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Art: “Honours Reward” by George Earl Abalayan, used with the artist's permission. source

Space Marines & Primarchs

Pedro Kantor

Chapter Master of the Crimson Fists, Lord Helblade

Crimson Fists

Status: Active
Connections: 2 characters
Battles: 3 recorded here

Illustrated by George Earl Abalayan (“Honours Reward”, used with permission)

Overview

Pedro Kantor is the 29th Chapter Master of the Crimson Fists, an Imperial Fists successor. He led the handful of survivors when Rynn's World nearly wiped the Chapter out, and he has spent the decades since rebuilding it.

He fights with Dorn's Arrow, an ornate storm bolter, and power fist. His defence of Rynn's World against the Orks of Snagrod made him a hero of the Imperium, and his rebuilding of the Crimson Fists has kept the Chapter alive. Pedro Kantor is Chapter Master of the Crimson Fists, a successor Chapter of the Imperial Fists. He rebuilt his Chapter after its near annihilation at Rynn's World. His deep sense of duty and his humanity toward those in his care make him one of the most respected Chapter Masters, but his Chapter is still struggling to restore its strength.

Most Brutal Moment

The fall of Arx Tyrannus

When Snagrod, the Arch-Arsonist of Charadon, attacked Rynn's World, the Crimson Fists prepared to defend their fortress-monastery. A missile from their own defences malfunctioned and struck the fortress, destroying it along with most of the Chapter. Kantor survived with only a small fraction of his brothers. He led them out into the ruins of the world and fought a guerrilla war against the Orks until help arrived. The disaster defines the Crimson Fists to this day. The warhead had been built to punch through void shields and starship armour. It killed 600 Crimson Fists and left only just over a dozen survivors. Kantor's group reached about 400 brothers holding New Rynn City and held out through an eighteen-month siege, until relief came just as Ork Gargants were about to take the city. The campaign is told in Steve Parker's Black Library novel Rynn's World. The Chapter's slow rebuilding afterwards shaped its stubborn character.

Source: Rynn's World (Steve Parker) and Crimson Fists background

Origins

A long-serving Crimson Fist who had led the Chapter for many years when the Ork Warlord Snagrod, the Arch-Arsonist of Charadon, launched his Waaagh! into the Loki Sector.

The defining crisis of Kantor's life came in 989.M41, when Waaagh! Snagrod struck the Loki Sector. Kantor sent Captain Ashor Drakken's 3rd Company to Badlanding, which few of them survived, and then recalled every Crimson Fists company to Rynn's World to defend the Chapter's home.

Kantor's first recorded deed came as a sergeant at Melchitt Sound, where he led a boarding party that crippled the Ork kill kroozer Da Growla and let the strike cruiser Crusader scatter the greenskin fleet. Rynn's World recalls that he risked his squad to hold Braxa Gorge open for a final refugee convoy. Afterwards High Chaplain Tomasi praised his honour but warned that his standards would get him killed one day. Over two centuries he rose through the ranks, often beside Alessio Cortez, fighting in the Steel Cross campaign, at Fortress Maladon and in the Kardian campaign. As Captain of the 4th Company he mentored Sandor Galleas. He became the Chapter's 29th Master in 900.M41.

Key events

Recalled the Crimson Fists to Rynn's World to face Waaagh! Snagrod.
Lost most of the Chapter when an errant defence missile struck the fortress-monastery's armoury and destroyed it.
Led a guerrilla war with the survivors until reinforcements arrived to relieve the world.
Fought the secret battle of Traitor's Gorge during the reclamation.
Defended Rynn's World again against daemonic incursions after the Great Rift, and brought the Crimson Fists to the War of Beasts on Vigilus.
Fought the War of Beasts on Vigilus, where the Crimson Fists helped hold the Hyperia-Dirkden Fortwall against the Ork Speedwaaagh!

