Trajann Valoris - History: The office of Captain-General is one of the most powerful military appointments in the Imperium of Man. It confers full responsibility for the overall defence of the Sol System, Terra, the Imperial Palace and -- ultimately -- the Golden Throne and the Emperor Himself.The Captain-General is the master of the Adeptus Custodes, and, on many occasions during Imperial history, has stood amongst the ranks of the High Lords of Terra. He is further charged with leading the greatest military campaigns fought by the Ten Thousand, and must display a degree of warrior prowess that approaches that of the Primarchs of old.In the millennia since the Great Crusade, there have been just seventeen incumbents of this weighty mantle. Most have died in battle, either on the holy soil of Terra or whilst leading crucial campaigns amidst the stars. Several have become Eyes of the Emperor, while three -- including Constantin Valdor himself, the first and greatest of their number -- simply vanished, their disappearances wreathed in mystery even amongst their own comrades.The current Captain-General is Trajann Valoris. Many claim that he is the greatest warrior to hold the title since the Emperor bestrode the stars. Within his first solar decade of service, Valoris ran not just one, but two successful Blood Games, a record that remains unbroken.With his remarkable grasp of battlefield strategy and his naturally aggressive streak he earned a place for himself amongst the Allarus Custodians.There, Valoris won many names from deeds such as the destruction of the Space Hulk Mournful Siren, the defeat of the Genestealer Cult of the Emperor's Writhing Shadow, and his spearheading of the preemptive strike against WAAAGH! Krushfist.If Valoris showed a weakness, it was his reluctance to stand back and wait for his enemies to come to him. He lasted only twenty-two Terran years amongst the Companions before his desire to participate in a more proactive strategy of defence saw him reassigned.He gained the rank of Shield-Captain soon afterwards, and spent several standard centuries leading sorties against emergent threats throughout the Sol System and beyond. Valoris became well known for his tendency to observe his enemies carefully, predict their movements, then deliver a sudden and decisive blow.He cultivated networks of agents and informers across the Segmentum Solar, and even further out into the wider Imperium. Valoris recognised his own proclivity for aggressive action, and took constant steps to temper it with comprehensive foreknowledge. Thus his strikes always fell where they should, and no comrade was ever lost to reckless commands.Though the Captain-General of the Adeptus Custodes traditionally served among the High Lords of Terra only under the most dire of circumstances, such as during the War of the Beast in the mid-32nd Millennium, it was only the persistence of Lev Tieron, the Chancellor of the Senatorum Imperialis at the time of the 13th Black Crusade in 999.M41, that persuaded Valoris to assume the seat among the High Lords that had been left vacant for some time following the death of Lord Brach, the Chancellor of the Estate Imperium.It was the Chancellor's hope that Valoris would agree to serve as one of the High Lords, which would swing the vote to abolish the Lex Imperialis -- the binding legal code of the Imperium -- and allow for the Adeptus Custodes to finally leave Terra en masse, in order to take the fight to the Forces of Chaos.Trajann Valoris has proven a dynamic and effective Captain-General. Under his rule the number of Blood Games has increased tenfold, the defences of the stable Warp routes into the Sol System have been strengthened, and long-hidden cults have been purged from the Terran underhives.Little escapes the eyes of his ever expanding spy network and, armed with the certainty of the truly righteous, his covert strikes have annihilated dozens of threats to the Golden Throne.It was as if Valoris had foreseen Primarch Roboute Guilliman's return and the formation of the Great Rift long before they came, and laid all the groundwork required for the Adeptus Custodes to adapt to the new Imperium.Perhaps, some whispered, the half-understood power of the Moment Shackle, the unusual artefact of the Age of Technology that he wore at his belt, allowed him to do just that. Whatever the case, the Captain-General's many qualities make him ideally suited to lead in this age of unprecedented aggression.Following the destruction of the Fortress World of Cadia and the formation of the galaxy-wide Warp rift known as the Great Rift, a bow wave of the Immaterium swept over the worlds of the Sol System, including the Throneworld itself.This allowed a large host of Khornate Daemons to burst through the skein of reality to assail Terra itself, in a conflict that came to be known as the Battle of Lion's Gate or informally as the Second Battle of Terra.Enacting their Catastrophe Protocols, Valoris acted as the overall commander of the Imperial forces charged with the defence of the Imperial Palace. The Captain-General personally led a charge of four-thousand Custodians from the Lion's Gate to meet the invaders.They fought alongside the resurrected Primarch Guilliman and his forces, newly arrived from Luna in the wake of the Terran Crusade, and successfully managed to blunt the Blood God's attempts at striking the heart of the Imperium.Following this dire campaign, the High Lords voted to suspend the dictates of the Lex Imperialis, which allowed the Adeptus Custodes to sally forth from the Throneworld, to take part in Guilliman's subsequent Indomitus Crusade, and to take the fight directly to the servants of the Ruinous Powers.At the Battle of Gathalamor during the crusade, Valoris led a combined force of Custodians and Grey Knights under the command of Grand Master Aldrik Voldus against the Word Bearers Heretic Astartes and their summoned Daemon allies to cleanse that sacred Cardinal World of the Ecclesiarchy of the Chaos taint.