After alluding capture for decades, Cypher appears on the Battlefield causing Purson to shift attention from Captain Tylius to apprehending Cypher.
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Originally, the Unforgiven had begun their mission seeking only to apprehend individuals. What was revealed was a corruption spread through six systems of the Gothic Sector. Running through the collusions and inter-planetary trysts was a coherent and sinister thread that bore many of the hallmarks of an elaborate plot by the Alpha Legion – although that group of traitors had, at the time, erroneously been declared destroyed by the Inquisition. Weaving through the clues and criss-crossing trail of evidence scattered across the Gothic Sector was the individual with whom Dark Angels Librarians had a fast-growing obsession – the one called Cypher.
Sometimes, the cowled figure produced the psychic signature of a Fallen, evincing the blood of their Primarch, the Lion. At other times, however, the mental probes of the Librarians could detect nothing save for a brief flickering of that signal, as if it were overtaken by some other being. Prolonged searches discovered something new – a hollow, null void, a cold emptiness that moved through the Immaterium like a shadow left behind by Cypher. His apparent ability to mask himself has since been observed many times, but whether it comes from innate psychic powers or some unknown artifact has never been determined.
Thus far, the Dark Angels and Angels of Vengeance had accomplished much deploying strike teams ranging in size from a few squads to a full company or more. This allowed them to continue their secret missions while still fulfilling all obligations assigned by the High Lords of Terra. However, the chase for Cypher stretched from years into decades, until it came to a grinding halt when the trail led to the densely populated world of Brigia. It had been determined that the commander of the planetary defence force – Grand Captain Tylius – was most probably one of their Fallen brethren. He had certainly been in recent contact with Cypher. As if he had been forewarned that he was being hunted, the Grand Captain was wary. He remained within Brigia’s most formidable fortress system, an entire army acting as his personal bodyguard.
With his forces spread thin across the Gothic Sector, Purson, the Dark Angels Supreme Grand Master, gathered all the Unforgiven within range. At the time, the Angels of Absolution were to the galactic east and could send no aid – however, the Angels of Redemption and the Lions Sable answered the summons. Well-timed Drop Pod assaults swiftly deployed troops and bunker-busting Dreadnoughts. Lance strikes from Land Speeder formations kept the foes on the ramparts down and eliminated key bunker-mounted gun turrets. With precision timing and deadly accuracy, the Unforgiven made headway through the outermost defences, working their way inwards. They were poised for the second phase of the operation – a final attack on the central keep where Grand Captain Tylius was hidden – when the unexpected happened.
There were two factors that Supreme Grand Master Purson had not anticipated. First, a new target of opportunity appeared on the battlefield – Cypher. The Unforgiven had followed his trail for so long and ‘had been so frustrated by his escape at every juncture that all efforts shifted from the battle and Tylius to apprehending Cypher. His appearance in the trench line immediately drew in Purson’s Terminator reserves, as they teleported in an attempt to surround their quarry. Grand Captain Tylius was a cunning tactician, however, and he chose this moment to release his hitherto unsuspected reserve force. A large formation of Chaos Space Marine Terminators teleported to aid his fortress defence, while mobs of Cultists were called up from the nearby population centers. Tylius was indeed a Fallen, and he had made a fell pact, fully immersing himself in a labyrinthine Alpha Legion scheme. This was nothing like the previous covert or skirmish actions the Unforgiven had engaged in throughout the Gothic Sector. The war that erupted over the fortified bunkers was intense, prolonged and destructive.
Cypher moved across the battlefield with speed and surety. It was difficult to track him in the maze of trenches and if not for the Land Speeders that zoomed overhead, they would have lost him or mistaken which of the many bunkers he had blasted into to gain temporary refuge. Again and again the Unforgiven flushed out their prize prey – a running battle in the midst of the raging conflagration that raged all around them. With his twin pistols, the robed warrior blasted a hole through the defenders of Brigia and kept just ahead of his pursuers. As stitched patterns of twin-linked bolter fire blazed all around him, Cypher reached a blast door that opened into an underground complex below. Using his plasma pistol on its maximum setting, the elusive Fallen melted through the reinforced plasteel and disappeared into the tunnels before the nearest squad of Deathwing could reach him. Even as chainfists widened the hole in the blast door so that they could follow, the Chaos Terminators launched their counter-attack. Soon, the Unforgiven were too hard-pressed to follow, as the heavily armoured Dark Angels clashed with their traitorous kin, trading titanic blows. Although the fight was fierce, and their quarry had likely already fled, the Unforgiven Chapters did not retreat.
Notoriously stubborn-minded, the true Sons of the Lion mowed down the Cultist hordes as they swept forward. The clash of Terminators was at first evenly matched, but the Unforgiven were driven by righteous fury, and in the end that proved decisive. Eventually, the last squad of debased enemies was taken out by a single, well-placed burst of energy from a Land Speeder Vengeance’s plasma storm battery. Only then could the Unforgiven return to the pursuit of Cypher and the final stronghold assault to pry out Tylius. Both ventures proved too late – for Cypher and Tylius had made good their escape.
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About the Author: Zeb Barrett
