Archived: Cleophus

Cleophus Crios, also known as the Herculean or more simply as Cleophus, is the Primarch of the Brave Companions Loyalist Space Marine Legion, Warmaster and Regent of the Cleophan Imperium, and among the most prominent and influential of the surviving Primarchs. Today, in the grim darkness of the 40th Millenium, Cleophus competes with rival Uriel Februa and the Forces of Chaos for ultimate control over the galaxy.

By far one of the most charismatic of the Primarchs, Cleophus was the second Primarch re-discovered by the Emperor of Man during the Great Crusade, and competed with Uriel for the Emperor's favour for the majority of his existence. When the Emperor was suddenly and mysteriously mortally wounded, Cleophus - with the backing of his peers - pressed the High Lords of Terra to name him Imperial Regent. In his place, they swore fealty to Uriel. So began the Great Sundering and the fall of the first Imperium.

Although reuniting with Uriel's forces to fight the greater threat of Chaos during the gambit of Molos, the two Regents did not reconcile, and the Imperium remained torn asunder. The toll of ruling has irreversibly altered Cleophus in untold manner. Where once he showed optimism and passion for the future, he now displays only cynicism and stone-cold pragmatism. The Herculean is no longer the romantic idealist of days past.

Early Life
As a Primarch, Cleophus was one of the twenty genetically modified gene-sons of the Emperor of Mankind, created in the now-infamous Primarch Project. When the Primarchs were distributed and isolated across the galaxy by the forces of Chaos, Cleophus' pod landed upon the Classical World of Liakoura. It was there that he was discovered by Queen Thesilea of the Amazons during a raiding expedition. Though the Amazons valued mostly females, Thesilea saw a spark within the young babe, and took him in as her own, despite the protests of her court. Cleophus was given a life of relative luxury as the son of a Queen, and form an incredibly early age was reared to become a statesman and warrior; a worthy husband to Thesilea's daughter and heir, the Princess Pendasa. Throughout his many years of training, Cleophus outshone all those taught beside him in essentially every field. He was considered a prodigy; such was the due of a gene-son of the Emperor of Man.

Tragedy struck, however, before Cleophus could take his place as Prince. A rival tribe, the Bethians, raided the Amazons and took Cleophus as prisoner, despite his heroics. Bound and broken, Cleophus was sold into slavery as a gladiator, made to tour the planet's many colosseums to fight other slaves for sport. Due to his heritage and skill, it did not take long for him to rise far beyond his station, and to become the most famed and successful gladiator on Liakoura. Cleophus took no pride nor joy in the murder of his fellow slaves for sport, however, and during one of his vacations, he paid a visit to the Oracle of Odyssei - the greatest seer, and psyker, among the Liakourans - where he discovered that he was destined for far greater things. The Oracle told him to throw off his chains, claim his and his brothers' freedom and to fulfill his prophecy as the Herculean - the unifier of Liakoura. She granted him the mythical sword Damoclean, the last remaining weapon of the arsenal of a line of great and ancient warrior-kings, who once ruled Liakoura.

In his final gladiatorial battle, Cleophus - wielding his mythical sword of old Damcolean - decapitated his Dominus with the help of his supposed opponent, and led an army of gladiators in securing their freedom. Once that was assured, he returned to his homeland, married Pendasa, and united his forces with the Amazons. With their strength combined, Cleophus fulfilled the prophecy set out for him by the Oracle, and was proclaimed not only as her Champion, but as the prophesied Herculean. With a united Liakoura bending the knee to him, he outlawed the practice of slavery, and advanced the planet into the modern age, building himself an armada ready to set out toward the stars.

Arrival of the Emperor
Before Cleophus and his Liakouran fleet could set sail, however, the planet of the seers was discovered by members of the IInd Legion of Space Marines. Although initially treating the newcomers as invaders, and with hostility, the Oracle advised Cleophus to cease, lest he wish to slay his gene-kin. He then realised that he had been discovered by a long-lost relative. Then, the Emperor descended from the skies, alongside his first son Uriel Februa, and pronounced himself father to Cleophus. The Herculean was in awe of the perfect stranger, and saw elements of himself in the other, but his mood shifted as the first son arrived, and he took an immediate disliking to him when he uttered that this "coddled" world did not compare to the strength of Aria.

