had been decided upon thousands of years ago. It harked back to the dark days of the Great Heresy itself, when it had been proved that absolute power held by one man, Space Marine or no, could corrupt absolutely and appallingly. Naturally, Iron-Father Gdolkin would be in overall command, unless he showed some sign of weakness, at which juncture he would be relieved of command instantly.