Mettius Veduco

Armorial of the Emperor's Warbringers Chapter.

**Mettius Veduco** is a warrior of the Adeptus Astartes, hailing from the Emperor's Warbringers Chapter and currently serving in the Deathwatch at Watch Fortress Black Bastion.

## History

Mettius Veduco was taken by the Warbringers in 774.M41 at the age of twelve. While his performances in training was mixed, he thrived in the Warbringers' 10th Company, serving as a scout for dozens of campaigns and accumulating many successful missions. After progressing to a Devastator squad, Veduco discovered a knack for observing artillery, air, and missile fires. During a war against Orks in the densely forested equatorial regions of Liugerison, he refined his skills working with Astra Militarum artillery support, even in terrain with restricted sightlines.

Veduco muddled through his time as an Assault marine, relying on his bolt pistol far more than his blade. Upon finally progressing to a Tactical Squad in the 4th Company, he adjusted better and soon proved himself in combat as a full-fledged Warbringer. Scarcely two decades later, the intervention on Murelit brought him into conflict with his superiors. As 4th Company was tasked with eliminating a planetary government discovered to be collaborating with the Tau, company leadership and the Inquisitor who uncovered the threat opted to keep the operation secret from all others. Veduco protested too loudly for one of his station, arguing that they should include local Militarum and Adeptus Arbites assets in order to maximize their odds of success. His superiors ignored him in the name of operational security, and their eventual attack included small fixing attacks against Imperial forces in the capital. The following year, Veduco was transferred to the 10th Company as a sergeant.

Though he took to his duties in reconnaissance and security very well, Veduco faced difficulty learning his role as a mentor to young scouts. He worked best with pupils who were already doing well, to whom he could impart some of his passion for tactics and intelligence gathering, but struggled to encourage those who fell behind. His greatest success came on the Hive World of Varqud, where his scout squad infiltrated alongside spy-serfs in an unusual operation to find a Chaos cult to be uprooted by the Warbringers.

He learned slowly from his peers until the Indomitus Crusade rapidly changed his path. Veduco became an early subject of the Rubicon Primaris and shifted into the role of an Incursor sergeant. Yet he still bristled at senior Warbringers, chiefly on occasions when the chapter avoided using outside Imperial forces for the sake of control. Some time after the Indomitus Crusade, the Emperor's Warbringers sent Mettius Veduco to the Deathwatch. His first assignment after indoctrination was the Black Bastion.

## Appearance

Veduco is a relatively slim Astartes, with a light tan complexion, brown eyes, and plain features. Small dotted scars freckle his left cheek, and other impact wounds mark his limbs and torso. He cuts his hair very short and maintains a clean shave when circumstances allow for personal grooming.

## Personality

Veduco is largely humorless and brusque towards others. He has little patience for dithering or niceties, but respects diligence in the pursuit of one's role, whatever it may be. On missions, he endeavors to be thorough and use every advantage available, though his caution sometimes hits time constraints. Like most of his chapter, he knows that a cool head and a good plan accomplish far more than blind zeal. Others may view his penchant for reconnaissance and thorough planning as wasting time.

Though he does not especially prioritize preserving Imperial lives, Veduco generally respects Imperial fighting forces outside of the Astartes— if nothing else, he respects the capabilities they can bring to bear. This has occasionally brought him into disagreement with superiors who kept operations secret from friendly forces, and is one factor why the Warbringers sent him to the Deathwatch rather than keeping him with the chapter.

## Abilities and Traits

With many decades of experience, Veduco has honed his skills in reconnaissance, security, raiding, and fires to a keen edge. He is adept at moving silently, using shadows and terrain, and choosing routes and positions that mask him from all manner of sensors.

While his swordsmanship is mediocre, he has more practice using combat knives. Veduco is a capable rifle marksman— though not ranking among the Warbringers' top snipers— and a crack shot with pistols. However, personally killing the enemy is often a secondary concern for him. Gathering information is a scout's primary duty, and Veduco pursues it with the proper zeal of an Imperial warrior. He will wait for as long as is necessary to fulfill an information requirement, heedless of discomfort. He uses all means to surveil the enemy, not just his eyes and auspexes but sound and smell too. Veduco takes pride in the precision with which he calls in aerial and artillery fires, able to quickly judge a target's location even with only a compass, protractor, and parchment map. He can adjust artillery fire solely by sound, even in dense and uneven terrain.

Knowing what information his superiors need requires tactical acumen. Like other junior leaders among the Warbringers, Veduco has a broad education in tactics including practical and theoretical experience. His familiarity with many aspects of an operation helps him to find critical insights and make recommendations to higher leaders, such as finding covered and concealed locations for resupply or points where remote mining could force the enemy into an easy killzone.

In addition to maintaining his armor and weapons to a simple degree, Veduco knows the basic rites to keep his auspexes, vox, and datalinks in working condition. His knowledge is nowhere near that of a Techmarine.

## Equipment

### Armour

Veduco most commonly wears Mark X Phobos armour, though he occasionally wears scout armour when a situation requires the utmost stealth. His armour is fitted with a cameleoline cloak, Divinator-class auspex, and laser designator. Additionally, he uses either an omni-scrambler or a servo-skull remotely linked with his armor. On missions that require less subtlety, he often forgoes cameleoline and wears a jump pack instead.

### Used Weapons

Veduco's primary weapon is an Occulus bolt carbine, supplemented by a combat knife and Absolvor bolt pistol. During overt actions, he sometimes uses an auxiliary grenade launcher.

### Munitions

Veduco has basic training in the use of demolition charges and landmines. He uses frag, krak, and smoke grenades, including smoke grenades for signaling. He regularly carries signal flares and chem-lumes.