Macer Varren

Macer Varren is a Loyalist World Eater captain who remained steadfastly loyal to the Emperor of Mankind in the midst of the Horus Heresy, an examplar of the Emperor's vision for humanity's champions, surviving the betrayal at Isstvan III and joining the Knights-Errant (who would later become known as the Grey Knights in the future) on a quest for vengeance against the traitor Legions that threatened to plunge humanity into eternal ruin.
Macer Varren was featured in a few works of the Warhammer 40,000 franchise, such as Garro: Legion of One, Garro: Sword of Truth, Vengeful Spirit, Realms of Chaos: Slave to Darkness, The Buried Dagger, and the first edition of the tabletop game Space Marine. Additionally, Varren's visage was purposefully designed to resemble King Leonidas, which was the exact look that James Swallow, the author who created Varren, had wanted.
==History==
===Great Crusade===
In the 31st millennium, the Emperor of Mankind set out in a Great Crusade across the stars, seeking to return a divided, crumbling humanity to its golden age through the Imperium of Man. To accomplish this, the Emperor created many Space Marine Legions, including the XIIth Legion, the World Eaters. The XIIth Legion was commanded by Angron, one of the Primarchs, the Emperor's transhuman sons. Macer Varren, presumably from Bodt, the muster-world of the World Eaters, joined the XIIth and was converted into a transhuman Astartes, better known as a Space Marine. Assigned to the World Eaters 12th Company, Varren soon rose to the rank of captain, becoming a frequent victor in the Legion's gladiatorial training bouts.
Throughout his service, Varren was involved in the most vicious and bloody campaigns of the Great Crusade against the enemies of the Emperor. Indeed, the World Eaters were known for their especially violent tactics, fueled by Angron's Legion-wide implementation of the vile Butcher's Nails, an ancient neural cybernetic that fueled a fury and pain tolerance while slowly eating away at their minds. As such, Varren contributed to his Legion's reputation of bloodshed and fear, having a short temper and a constant desire to prove himself in battle against those who would threaten humanity and the Imperium.
However, despite the prodding of his implants and character of his Legion, Varren possessed a strong code of martial honor, steadfastly holding to his oaths of fealty in a manner atypical of his Legion, even keeping his sanity and integrity as other World Eaters were turned into feral savages by the implant's stimulants. This loyalty to the Emperor and the once-noble values that the Legion was founded on, before the coming of Angron, had Varren targeted for assassination. Unbeknownst to Varren, his Legion was about to become part of a great betrayal that would break the galaxy for millenniums since, forever known as the Horus Heresy.
=== Horus Heresy ===
==== Betrayal ====
Angron, alongside Primarchs Fulgrim, Magnus the Red, Alpharius Omegon, Perturabo, Konrad Curze, Mortarion, Lorgar, and even Warmaster Horus Lupercal, the most favored son of the Emperor, were falling to the sway of Chaos. Rallying under Horus, they prepared to launch a campaign against Terra itself, but first, the Loyalists in their respective Legions had to be purged. As such, the traitor Primarchs deployed to the Isstvan system, supposedly to put down a Slaanesh-fueled rebellion on its planets, but they planned to use the operation as a cover-up for the start of their treason. At Isstvan III, they planned to deploy all their Loyalists onto the surface to destroy the rebels, only to virus-bomb the Loyalists from orbit. While many Loyalists were victim of this betrayal, such as legendary Dreadnought Rylanor, Varren was not sent down to the surface. Rather, before the deployment, Angron sent his personal guards to kill Varren and his company. However, Varren and some of his men escaped after a bloody struggle, commandeering a frigate known as the Daggerline and fleeing the Isstvan system, where he was joined by Loyalists of Fulgrim's Emperor's Children, led by captain Rakatio, who were fleeing the same system. While Varren allowed the Emperor's Children aboard, he became embittered by the betrayal of those he once considered his brothers.
