Cypher - A Nemesis Unveiled: The Dark Angels believe it is their duty –- their penance –- to track down their treacherous brethren. So long as a single member of the Fallen remains alive and unrepentant, the Dark Angels would refer to themselves as the Unforgiven. This held true even as their proud Legion underwent the dismantling process imposed on all loyalist Space Marines in the wake of the Horus Heresy known as the Second Founding. Across the Imperium, it is no longer known exactly how many successor Chapters were made from the existent Legions. Although many of those newly created organisations still exist, some have since been destroyed, and others have lost their records and history over ages of war and turmoil. This is a convenience which the Dark Angels have taken advantage of, for by claiming their records were damaged in a plasma reactor overload as they outfitted the Rock, they could veil a fraction of their past. It was another lie, for the Dark Angels destroyed those records themselves.The Dark Angels are aware of the scrutiny they are under for the close relationship shared by their many Chapters, but there is another matter that they wish to keep from being uncovered: the loss of the last of the Second Founding Chapters created from the Dark Angels gene-seed, the ill-fated Lions Sable. Of that time, the Unforgiven do not speak. It was one of their first encounters with the one who was named Cypher, and the history of the long campaign that is referred to as the Forgotten Wars is known only to the highest of the Inner Circle. It was only at the end of this gruelling series of hunts and battles that many came to the realisation that Cypher was something more dangerous than just another of their Fallen brethren.It began innocently enough. While in pursuit of the remnants of an Ork fleet, elements of the Angels of Vengeance entered the Gothic Sector. Under the guise of scanning for remnants of the greenskin fleet they had been commanded to destroy, the Angels of Vengeance searched for clues that might lead them to any Fallen. This was standard procedure for all Unforgiven Chapters –- to pursue their secret goals whilst ostensibly following mission edicts as passed down from the Lords of Terra. Gathering long-range scans and widely collected reports, the Angels of Vengeance Strike Cruiser uncovered nothing untoward save for an encrypted signal beamed from the mining world of Lemnos. Once decoded, the message described exactly what the Unforgiven were seeking. The world of Lemnos was embroiled in a bitter war over mining rights –- a battle of greed, rather than ideology. As Imperial tithes were met, there were no orders to intervene, and the matter was to be left for the planetary governor to handle. Rival noble factions were using private armies to enforce their ownership over the richest veins of mineral wealth. It was of these battles that the signal spoke. The mysterious message was sent in one of the older battle codes used by the Dark Angels and provided just the kind of clues that fit the modus operandi of one of the Fallen.According to the message, the leader of one of the mercenary warbands fighting on Lemnos was turning the tide of battle almost single-handedly. He also fought in what seemed to be an old mark of power armour. Hiding the signs of extensive genetic modification is not easy, and the Unforgiven are trained to investigate legends of humans with superior abilities. On the most promising trails, the Unforgiven will attempt to get one of their Librarians close to the quarry, for they can employ the most damning method of testing. At close ranges, Librarians from the Unforgiven Chapters can pick up the unique psychic signatures of those who bear traces of their shared Primarch. Even the most spliced or tainted gene-seed of Lion El'Jonson emits a distinct signal powerful enough to detect. This is not a foolproof method, as such readings can vary due to Warp flux or be blocked by psychic dampeners. Also, not all the Fallen bear the Legion's pure gene-seed. When the First Legion reached Caliban and reunited with their Primarch, they accepted many members of the Order into their ranks. Those young enough to survive the ordeal received the full gene-seed implant, while others –- like the arch-traitor Luther -– were otherwise augmented into elite soldiers.In the Lemnos case, the Librarians reported multiple readings. The original target –- a towering man known as "the Mauler" -– had raised alarms with his superhuman feats of strength in battle. When subjected to a remote psychic probe by an Angels of Vengeance Librarian, the telltale signs of someone bearing Dark Angels Legion gene-seed appeared. Terminators from the Angels of Vengeance 1st Company were sent in to apprehend him. There were, however, other readings picked up from the vicinity as well. One of these signals flickered –- a phenomenon associated with Warp storms, although none were reported at that time. This was the first recorded encounter with the unique signals that would later be associated with Cypher. Whether he had been there first and brought in another Fallen or was working with the Mauler from the beginning is not known.The strike team was successful in capturing the Mauler, although in doing so, they sustained high casualties. As the Terminators closed upon the surprised mercenary band, there was one amongst their number who shot his way out. At the time, neither the robed stranger, his unusually lethal pistol shots, nor his subsequent escape and disappearance were the known trademark that they have since become. At the time, it was merely noted that the loss of so many Angels of Vengeance Terminators seemed out of place. The veteran warriors in their nigh-impervious armour rarely fell in