The Emperor granted Cleophus, by coincidence the second Primarch found, the command of the IInd Legion, and invited him to take part in the ongoing Great Crusade, to which Cleophus readily accepted, on the condition that Liakoura remain under his rule, a stipulation to which the Emperor barely acknowledged. As soon as the command became his, Cleophus took an active role the shaping of his Legion. Christening them the Brave Companions, he enrolled Liakourans into the legion en masse to swell its ranks and give purpose to the now awe-struck Liakourans. He imprinted Liakouran culture onto the Legion, granting it new colours, traditions and emblems which stemmed from Liakouran myth and folklore. Overall, however, he imprinted into them a disdain for slavery and a preference for meritocracy. When it came time to board the fleets and leave Liakoura behind, Cleophus left behind his former comrades and wife to rule in his stead, merging them into a governing council of equals, still loyal.

Great Crusade
As the Great Crusade dawned and Cleophus entered the galactic arena, the Emperor granted him the command of the 99th Expeditionary Fleet, and ordered him to aid in his unification of the disparate mankind. To begin his campaign, Cleophus sacrificed a thousand boars on Liakoura to curry good favour with the ancestor spirits; after being chastised by the Emperor for his faith, he would abandon soon come to abandon this practice, gaining an affinity and understanding for the Emperor's Imperial Truth instead. Cleophus head to the galactic east, discovering and reincorporating world after world in the name of the Emperor and the Imperial Truth. Unlike many of his brothers, Cleophus cared deeply for the common people of the Imperium, and before he took a world, he first outlined how it could persist within the Imperium; outlining it's bureaucracy and place in the Imperial economy. Unsurprisingly, this made him extremely popular among the Imperium's citizenry, and he was lauded by many.

It was not long before Cleophus discovered another of his own. When entering the Inwit Cluster, forward scouts of the Brave Companions uncovered a technological paradise hidden from view by a benign warpstorm. After traversing the storm, the legion landed upon the planet of Temporia; a planet teeming with machination and technology on par with that of the Mechanicum. The ruler of this world was an immense being known as Morvin Gallaeia. Cleophus immediately knew him as a gene-brother, and extended the hand of friendship toward him. The two got off on the right foot, and steadily became great companions to one another. Gallaeia's discovery was reported, and the seventh Primarch was granted command of the XVIth Legion of Astartes, which he named the Temporal Guard.

As the Great Crusade continued, Cleophus would discover Hekau, and the Brave Companions became famed for their bravery, skill, loyalty and determination. Cleophus would become well-known for his tactical genius and charismatic leadership. As such, Cleophus was ordered by the Emperor to subdue the world of Cadia and it's outlying systems alongside Lotan, the fifth Primarch. The Cadian Campaign proved a success, in great part thanks to the growing friendship between the Leviathan and the Herculean. It was Cleophus who ultimately saved Cadia and its people from exterminatus, after Lotan believed the inhabitants mutants. By the time the rest of the Cadian Sector had been fully incorporated into the quickly growing Imperium, Cleophus and his legion were reassigned to Ultima.

Ultima Campaign


While Lotan campaigned in Segmentum Obscurus, the Herculean was ordered by the Emperor to lend aid to his favoured son Uriel Februa in a great campaign in the galactic east. The Ultima Campaign had vast goals, and was, many believe, a challenge specifically created by the Emperor to test the two sons he considered worthy of the position of Warmaster. The campaign saw the Brave Companions and their stalwart rivals, the Brazen Beasts, undertake the majority of the fighting, with their respective Primarchs doing the majority of the leading, although other Legions were also involved in the campaign, they were under the joint-command of the two Primarchs.

Though both were capable individuals, the two Primarchs did not lead well together, and were in almost constant conflict. Uriel saw Cleophus as soft from years of luxury; Cleophus saw Uriel as the very evil he tried so hard to uproot from Liakoura. The Companions and Beasts also found little in the way of cooperation. In general, the campaign was actually conducted as if it were two. Overall the Brave Companions and Cleophus did the majority of the work in securing the worlds of the Ultima Segmentum, while the Brazen Beasts and Uriel spent their time fighting without objective. This would not go noted, however, as Uriel returned home to Terra earlier than planned, and was able to boast about his victories to the court of Terra, emitting the efforts of the Herculean. Cleophus was enraged, and considered this the greatest slight committed by his rival. Many believe this to be the moment Cleophus truly turned towards rebellion.

Ullanor Campaign
With the Ultima Campaign having all but ended, Cleophus and his Legion were soon recalled by the Emperor regardless to aid him on his greatest campaign yet; the defeat of the Ork Empire of Ullanor. Alongside half the total legionary strength of the Imperium, the Brave Companions were used as a spearhead in the largest military operation in Imperial history. The planets of the Ork Empire fell and were cleansed, one by one, until only Ullanor Prime remained. There, the greatest show of force imaginable extinguished the flames of that empire, and were to light the flames of a new Imperium of Man. Yet it was not to be, for a tragedy was to strike.