Varren set a course for Terra, and during the perilous journey through the Warp, the Daggerline picked up more crafts of Loyalists as the Horus Heresy erupted around them, such as a group of White Scars Space Marines, led by captain Hakeem, and civilian refugees aboard merchant vessels. The ragtag flotilla of Loyalists eventually reached the Kuiper Belt of the Sol system, where they were halted by other Space Marine forces, ordered to stay put to be investigated for any signs of traitors among them. At the helm of this investigation was Nathaniel Garro, a Death Guard Loyalist who had fled Isstvan III in an extremely similar manner as Varren, but had arrived on Terra quite some time before him, and had now become a Knight-Errant, a Space Marine who answered to Imperial Regent Malcador the Sigillite alone. Alongside fellow Knight-Errant Tylos Rubio, who was a psyker, and Custodes officer Khorarinn, Garro took the battleship Nolandia to meet with Varren, although with orders to fire at the first sign of something amiss.
Varren first made contact with Garro over the vox channel, and while they greeted each other with pleasantries, they were rudely interrupted by Khorarinn, and thus had to wait to meet in person. Once aboard the Daggerline, Garro, Rubio, and Khorarinn met Varren, and were surprised by the presence of the other Loyalists. However, Khorarinn already did not trust Varren, Rakatio, or even Garro for that matter, for each of them were from a traitor Legion, Loyalists or not. The White Scars, on the other hand, were deemed to be Loyalists, and thus Khorarinn harbored no suspicion against them. Varren objected to the Custodian's views and insisted that his companions were no traitors, but Khorarinn ignored him and went about searching the flotilla up and down for signs of treason, even ignoring Varren's pleas to get food and medical supplies for the human refugees aboard, many of whom were in dire need of such amenities.
During the inspection, Rubio's psychic abilities allowed him to discern that something was amiss, before Hakeem informed them that Rakatio was actually a traitor in disguise, despite Varren's claims. Then, one of the flotilla's cargo ships abruptly broke formation, evidently trying to flee, making Khorarinn fire on it and destroy it before Garro or Rubio could intervene. This prompted Garro to meet with Varren in private, where Garro knew that trust was hard to come by, so he tried to approach the situation delicately, only to directly ask Varren who he really trusted. Varren once again vouched for Rakatio, who coincidentally showed up at that moment. However, before the three could further talk about who they trusted were interrupted once more by Khorarinn, who declared that he had evidence of Rakatio's betrayal- namely a security recording showing one of Rakatio's men killing the cargo ship's pilots and purposefully sending it out of formation. Rakatio protested, only to be placed under arrest along with his men. Varren and Garro, unable to stop Khorarinn, asked Rakatio to go peacefully with the Custodes, so that his honor could remain intact and he could receive proper justice, which Rakatio begrudgingly obliged.
Then, Rubio rushed over to Varren and Garro, revealing that he discovered who the real traitors were- Hakeem and his White Scars, who had manipulated the security footage to place the blame on Rakatio. Unfortunately, they were too late to stop Hakeem, who ambushed and killed Khorarinn, Rakatio, and the Emperor's Children. Hakeem then got on the intercom and spun a lie about other 'traitors' who he had to purge, sending the human crew and refugees into panic, making the various flotilla ships start fleeing in many directions. Not knowing what was really going on, the Nolandia crew began firing on the fleeing ships, making Varren, Garro, and Rubio dash to the Daggerline's bridge to warn them, only to find the communications destroyed and the pilots dead. A squad of traitor White Scars then confronted the trio, with Hakeem using the intercom to inform Varren that the rest of Varren's company had been killed. Enraged, Varren attacked the traitors in a berserker frenzy, shrugging off bolter wounds and tearing the White Scars apart with his power sword.
After slaying the traitor White Scar squad, Garro tried to urge Varren to flee, but Varren refused, instead vowing to kill every traitor aboard. When Garro tried to counter that it was worth more to survive, Varren angrily pointed out that Hakeem had always been one step ahead, so he likely blocked every escape route, leaving only the option of fighting their way out. Rubio then pointed the Astartes towards another way out near the ship's interior, where the trio were confronted by Hakeem and his other traitors. Hakeem declared that Horus' victory was inevitable, but Garro reminded him that the White Scars' Primarch, Jaghatai Khan, had remained loyal to the Emperor, along with most of the Legion. When Hakeem tried to imply that the situation would change, Varren charged forth and battled Hakeem alongside Garro, cutting one of Hakeem's eyes out. Hakeem retreated and tried to have all his soldiers fire on the Loyalists, but Rubio then activated what he had been seeking- Khorarinn's personal teleport homer, which was located in the room, teleporting the three Loyalists back to the Nolandia.