battle, and when they did, it was to titanic weaponry or some mighty champion, not a rogue soldier from an outlaw band of third-rate mercenaries.As the Rock was in an adjoining sector, it was not long before the Mauler was secured in its deep dungeons. Persuaded by the harsh methods of the Interrogator-Chaplains and the relentless mind-probes of the Librarians, the Mauler eventually revealed that he had been known by another, older name. Here was Brother Sytrx, a Dark Angel returned to the fold. Before finally recanting and being relieved of the burden of living, Sytrx revealed more. He named a dozen of the Fallen that he had seen in the sector. Elements from the Angels of Vengeance, the Dark Angels and the Lions Sable followed these trails. Each stop along this new journey -– from planetfalls to the boarding of a derelict hulk floating in the midst of deep space, led the Unforgiven towards still further clues. At each point, some new revelation was ascertained. As each new scrap of information was reported back to the Rock, a larger and more sinister plot was slowly revealed.Originally, the Unforgiven had begun their mission seeking only to apprehend individuals. What was revealed was a corruption spread through six systems of the Gothic Sector. Running through the collusions and inter-planetary trysts was a coherent and sinister thread that bore many of the hallmarks of an elaborate plot by the Alpha Legion –- although that group of traitors had, at the time, erroneously been declared destroyed by the Inquisition. Weaving through the clues and criss-crossing trail of evidence scattered across the Gothic Sector was the individual with whom Dark Angels Librarians had a fast-growing obsession –- the one called Cypher.Sometimes, the cowled figure produced the psychic signature of a Fallen, evincing the blood of their Primarch, the Lion. At other times, however, the mental probes of the Librarians could detect nothing save for a brief flickering of that signal, as if it were overtaken by some other being. Prolonged searches discovered something new –- a hollow, null void, a cold emptiness that moved through the Immaterium like a shadow left behind by Cypher. His apparent ability to mask himself has since been observed many times, but whether it comes from innate psychic powers or some unknown artefact has never been determined. The chase for Cypher stretched from years into decades, until it came to a grinding halt when the trail led to the densely populated world of Brigia. It had been determined that the commander of the Planetary Defence Force –- Grand Captain Tylius –- was most probably one of their Fallen brethren. He had certainly been in recent contact with Cypher. As if he had been forewarned that he was being hunted, the Grand Captain was wary. He remained within Brigia's most formidable fortress system, an entire army acting as his personal bodyguard.With his forces spread thin across the Gothic Sector, Purson, the Supreme Grand Master of the Dark Angels, gathered all the Unforgiven within range. At the time, the Angels of Absolution were to the galactic east and could send no aid -– however, the Angels of Redemption and the Lions Sable answered the summons. The Space Marines descended from Lion El'Jonson have always been known for their well-crafted and flawless war plans, and the assault upon Brigia's best-defended fortress was no different. With precision timing and deadly accuracy, the Unforgiven made headway through the outermost defences, working their way inwards. They were poised for the second phase of the operation –- a final attack on the central keep where Grand Captain Tylius was hidden -– when the unexpected happened.There were two factors that Supreme Grand Master Purson had not anticipated. First, a new target of opportunity appeared on the battlefield – Cypher. The Unforgiven had followed his trail for so long and had been so frustrated by his escape at every juncture that all efforts shifted from the battle and Tylius to apprehending Cypher. His appearance in the trench line immediately drew in Purson's Terminator reserves, as they teleported in an attempt to surround their quarry. Grand Captain Tylius was a cunning tactician, however, and he chose this moment to release his hitherto unsuspected reserve force. A large formation of Chaos Space Marine Terminators teleported to aid his fortress defence, while mobs of Cultists were called up from the nearby population centres. Tylius was indeed a Fallen, and he had made a fell pact, fully immersing himself in a labyrinthine Alpha Legion scheme. This was nothing like the previous covert or skirmish actions the Unforgiven had engaged in throughout the Gothic Sector. The war that erupted over the fortified bunkers was intense, prolonged and destructive.As the Unforgiven attempted to flush out their prize, Cypher made good his escape before the Deathwing could reach him. Soon, the Unforgiven were too hard-pressed to follow, as the heavily armoured Dark Angels clashed with their traitorous kin, trading titanic blows. Although the fight was fierce, and their quarry had likely already fled, the Unforgiven Chapters did not retreat. Notoriously stubborn-minded, the true Sons of the Lion mowed down the Cultist hordes as they swept forward. The clash of Terminators was at first evenly matched, but the Unforgiven were driven by righteous fury, and in the end that proved decisive. Eventually, the last squad of debased enemies was taken out by a single, well-placed burst of energy from a Land Speeder Vengeance's Plasma Storm Battery. Only then could the Unforgiven return to the pursuit of Cypher and the final stronghold assault to prise out Tylius. Both ventures proved too late –- for Cypher and Tylius had made good their escape.