Tiber Achilus - Origins: The story of Tiber Achilus began thousands of light years from the Jericho Reach and many years before the Imperium's discovery of the Warp Gate that connected the Calixis Sector to the Reach. Born in the Ixaniad Sector on the Hive World of Lordrium, Achilus was a product of a long and noble line of generals and commanders which had served the Ixaniad Sector's lords for centuries.The lexographers of Lordrium however record his birth year as laced with prophecy and portent. It was written that on the day of his birth there was an unanticipated convergence of Lordrium's seven moons and a rolling eclipse that lasted for almost a solar week over the hive city in which he lived.Other signs included sightings of strange visitors to the hive: thin graceful men dressed in robes who never showed their faces and vanished when approached. Strange ships were spotted in orbit, appearing only on the edge of sensor sweeps and disappearing before their existence could be confirmed.These peculiar events however were not associated with the then-infant Achilus, as despite his high birth he was but one of a dozen sons of the Achilus line and merely another spire brat in the eyes of the nobles of Lordrium. As he grew to adulthood, Tiber Achilus began to distinguish himself from his brothers and sisters and live up to the grand legacy of his name.A masterful swordsman and canny tactician, he excelled in the ranks of the Lordrium officer cadre as a cadet, earning a bloody reputation as a duellist even before his second naming day.While his siblings largely succumbed to the vices of nobility and the decadence of their highborn lifestyle, Tiber became even more driven to succeed with each passing year, as if he knew somehow there was a task for which he had been born and which only he could complete.His first taste of combat came during the Redgarvi Ashlander Riots on Lordrium, as a twenty year old officer of the 38th Hive Korlo Planetary Defence Force regiment. As in his previous endeavours, he made a name for himself quickly, securing the hive's central lifters in a series of bloody battles and brutal holding actions against the Redgarvi hordes.For his courage and his skill he was awarded both the Lordrium Silver Shield and a place in the Sector Lord's own personal regiment, the Ixaniad Purebloods.It was over the next forty Terran years in the service of the Purebloods that Tiber Achilus would earn sector-wide reputation, even becoming a known commander in the nearby Scarus and Calixis Sectors for his role in the fringe campaign.These were the years in which he faced the bloodthirsty Khrave, the Sons of the Bleeding Shadow and the Ylarian Collective in the depths of the Halo Stars and on the edge of the Ixaniad Sector.A rising star of the Astra Militarum and stalwart ally of the Imperial Navy, Achilus travelled extensively and made many contacts with the noble houses and prominent Imperial organisations of the region. It was said by those that met the man that he had an air about him, a natural charisma or presence that seemed to call out to those around him and put them at ease.Such was this strange effect he had on both allies and enemies that in the many years he served in the Purebloods, not one of his peers had anything bad to say about him, nor did he seem to make any political foes at all. This feat was remarkable among the Imperial military structure and practically unique among his kind.It was during this period of ascension that one of the more unusual incidents surrounding Achilus occurred. It was while he was campaigning in the Formorian Sector against the Khrave and their allies, cleansing the cursed Sydratie Seven Systems. After defeating a Khrave vanguard fleet around the world of Taryo he made planet-fall with a battalion of Purebloods to clear out any xenos which had escaped the fighting and landed on the world.An uncharted planet, Taryo was a labyrinth of frozen canyons and ice tunnels which forced Achilus to divide his landing party into platoons to find the surviving xenos.After hours of searching, Achilus and the men with him became lost, stumbling into an ancient ruin of strange but familiar architecture. Almost immediately Aeldari pathfinders attacked them and their platoon was cut down in a matter of minutes leaving only Achilus and a few of his troops alive.A secret report from one of these survivors (gathered years later by the Ordo Xenos) recounts what happened next. Apparently even as the leader of the pathfinders loomed over the wounded Achilus to finish him, she seemed to pause, looking closer at the general before turning to her warriors and motioning for them to retreat.Why this occurred was never documented and Achilus never spoke of it, however the eye witnesses swear that when the alien looked at Achilus it seemed to recognise him.