As the great Triumph of Ullanor was held to celebrate the historic victory and the rise of the new Imperium, the Emperor was beset by an assassin of, at the time, unknown origin. It is now known that the assassin was sent by the Archtraitor. While the Brave Companions and the strength of eight other Legions and countless number of Imperial Army units were sapped fighting a surprise Ork invasion, the Emperor fell into a deathly sleep and the assassin escaped, evading capture. The Emperor was taken to Terra and interned within the Golden Throne, capable of speaking only to the Sigillite. Many of the remaining Primarchs on Ullanor rallied to Cleophus, suggesting that he take up the mantle of Regent; others still rallied around Uriel, and made similar propositions. The Primarchs left Ullanor divided, and without agreement.

Great Sundering
With the Emperor dead or dying, the Primarchs rushed to figure out who was now their superior. Cleophus at first disagreed with calls from the other Primarchs that he should be named regent until the Emperor recovered; that was until Uriel suggested he instead ought to rule. Cleophus put forward a motion to the High Lords of Terra, with the backing of roughly half of the Primarchs, that he should be named Imperial Regent to govern in the Emperor's stead. The High Lords, however, were weary of the power of the Primarchs and of Cleophus' populism; instead, they named Uriel, who they considered supportive to them. Near-enraged at the news - and sick from the prospect of having to serve under Uriel - Cleophus invited his supporters and those he believed capable of convincing to Liakoura for a great council.

Council of Liakoura
While the Imperium reeled from the assassination of the Emperor, Primarchs favourable to Cleophus and his cause gathered in the great Acropolis of Liakoura, their Legions in orbit, to discuss the matter of Uriel Februa and his coronation as regent. Those present were Cleophus himself, Aarios Rai of the Imperial Eagles, Hekau of the Hospitallers, Induna kaZada of Induna's Spear, Lotan of the Knights Azure, Morvin Gallaeia of the Temporal Guard, Kheriman Osturbal of the Children of the Sun, Elijah Melekh of the Stormseekers, Antoine Zésar of the Crimson Shields and Belarion of the Serpents of Ghór. Cleophus would reveal to those gathered his intention to bring Uriel to justice, taking him into custody and ending his regency. Following this revelation, Morvin and his Legion would leave the Council.

Those Primarchs who remained swore oaths of loyalty to Cleophus as the true Imperial Regent and Warmaster, and took vows to not cease their fighting until the pretender-regent had been brought to justice. Cleophus revealed to the Council his reasoning for rebellion; dubbing them his Sixty Theses, he would distribute them throughout the galaxy, to every planet, every moon, and everywhere that the light shone, or did not shine. So began the Great Sundering.

Fall of Necromunda
The first battle of the Sundering, if it can be called a battle, was the taking of Necromunda. Having infiltrated the ranks of the Imperial Army, Cleophus ordered all those loyal to him to aid in the taking of the planet. To his surprise, even the ordinary Hive-dwellers came to his aid, and the planet fell with such great speed that the planetary governor was taken into Cleophan custody before he even knew of the invasion taking place. Now with a staging post from which to attack Terra, Cleophus gathered his generals to plan his next move. Induna rallied the generals into pushing onto Terra and bringing an end to the conflict before it even began, while Molosan Trein, First Captain of the Knights Azure, instead suggested that Cleophus take advantage of Uriel's anger by drawing out the Legions still loyal to him in order to cripple them before taking Terra. The words of the Captain rung true with Cleophus, and he took on board his advice.

Battle of Aria
To draw Uriel out from Terra, Cleophus took his Brave Companions to Uriel's homeworld of Aria, initiating a great siege of the world. Uriel, indifferent to seeing his homeworld fall but not willing to lose it, rallied his Legion and sent his second in command to lead the defence. The ensuing battle saw the Brave Companions and Brazen Beasts both take heavy losses, but with Uriel's absence, Cleophus was able to gain an upper hand and secure the planet, at which point he poisoned the planet's few oases, and plotted once more to take Terra from Uriel's clutches.

Battle of Valinkesh
After years of war, Molos advised the Herculean to again draw the Urielans out, this time into an ambush on the planet of Valinkesh, believing that this would bring a decisive end to the conflict. When the Brave Companions landed, however, they soon found themselves ambushed as well. Molos unleashed the forces of Chaos upon both the Urielan and Cleophan Legions on the world, and a brutal, bloody slaughter proceeded. Although the Legions were bloodied and bruised, Molos was unable to utterly shatter them, and was forced to leave Valinkesh before Cleophus had been killed.