Once on the Nolandia, they ordered the crew to stop firing on the refugees, instead turning their weapons on the Daggerline. Garro hesitated for a moment, wanting to leave the fate of the traitors to Varren, but Varren ordered the traitors destroyed before Garro could make the offer, killing Hakeem and the traitorous White Scars.
==== Knights-Errant ====
The survivors of the ill-fated flotilla, including Varren, were then taken to Luna, the moon of Terra. On Luna, Varren, still hungering for righteous vengeance, asked to join the Knights-Errant alongside Garro and Rubio, even having his power armor repainted into the plain grey of the Knights. Garro informed Varren that their tasks would be more covert, making Varren hesitant, for he wished to face his former brethren in the thick of battle. However, Varren reluctantly accepted the new commission, joining the Knights-Errant.
Now in the service of Malcador the Sigillite, Varren accompanied his new battle-brothers on missions to recruit more Loyalist Space Marines. One such mission led the trio back to Isstvan III, the very world where the Horus Heresy began, now a dead world in the wake of the virus bombing. However, it was discovered that Garviel Loken, former officer of Horus' Luna Wolves, had somehow survived the betrayal and was still alive on Isstvan III, and the Knights-Errant were sent to recruit him. Varren landed on the world with Garro and Rubio, finding the planet overrun with Daemonhosts and Plague Zombies, some of whom pretended to be civilian survivors and spoke of a "monster" hunting them. It did not take long for the Knights to discover that the monster was none other than Loken, who had gone mad and lost his memory, and saw the Knights-Errant as more traitors. Loken soon attacked the trio, and during the battle, Varren urged Garro not to endanger the "civilians" nearby, still unaware of their true nature. Loken then escaped, and Garro, feeling that Loken's mind was broken beyond repair, wanted to put him out of his misery. Varren objected, arguing that they had lost too many of their brothers.
The "civilians" then turned on the Astartes, only for Loken to return, helping them kill the zombies before turning on the trio again. However, Garro, inspired by Varren's words, managed to get through to Loken and reawaken Loken's memories, restoring his sanity. With that, Loken joined the Knights-Errant, completing its command membership.
With Loken now in their ranks, the Knights-Errant returned to Luna, where they would receive new missions from Malcador the Sigillite. However, while Varren's exact whereabouts during these missions is unknown, it is known that he sometimes worked apart from Garro.
==== Siege of Terra ====
During the final days of the Horus Heresy, Horus' fleet was rapidly approaching Terra, their Chaos corruption causing Daemon infestations to break out on Terra itself. As such, the Knights-Errant were deployed to put them down. Varren accompanied Garro, Rubio, and Loken throughout several cities as they fought through the encroaching hordes of daemons, and on a techno-nomad settlement known as the Walking City, Varren encountered a Greater Daemon known as the Lord of Flies, a creation of the Chaos God Nurgle, which manifested as a swarm of plague-bearing flies. Varren and his companions managed to destroy the plague flies, and the mass infestation of Plague Zombies spawned by it, before being summoned to the White Mountain by Malcador himself.
The White Mountain was a subterranean fortress holding quarantined members of the Sisters of Silence, who had previously been captured by traitor forces and had unknown experiments performed on them. The traitors used the afflicted Sisters of Silence to implant a subconscious psychic command in Tylos Rubio, whose mind was promptly taken over and used to attack Malcador, who was present at the site. At the same time, Chaos cultists attacked the fortress, accompanied by the Lord of Flies in a new swarm of plague flies. As Malcador dealt with Rubio, managing to narrowly use his own psychic abilities to free Rubio from the Chaos control, Varren fought the incoming enemies alongside Garro and Loken. However, as they slaughtered the cultists, the Lord of Flies engaged Varren and mortally wounded him, allowing it to take Varren's body as a host. Varren's body began to warp in the daemon's control, but then Loken stepped forth and ordered Varren to remember who he was, and the friendship he had forged with the Knights-Errant. Varren's mind awoke at Loken's words, making Varren use his sheer willpower to overpower the Lord of Flies, choosing to die than let a daemon control him. As such, he ripped several grenades off of Loken's armor and detonated them on himself, obliterating Varren's body before he could be fully possessed. Robbed of a host, the Lord of Flies then had its hold on realspace severed by Malcador, burning its remaining flies to ash.
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