Mottos of the Imperial Guard

- This is General Sturnn of the Cadian 412th Regiment Imperial Guard. Only fools believe that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Still, the Eldar proved useful enough to bring my men into position, admittedly at cost to their own lives. They lay outside, being cut to the last as I speak. I cannot risk helping them. I will not trade the lives of my men for theirs. -
- You will fail this day, General. Without our soulstone the battle will be lost. The Necrons will sweep over you and drink your life out from the hollow vessel of your corpse! Without us you face your doom. -
- Eldar! The Cadian 412th have faced doom before. We bested it then and we will best it today! Die well! -
— General Sturnn's address to Farseer Taldeer +++

You're all here because you are traitors to Mankind and the Immortal Emperor. You are here because you have failed in your sworn duty to protect his domains and subjects, and you have perverted his trust in you for your own misguided ends. You have sacrificed your part in securing the future of the whole of humanity for your own selfish gain. To kill you would be to accept that you can no longer save your immortal souls. If you were to be ushered into the Emperor's presence now, the scales would tip badly against you when the deeds of your life are weighed up by his Almighty Presence. This is why I give you a last chance to prove yourselves worthy of the Emperor's forgiveness. This is why you are here - to save yourselves from eternal damnation.
— Colonel Schaeffer to his Last Chancers +++
I hate last stands, there's never time to practise*¹: them.
— Major Elim Rawne +++

Another day in the life

The last week wasn't eventful at all compare to the others one, other than the fact that it was Halloween and I was stuck in Schnucks working all night.

The Imperial Fists were first formed on Terra, as shown by their earliest battle honour, 'Roma'. The legion had heavily recruited from Inwit with over 70% of the legion's strength as aspirant Space Marines when Rogal Dorn joined them. This means that the Legion was relatively young when it was united with its primarch, allowing them to form an unbreakable bond, based upon similar desires for self-discipline and total commitment to order.
After the Imperial Fists won a major victory against the Orks on the ash wastes of Necromunda, the Hive Lords consented to recruits being drawn from their population in gratitude. A Fortress-Chapel was duly consecrated but the Imperial Fists were there as esteemed guests, not masters. Rogal Dorn asked no special rights on the worlds where the Fists recruited. Some Primarchs, such as the increasingly mercurial Perturabo, took every opportunity to garrison a world and claim its tithes. Dorn is famously recorded as saying "I want recruits not vassals," and was always satisfied to keep his Legion as a military unit with none of the civil responsibilities that came with having a home world.
During the Great Crusade, the Imperial Fists acted as the strategic reserve of the Emperor's forces due to their ability to rapidly redeploy to battlefields aboard Phalanx. They made use of detailed planning and as such were soon found to be supreme city fighters and siege specialists. After several campaigns and thousands of conquered worlds, the Emperor returned to Terra to build a capital from which he could run his new empire. He took the Imperial Fists with him, set them up as his praetorians and charged Dorn with the construction of the Imperial Palace, something that didn't go unnoticed by the other Primarchs. Perturabo flew into a rage upon hearing that Dorn thought the Imperial Palace would be proof against assault by even as mighty siege-masters as the Iron Warriors and unleashed a torrent of vitriol and accusations so unfounded that the onlookers were dumbstruck. After this the two rarely spoke, neither Legion serving in the same campaign again. The Imperial Fists were ever at the Emperor's side and the Iron Warriors were part of Horus' vanguard.