Atticus Tarquinius

"*I know my mission. My weapon knows it too. Purge*"
—Atticus Tarquinius
**Atticus Tarquinius** is an adaptive Tactical Marine hailing from the proud and mighty Ultramarines chapter. Born poor on a backwater world in Ultramar, he ascended to astarteshood and has served the imperium and chapter as a tactical marine. After a mission against the vile xenos race known as the Rak'Gol he has been sent to the Deathwatch where he dutifully serves in the name of the Emperor, Guilliman and Humanity as part of the Ordo Xenos chamber militant.

## History

### Beginnings

Born on an unnamed world located within the mighty realm of Ultramar with the name Atticus was born being known only to him. During his time on this backwater world, Atticus learned the value of many things. He also learned that he was better taking orders than giving them. He became used to the sight of death on this world but after his family was murdered he became vengeful. Tracking down the killers, he used an old autopistol and a knife to end the lives of the gang that thought it clever to slaughter the future Ultramarine's family. Around this time Ultramarine recruiters arrived on the world and took the young human with them to train him into the astartes who would become known as Atticus Tarquinius.

Quickly pssing astartes ascension trials, Atticus was initiated as a scout into the Ultramarine's 10th company. He served in this company for a total of 5 solar years where he partook in a campaign against an ork WAAAGH upon a forgeworld. During this he encountered and learned of several ork warmachines, tactics and battle strategy. These skills made him a viable candidiate to ascend to the rank of a full astartes claiming his black carapace by the end of the campaign.

### Evolving Skills

As a tactical marine, Atticus learned to never grow too attached with his weapon as he would often have his run out of ammo causing him to find alternative weapons of war. This caught the eye of his comany captain who placed him under training of a variety of weaponry in order to improve his skills. This was an enjoyable experience for Tarquinius who found he had skill with all types of weapon be it pistol, rifles, special weapons or heavy weapons. This was best shown during a covert war against a genestealler cult where he used a total of five seperate weapons throughout the campaign. Eventually, he found a boltgun is most reliable and began to utilise bolt weaponry above other variants.

### The Codex

Within his home chapter, Atticus became aware of the effect the codex astartes had on the doctrine and mindset of his brothers. It had been both a blessing and curse to him in operations however it always provided hope and that is something he could always rely upon. During an ambush by drukhari raiders he saw the effect the praise of the codex by his brothers has upon the guardsman allies which he found curious despite slaughtering several drukhari as he did so.

After this, he requested a copy so that he may analyse the contents of the tome to achieve a better understanding of the tactics that existed within it. This further improved his tactical skills as well as he recalled weaknesses of certain foes that were found within the book that he put to good use alongside his own knowledge. Drukhari were fast but a timed swung of his power armoured gauntlet could decapitate one easily, Orks may be strong but a well placed bolt shell deal with them quickly enough, Tau may be powerful from afar but up close they are no threat.

Along with research into the codex, Atticus researched the firearms of the many empires within the galaxy. His research taught him several aspects of the guns used by main xenos empires such as the Craftworld Eldar, Tau Empire and Drukhari. This research made him a valuable asset for his company as he could identify the strengths and weaknesses of enemy firearms from a simple glance or observation of the opposing forces.

### Rak'gol

After a lengthy and draining campaign against the cold and merciless xenos race known as the Necrons, the fleet Atticus was a part of came under attack from the ruthless alien race known as the Rak'gol. Despite using primitive means to fuel their ships, they put up a fearsome fight and slew countless imperials. Though Atticus slew several Rak'gol by disabling their weapons before finishing them off with a shot to the head. During ths conflict, half of Tarquinius' squad were slaughtered as they were ambushed by hordes of the foul xenos. This fuelled the astartes with rage as the Rak'Gol ambush quickly turned into Imperial favour.

Boarding their ships, the Ultramarines gutted the xenos forces slaughtering them to the last man. The Rak'gol leader was slain by Atticus' own hand as he used a meltagun to vaporise the xenos commander's head with a hiss. Wounded and battered, Atticus returned to Macragge were he requested transfer to the Deathwatch so that he may better his skills at slaughtering the vile xenos races that inhabit the darkest reaches of the galaxy.

After his request to join the Deathwatch, Atticus bid farewell to his squad before departing. During his journey to the Watch Fortress known as the Black Bastion, he began to research the various xenos species he would likely be sent agaist: tyranids, orks, eldar, necrons, votann and tau were among the most researched due to their power within the galaxy.

## Appearance

Despite having seen several wars, Atticus has retained a face without any noticeable battle scars. His skin is white with black hair cut short around his scalp. When he is not in battle he can be seen wearing a humble shirt and trousers making his clothing choices seem rather odd compared to other astartes.

Atticus uses MKVII power armour with an aquila that has the head replaced with the icon of his home chapter. His helmet is also MKVII though it has an aim assist modification attached to the left lense. The armour also has pouches attached to it from the top to bottom of his chestplate

## Personality

Atticus is a calm man who often stays in such a manner outside of conflict. However in conflict, he is known to have a very aggressive style of warfare (especially when it comes to killing opponents). This other side of Atticus has been investigated by a chaplain but no negative effects were discovered.

## Abilities and Traits

Atticus has an extensive knowledge of several topics relating to the firearms of empires and species that exist within the galaxy. This has made him a fearsome opponent and useful asset for his allies as he can quickly uncover weapon strengths and how to exploit weapon weaknesses. One notable case of Tarquinius using this skill was to disable a heavy bolter of a traitor space marine. He used a knife to disable the firing mechanism before tearing it out the traitor's hands to open them up for a killing shot with a bolt pistol.

## Equipment

MKVII 'aquila' power armour

Bolter

Bolt Pistol

Plasma Pistol

Frag Grenades

## Relations

### Allies

* **Ultramarines**

As part of the Ultramarines, Atticus maintains positive relations with his home chapter despite being so far from his home system