Steve Parker's Rynn's World shows the cost of command. After a scout's disobedience doomed the Badlanding reconnaissance, Kantor sentenced the scout, Janus Kennon, to servitorisation. After the arsenal explosion he led sixteen survivors toward New Rynn City. He refused Cortez's repeated calls to fight and carried an exhausted farmer named Jilenne himself, declaring her children charges of the Chapter. Under eighteen months of siege he again refused to waste warriors on the Ork Gargants. Instead, every Crimson Fist who could still walk went through the underworks to seize the spaceport and lower the defence grid for the relief fleet. There Kantor fought Snagrod alone and nearly killed him before the warlord escaped in his gunship.

Within a decade he had rebuilt the Chapter to almost five companies. Then the Daemon Prince Rhaxor invaded Rynn's World. Kantor led three spearheads like a man possessed, and Guilliman's Indomitus Crusade arrived to scatter the host. According to Codex Supplement: Imperial Fists (8th edition), when the Primarch met him, every inch of Kantor's armour was slick with blood. Guilliman named him Praetor Encarmine and charged him with defending the whole Loki Sector. At Vigilus he led five companies, protected civilians at the Hyperia-Dirkden Fortwall and was left in command of the planet's defence when Calgar went to face Abaddon.

Battles & campaigns

Rynn's World (989.M41): Snagrod's Ork WAAAGH! devastated the Chapter world.
The guerrilla war: He led the survivors in a long fight to retake Rynn's World.
Era Indomitus: Primaris Space Marines reinforced the Crimson Fists.

Personality

Determined, resilient and grimly practical. The guilt of Rynn's World hangs over him and spurs his resolve.

He is resolute and pragmatic, focused on rebuilding his Chapter and avenging his fallen brothers. He is haunted by the losses at Rynn's World, but he does not let guilt cloud his judgment. His leadership is calm and steady.

Weapons & Vehicles

Signature Wargear & PanoplyChapter Master of the Crimson Fists and hero of Rynn's World, Pedro Kantor crushes Ork Warbosses with a master-crafted Power Fist on one arm while unleashing a hail of vengeance bolts from Dorn's Arrow—a wrist-mounted, rapid-firing relic four-barrel storm bolter.

Power FistMelee Weapon

An oversized servo-assisted armoured gauntlet sheathed in a matter-shredding energy field, capable of tearing open tank hulls and crush…

Storm BolterRanged Weapon

A twin-barrelled, double-chambered automatic bolter wielded one-handed by Space Marine Terminators, Grey Knights and battle tank pintle…

Bolter & Bolt RifleRanged Weapon

The signature .75-calibre rocket-propelled mass-reactive firearm of the Adeptus Astartes, firing self-propelled explosive bolts that de…

Explore all 48 entries in the Weapons & Vehicles armoury.

Connections

Characters (2)

Darnath Lysander successor chapter · Imperial Fists
The Crimson Fists descend from the Imperial Fists, Lysander's Chapter.
Marneus Calgar Vigilus ally · Ultramarines
Kantor's Crimson Fists fought at Vigilus under Calgar's command.

Factions

Crimson Fists primary faction

Some links are thematic parallels (marked "parallel") rather than recorded meetings. See the connections web.

Legacy

Kantor rebuilt the Crimson Fists after the near-destruction of their Chapter at Rynn's World. His determination, and his loyalty to the people of Rynn's World, define the Crimson Fists' character. His long struggle against the Orks of Snagrod made him a byword for stubborn defiance. To other Chapters, the Crimson Fists' survival under Kantor became an example of rebuilding a Chapter after near-annihilation. The Crimson Fists' slow recovery is a byword for endurance in the face of catastrophe.

Kantor first appeared in the 1987 Rogue Trader rulebook, named after contributor Pete Cantor. He did not get a model until 5th edition. His storm bolter, Dorn's Arrow, is fed from a back-mounted drum of about 800 Kraken penetrator rounds and fires at twice the normal rate.

Appearances & sources

Rynn's World (Steve Parker)
Codex: Space Marines background
Crimson Fists short fiction