We are the Claws of the Dragon
By: liljimmyurine
This came to me when I was reading Chapter Approved 2004 and how it talks about the Cursed Founding. Of the various cursed Chapters of Space Marines, the Black Dragons interest me greatly. Read to find out why I do.
Disclaimer: it's obvious I don't own any of this. I just took liberties with the imagined creations of people so nerdy they make me a friggin' rock star
We are the Dragon's Claws. My name is Tanthius, and I am both the elite and reviled of my Chapter. My obvious mutations make me superior in combat and hated by those that I protect.
It all began after I was a scout-novice; after the final implantation of the enhancements that would make me a true Space Marine when my skin began to itch. Just behind the elbows and in the middle of my forearms. A slight itch at first, but growing worse the rest of that week. When I went to the Apothecary to inform him of this; he seemed to take interest in my complaints instead of the derision I expected. Apothecary Ihram was very serious, but didn't tell me anything, and made me stay under observation in a monitored sleep-cell, instead of my community barracks I share with my new squad. I was by no means a novice anymore. I had faced battle for three years by that time as a Scout. However, I was still less than fifty years old; a child compared to Captain Melenaus, who was easily three hundred years old. To my great surprise, he came to visit the Medicae while I was there. Little did I know I was the reason he was there. I couldn't understand what he was saying to Apothecary Ihram, as I was in a drug-induced sleep for the immense pain that had developed out of the itching. I slipped in and out of a fever sleep that I thought no Marine could succumb to. I didn't know how long I was there, but three days later, I was awoken by intense agony in my elbows and forearms. My shouts of surprise at the sudden pain, and the loud 'thump-crash' that resounded when I fell off of my cot. When I looked at my arms; that's what really made me scream. My bones were poking out of the skin.
My first reasonable thought was ohh… God-Emperor; compound fractures. How is that possible? Until, that is, I realized that something else was happening. Then it hit me, like a Rhino going full speed; Dragon's Claws. After that, a deep calm and understanding that I was a mutant settled upon me. The blades were nothing as of now, barely even noticeable, but they would get longer and sharper, until I was a powerfully, naturally, armed as a Tyranid Hormagaunt. If I were lucky, I would avoid the crests on my forehead that afflicted a few of those in my situation. I was simply told by the Captain, " Welcome to the Dragon's Claws. Techmarine Lygus will see you tomorrow, and Apothecary Ihram will observe your blade growth until it stops. We have a new project intended for use, involving the Dragon's Claws, and you are the first of our new Claws, so, congratulations."