Captain Yvraith Syrakul reflects back to his early days in the Great Crusade, during some down time between campaigns.

He was just a Junior Line Officer during the later stages of the Unification Wars, when the Emperor announced that they were to march amongst the stars on a grand crusade, he was elated at the thought of the glory to come.

It was early during the Crusade that they discovered the first of the Primarchs.
'What' a Primarch?' he'd wondered.
It soon became apparent what a Primarch was. He was stunned when he first caught sight of him with the Emperor. It was not long after that Horus was finally given command of his Legion.
The pride of the Luna Wolves was immense that they were the Legion to be honoured with the Emperor’s favored son, to lead them personally.

Syrakul remembered the day they had been presented to ‘The Commander’. To hear him address them directly and announce his plans on how he planned to organise the Legion. He chose four men that were to be his advisors. His Mournival he called them. The four men were Ezekyle Abbaddon, Tarik Torgaddon, Rikard Keyshon and Beric Minos. They were his confidants, his sounding board, his right hand.

It was during their first Campaign under ‘The Commander' that Syrakul showed his leadership potential. In the initial drop assault the 9th Company's Captain and command squad, had their Stormbird blown out of the sky. As the remnants of the 9th made the surface, their advance was disjointed and directionless. Syrakul quickly ordered his squad to push forward, directly towards the heart of the Ork horde confronting them. Nearby units joined the push and as more squads threw in their support, the 9th gained the initiative. Barking orders down the vox as he advanced, Yvraith coordinated the company’s efforts, as it forced its way deeper into the enemy lines.

The Luna Wolves continued to push deeper into the depths of the Ork horde, when a huge brute bellowed out a challenge and began to force his way to the fore. Yvraith Syrakul roared back and rushed to meet him. His Chainsword screamed as his first cut met with the blade of the greenskin’s axe. The surrounding combatants paused and gave them more room to fight as more began to watch form both sides. The ork raised its firearm to fire pointblank into Syrakul’s chest, but he slapped it wide as the beast depressed the trigger. The weapon tumbled away from numbed fingers. The ork growled its displeasure, its axe slammed into Syrakul’s shoulder, but his armour turned the blow. In return he raised his Bolt pistol and fired, the bolt struck the beast in the middle of its forehead, snapping its head back.

Yvraith smiled inside his helmet, but it slowly faded as the Orks head returned to its normal position, its slavering jaws grinning at him. He glanced quickly to the beast’s forehead; the only sign of any damage was a slight dent in what appeared to be a rusty metal plate bolted to its skull. The glance nearly cost him his life as the Orks axe swung back in, he barely got his Chainsword in place to turn the blow, but the impact jarred the weapon from his hand. The Ork came on, axe leading. Yvraith grimaced, dropped his bolt pistol and stepped forward, catching the axe haft just below the head. Muscles bunched and strained as each of them tried to gain leverage. The beast improvised, snapping its head forward in a vicious head-butt. Yvraith staggered, but recovered quickly, drawing his combat blade.

The Ork snarled and swung the axe towards Yvraith’s head. He swayed aside and stepped forward, his free hand darting forward grabbing the top of the beast’s crude chest plate. His combat blade followed a split second later, lancing towards the beast’s throat. With his left hand yank the Ork forward, it couldn’t avoid the thrust. Blood sprayed as Yvraith slashed the blade sideways out of the beast’s neck. The Ork’s axe fell from nerveless fingers as Yvraith watched the light fade and die in its crimson eyes. He released his grasp on its chest plate and the lifeless creature fell slumped to the ground. A groan went up from the surrounding Orks, as they saw their leader fall.

‘What are you waiting for? Fire!’ Yvraith ordered.
The disciplined Astartes obeyed instantly, laying down a devastating hail of bolts that scythed through the Orkish ranks.
‘Kill them, Kill them all! For the Commander! Lupercal! Lupercal!’ He yelled, gathering his weapons and lead the 9th forward to victory.

It was after this battle that the Commander rewarded him for his efforts, granting him the rank of Captain and Command of the 9th Company.
‘Your quick thinking and courage enabled us to gain a swift victory here today and I thank you for it.’ The Commander said.
Yvraith was speechless, struck dumb by the magnificence of the Primarch, and just nodded mutely.
The Commander smiled and added.
‘Go now and make your Company ready, for there are yet more greenskins to cleanse from this world.’
‘Yes, M’lord.’ Yvraith replied, made the sign of the Aquilla and moved away to make his preparations.

It was later in that campaign when tragedy struck and one of the Mournival was lost in the decisive action that concluded the war. Captain Syrakul had continued to distinguish himself with only Captain’s Abbaddon and Torgaddon’s Company’s achieving higher honours.

He was in his quarters on the Vengeful Spirit, when the summons came. It was Beric Minos.
‘Beric, what is it?’
‘I ask that you accompany me, Brother.’
‘Of course, is something wrong?’
‘No, there are some people you must meet.’
‘Who?’
‘It will become clear in time, follow me.’
‘Lead on, Brother.’ One does not disrespect the request of a Mournival Captain.

