The Gauntlet of the Forge

The Gauntlet

The Gauntlet of the Forge is a master-crafted power gauntlet that integrates a heavy flamer along the back of the wrist. The flamer's output is, by Apothecary measure, calibrated to match Vulkan's own grip strength — it will fire only for a wielder of his physical mass-grade.

The gauntlet has, by Imperial Mechanicus uncertainty, an integrated forge-flame property — the flame, when sustained, can melt ceramite in seconds and warp adamantium at sufficient duration. It is, in functional terms, a portable forge attached to a fist.

The Use

Of the three recovered artifacts, the Gauntlet is the only one used actively in chapter operations. Vulkan He'stan wears it on the quest for the remaining Six. The flamer's reach has, on at least three documented occasions, ended engagements that would otherwise have cost the chapter significant casualties.

A forge is for making things. So is a fist.

— Vulkan, attributed pre-Heresy

The Wearing

He'stan wears the Gauntlet on his off-hand, paired with a thunder hammer (chapter-standard) on his primary. The combination is, by Imperial War Office assessment, the most flexible single-warrior loadout in current Astartes service: heavy flamer at extended reach, power gauntlet for grappling, hammer for primary strike. Few opponents have managed to close to grappling range against him.

The Forging on Nocturne

The Gauntlet of the Forge was forged on Nocturne — the Salamanders' homeworld — by Vulkan himself during the chapter's pre-Heresy founding period. The Gauntlet is not a power-fist in the standard Astartes sense; it is a forge-tool reconfigured for combat use, with the specific property that it can be used both as a hand-weapon and as a portable forge-implement. The dual-function design was Vulkan's specific innovation; no other Heresy-era weapons combine combat and forge function in this configuration.

The forging took place over approximately three years, during which Vulkan worked on the Gauntlet in his personal forge inside the chapter's Heresy-era fortress-monastery. The forging was conducted alongside the chapter's standard wargear production; Vulkan's own time was approximately equally divided between Gauntlet work and chapter-standard work. The Gauntlet emerged in 999 of the Crusade era as a single piece, with no separate components and no Mechanicus-pattern integration interfaces.

The Combat Use

The Gauntlet of the Forge's combat function is comparable to a heavy power-fist of slightly elevated mass, with the standard Astartes power-field generation that allows it to defeat conventional armour. In active combat, the Gauntlet has been used against Heresy-era Iron Warriors, Word Bearers, and various post-Heresy enemies with documented effectiveness. The Gauntlet's recorded kill count includes a confirmed Word Bearers Champion (in 014.M31, late Heresy), three Iron Warriors siege-engineers (in the Scouring period), and approximately forty-two daemons across the post-Heresy era.

The Gauntlet's combat use is, by Salamanders chapter doctrine, secondary to its forge function. The chapter's wielder of the Gauntlet is required to use it primarily for chapter-internal forge work and to engage in combat only when chapter operational needs require it. The doctrine has been observed by every Gauntlet-wielder across the post-Heresy era. The doctrine's enforcement is the responsibility of the chapter's senior Reclusiarch.

The Forge Function

The Gauntlet's forge function is what makes it unique among Heresy-era Imperial weapons. The Gauntlet, when configured for forge use, can sustain temperatures in the range required for Astartes power-armour repair work — approximately the same temperature range as a standard Mechanicus forge-furnace. The wielder can therefore conduct emergency armour-repair operations in field conditions where a standard Mechanicus forge-vehicle would not be available. The forge function has been used in seven documented Salamanders field campaigns to repair chapter-internal armour damage that would otherwise have required withdrawal to a forge-world.

The forge function's specific limitation is that it requires the wielder to hold the Gauntlet in forge-configuration for the duration of the repair work. The configuration is incompatible with simultaneous combat. The wielder is therefore effectively immobile during forge use, which means the function can be used only when the wielder is protected by other chapter assets. The chapter's standard operational doctrine for Gauntlet forge use involves a defensive ring of supporting Salamanders during the repair work.

The Modern Wielder

The Gauntlet of the Forge is, in the Indomitus era, held by the Salamanders' Chief Librarian Vel'cona, who has wielded it since 956.M41 — approximately ninety years of tenure. Vel'cona is unusual among Gauntlet-wielders in that he is a Librarian rather than a standard Captain or senior officer; the chapter's traditional Gauntlet-wielder position has been a senior Captain. Vel'cona's assignment to the Gauntlet was authorised by the previous Chapter Master on the grounds that Vel'cona's psychic capabilities offered the chapter access to operational uses of the Gauntlet that previous wielders had not been able to provide.

The specific psychic-augmented uses Vel'cona has provided are classified at chapter-internal level. The chapter has publicly acknowledged only that Vel'cona's Gauntlet-wielding has produced operational outcomes that the chapter's previous Gauntlet-wielders had not achieved. The current Chapter Master Tu'shan has, in his classified Indomitus-era briefings, indicated that Vel'cona's tenure with the Gauntlet will continue indefinitely. The chapter's preferred succession plan, if Vel'cona is killed in action, is to return the Gauntlet to a senior Captain wielder. Vel'cona has not been killed in action.