Julius Atalan

A Commander from the days of the Dark Watchers, Julius was but an initiate when the legion took Luna, surviving his first battle and beginning his rise through the ranks, quickly selected to serve as a Commander as the legion finally left the light of Sol to join the Great Crusade, now retrained under the watchful eyes of the Saturnine Ordo’s. When the Ring was found, Julius was considered second only to Varinius Rampt himself in terms of seniority and experience, though some would always whisper that he was forever a Line Officer, not suited for senior command like Varinius displayed, though those who did never said it loudly, and never in his presence.

Unsurprisingly for such a seasoned warrior, Julius took it personally when Crikon Hanfer, and not he, was chosen for the position of Lord Commander, despite Crikon’s age and recent addition to the Legion from The Ring, and the enmity still exists today. No matter his feelings however, Julius keeps his thoughts on the matter to himself, trusting in his Primarch’s reasoning as the ever dutiful son.

Alongside Varinius, Julius was also the only other Terran to serve upon Shaaa’s Syriac council for long, and serves as one of the most crucial parts of the organisation, serving as the most critical member of Shaaa’s usual actions, acting as a foil to the Breacher Lord. Unlike another however, Julius knows that there is a limit to what Shaaa will allow amongst his advisors, and Julius has learned when to protest, and when to simply hold his tongue in his lord's presence, ensuring he keeps his position upon the council.

A crack shot, even by Legionary standards, Julius eschews the use of a boarding shield in all but the heaviest of fighting, instead wielding a pair of ancient archeotech pistols, trusting his artificer armour to keep him safe, not that he needs it however. Julius does not subscribe to the ways of the IVth in making thicker and heavier armour to keep themselves safe from enemy fire, disliking the idea of merely weather the storm, and instead cutting his armours weight to increase his speed, for the best armour is one that never has to take a single blow. In combat he seems to dance across the battlefield, spinning and twisting his body around shot and sword, sending off single crisp shots with his own pistols, their deadly touches a fatal and final kiss delivered from afar.

Julius would continue to serve the legion for centuries, surviving the apparent worst the universe could throw at him. Even he was not immune to the ravages of war however, no matter how much he raged and fought against them. During the First Solar War, Julius was placed in command of the Uranin Line, entrusted with one of the most vital defencive footholds of the Solar Guardian Array, and one he held for close to a month even as the Elysian Gate itself fell in a matter of hours. His last combat however was in the light of Sol itself, moving with the IVth to defend the star against the renegade Light Bringers. First designated as third in command behind Shaaa and Crikon, then moving up when Shaaa fell to Abner's assault, and finally achieving total command when Crikon likewise fell, Julius took it upon himself to lead the final defence of the crippled *Bastion*, holding the vessel as it strained to push the equally inert form of the *Monad*. As the two gargantuan ships plunged into the heart of the sun, Julius was reportedly bleeding, but very much still alive, greeting his final end with a grim determination and a laugh escaping from his burning lungs in the way only a Dark Watcher could. He ensured the IVth legion could stand tall with the knowledge that their name was no empty boast, but a cold fact, for they had guarded the very stars themselves, and had not been found wanting.

## *Mortality* and *Lamanet*

*Mortality* and *Lament* are the twin pistols which Julius has used since before the time of the Great Crusade, having emerged from the hell of the Assault on the Tempest Galleries with both weapons in his hands, well used in the underground darkness. Resembling strangely proportioned pistols, the twin pistols are nearly identical, save for a single different rune carved into both of their outer casings, the runes glowing a strange, sickly green, and baring a striking resemblance to runes found in the Noctis Labrynthus of Mars. When the weapons fire, they do so by unleashing a green-tinged blast of lightning-like energy that shears apart the target's atomic bonds, literally stripping their bodies apart atom by atom and molecule by molecule, flesh, bone or armour making little difference to them

The Imperium of Man and especially the Mechanicum is confounded by the nature of the energy used by these weapons, not only because the blasts can cause great harm to even the most advanced vehicles despite being fired from naught but a pistol, but also because by all the physical principles known, these weapons should overheat and malfunction as a result of the tremendous energies they unleash, destroying Julius every time he fires them. The fact that Julius still lives, and has wielded the weapons to deadly effect for over two centuries, shows that these weapons do not care for the current understanding or lack thereof of the Mechanicum.