Beric led him to the hatch that led to the observation deck of the Vengeful Spirit.
‘Wait here. You’ll know when to enter.’
Yvraith nodded his assent and Beric stepped inside and closed the hatch.
It was shortly after that the hatch swung open, all of the artificial lights inside the had been extinguished, the Observation deck was lit with only starlight and the glow of the moon of the recently subdued Ork planet, the fleet was at anchorage above. He stepped through the open hatch, intrigued by the strange goings on. As he entered he could make out the forms of three power armoured figures in the centre of the deck. The pale moonlight illuminated the pearl white of their armour. As he drew closer he could determine who they were. On the left was the unmistakable hulking form of First Captain Abbaddon. The one in the centre was Beric and to his right stood Tarik Torgaddon, his face serious for a change. He halted five paces short of the trio and waited.

What happened next was a blur, the honour of the occasion, clouding his memory of events. The end result was that he was now one of them, a member of the Mournival. A new honour was added to his helmet, a crescent moon now sat above the right eye piece.

There will be more to this, just haven't written it yet.
Any questions or C & C are more than welcome. :)

I seem to remember that I think that it was either Syrakul or Minos (or both) was mentioned in Horus Rising as a previous member of the Mournival. Am I right or was I getting mixed up with another deceased character(s)?

Sorry for the "threadmancy" but I had forgotten that I had written this. :rolleyes:

Firstly to answer a couple of questions Uzthizzar yes you are correct.
Both Minos, Syrakul and Keyshon are mentioned in the ceremony of Loken's induction to the mournival in Horus Rising. I just added some first names.

I have decided to set my army in the very early stages of the Crusade.
No taint of heresy here.... :D

Anyway back to the fun bit.

**********************

Syrakul looked down at the fallen form, of his battle brother in arms, Captain Arven Lucien, 5th Company of the Emperor's Children. His Purple and Gold armoured body was surrounded by the dismembered corpses of their foe, the Eldar.
Lucien's pride had driven him to insist on being the lead element in any engagement.
This time it had cost him his life.
'Rest now brother, know that I'll continue to carry the light to the masses.' Syrakul whispered.

Syrakul's mind drifted back to the day of their first meeting. It was not long after his promotion into the ranks of the Mournival.
The Emperor had decreed that the decimated ranks of the Emperor's Children Legion, were too vulnerable to fight alone and decided they would be best suited to fight alongside the valiant men of his favoured son's legion, the Luna Wolves.

He stood dutifully one pace behind The Commander, along with the other members of the Mournival, as they awaited the arrival of their proud battle brothers of the 3rd Legion.

Maloghurst's voice announced the new arrivals as the doors opened.
'Primarch of the Emperor's Children, Fulgrim and Captain of the 5th Company Arven Lucien.'
Once the doors had opened fully, Fulgrim resplendent in his ornate armour strode in.
Syrakul despite himself, found that he was holding his breath. Horus moved forward to meet him.
'Welcome brother, it does me good to see you.' He said with a smile.
'And I you.' The Phoenician replied.
'I introduce you to the Mournival, you of course know Ezekyle and Tarik, but allow me to introduce Captains Minos and Syrakul.'
Fulgrim's looked at them in turn as they were named and despite his intent not to, Syrakul found that he was holding his breath again. Fulgrim smiled and addressed his next statement to them.
'I introduce Captain Arven Lucien, I think that you'll all learn a great deal form each other.'
'Come brother, let us talk in private and leave our officers to get acquainted.' said Horus leading his brother away.

Syrakul relaxed as the two primarchs left the room, as the others introduced themselves to the new comer, Syrakul studied him and then introduced himself.
'So have your apothecaries discovered the cause of the problems with your geneseed?' Torgaddon asked.
Lucien's eyes flashed.
'Brother, you know that we're not to talk of it.' Syrakul found himself saying.
'I was just curious.' Tarik stated.
'I would prefer not to talk about it, but rest assured that the problem has been resolved.' Lucien replied.
Relieved that the situation had been diffused sufficiently Syrakul relaxed further.
The discussion turned to more relaxed matters, such as differences of opinion over tactics used in certain circumstances.
This interested Syrakul greatly as he discovered that Lucien was quite knowledgeable about such things. This continued on for some time until a runner was sent with a message that Fulgrim wished to speak with Lucien.
Lucien bid them farewell and followed the messenger down the hall.
As he turned the corner another runner appeared with a message for them, the Commander wished to see them immediately in his conference room.
Tarik looked at Syrakul, raised his eyebrows and shrugged.
'Let's go then.' Abbadon stated and moved off down the hall with the rest of them in tow.

Does anyone else get the sense of False Gods in the second part. That is not to critisise your work which is rather nice but it does seem as if it's a reworking of False Gods.