Siege of Terra
Molos had made his treachery known, and with the forces of both the Urielans and Cleophans crippled, he made his final play; and led his forces to Terra. Unbeknownst to him, however, Cleophus rallied his remaining forces and vowed vengeance upon the Archtraitor. Upon hearing the news that Molos had ordered the Exterminatus of Liakoura, the Herculean diverted a great many of his civilian and transport ships to aid any refugees, of his own people, that had somehow survived the slaughter.

Regrouping his forces, Cleophus soon arrived in the Sol System. There he found the forces of Chaos close to breaking through the Urielan defences, and a warpstorm raging above Terra. Knowing that this new threat was far greater than Uriel, and still angered by the loss of his homeworld, Cleophus and his forces led a rear attack into the attacking Molosan forces. Entering into a hasty ceasefire with Uriel and his allies, Cleophus boarded Uriel's flagship, flanking Molos in his supposed moment of triumph. After slaying Pluton Dirae, Molos diverted his attention to Uriel and Cleophus, who united to defeat him. In one great swing, the Herculean grievously wounded the Archtraitor, saving Terra from Damnation.

Molos fled to Carlion with his Knights Azure via the warpstorm in the Sol system. Cleophus then rekindled his friendship with Morvin, and set out to close the warpstorm above Terra and prevent the resurgence of Chaos. Although the mission succeeded, with the warpstorm finally closed, Morvin was lost to the warp, and Uriel's snubbing of his lost friend sent Cleophus into a rage. Following a short skirmish with the Urielans, Cleophus led those loyal to him from Terra towards Necromunda, and with the Galaxy split between the two Regents, the Interregnum began.

Great Scouring
With Molos out of action, the Sol Warpstorm closed, and the Traitor Legions scattered, the forces of the Imperium began their counter-offensive campaign against the forces of Chaos, which would become known as the Great Scouring. Cleophus led those Legions - what remained of them - still loyal to him and took them to the Traitor strongholds in the Segmentum's Ultima and Tempestris; one by one, every cursed world was either reacquired or purged. All the while, Uriel licked his wounds on Terra and led a campaign in the Segmentum's Obscurus and Pacificus. The Herculean would travel to every battlefield, inspiring his troops and ensuring that no ground was lost. Emboldened, the Cleophans took not one step back in their war against chaos.

While the Scouring was a military campaign, Cleophus knew that every world reacquired - as in the Great Crusade - still had to be governed following it's conquest. As such, again he ensured that a plan was drawn up for each world; so that each had an actual future within the Imperium. This would work to his advantage, as unbeknownst to him at that time, every world he liberated would become a bulwark against the power of Uriel during the coming Interregnum.

Twelve Battles of Cadia


As the Scouring drew to a close, the forces of Chaos made stand after stand around the Eye of Terror, in the Cadia Sector. Although the sector remained under the control of Uriel, when the Fortress World of Cadia sent out a distress call, it was the Herculean who answered. While Uriel's forces also participated, it was Cleophus who held firm in his belief that every son of the Imperium was worth fighting for, and that therefore Cadia ought to be defended to the death by the forces of the Imperium. Rallying the local garrison and the remnants of his Legions, they prepared a hasty defence.

Twelve times would the forces of Chaos sally from the Eye of Terror in their attempts to capture Cadia; and twelve times would they be pushed back by the forces of the Imperium. The local garrison and the remnants of the Legions present, emboldened by the presence of their Herculean, fought with untold bravery. When the twelfth attack had been repulsed, no more did Chaos spew from that Eye. After the reavings came to an end, Uriel left the planet without appointing even a governor. Disgusted by Uriel's aloofness, and now indebted to Cleophus, the Cadian Sector swore allegiance to the Regent of Necromunda, much to the chagrin of the High Lords of Terra.

Rebirth of Liakoura
News of his homeworld's destruction at the hand's of Chaos had shattered the heart of the Herculean, for if he was unable to protect his own blood and kin, how could he protect a galaxy? As such, he would make every attempt to rebirth the Planet of the Seers in any way possible, and the most successful of these came during the closing years of the Great Scouring. To his surprise, a number of refugees had survived the fall of Liakoura. A number were off-world when the planet was destroyed, while a greater number had been evacuated prior to the cataclysmic event by the Oracle of Odyssei.

Cleophus tasked these refugees, the last remnants of his culture, with the colonisation of the Ocean World of Grongar IIIV, which he re-christened Parthenon. His Legion also aided in the efforts; for the Brave Companions aimed to make Parthenon their new legionary homeworld. Although the colonisation efforts initially went to plan, it soon became clear as to why Parthenon had been abandoned by it's previous occupants. Beneath the vast oceans of the world was hidden a dark secret, which night after night left more of the planet's denizens dead. In response, Cleophus trained his people in the art of war, and set up an effective guard. The death toll dropped, but did not disappear.