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TALES OF THE UNMARKED THE SHADOW CRUSADE, IMPERIUM SECUNDUS, AND THE LONG MARCH TO TERRA "The death of hope itself is perhaps the greatest tragedy in the wake of Horus' ambition. For the briefest of moments, humanity grasped its true destiny. The blood we had spilled, the worlds we had burned, the brothers we had lost - all of it and more - vindicated. We could have elevated the species above ignorance, superstition, and the day-to-day drudgery of mere survival. Scholars may point to Isstvan, Calth, or Terra herself as where Mankind's hopes died. Those of us who had fought through those blood-soaked days know better. Mankind's hopes died, one by one, with each shell fired at an erstwhile brother and with each Legion blade shattered upon Legion ceramite. Every life trampled beneath the thunderous footfall of the Legiones Astartes was a life wasted, never to see its full potential realized." - From the memoirs of Publius Strabo, Centurion, XIII Legion "Let us make war, for evidently, you have found peace intolerable." - Scipio, Ancient Romanii War-Sage "Man proposes, God disposes." - Tomas a Kempis, Jermanic Ecclesiastic, M2 Publius Strabo, Centurion, 114th Company, XIII Legion Ultramarines Arrayed in his heavily modified panoply (retroactively designated Mark V "Heresy") as seen in this pict-capture, then-Lieutenant Strabo had been a talented junior officer whose potential might have one day seen him rise to company command. However, this future was not to pass - Strabo was wounded almost unto death in a furious but ultimately futile boarding action against Eldar raiders some three decades prior to the outbreak of the Horus Heresy. Narrowly avoiding internment in a Dreadnought shell, Strabo returned to the ranks after undergoing extensive augmetic rebuild. Quietly sidelined, a bitter Strabo shunned the company of most of his Legion brothers and bent his mind towards technological mastery instead. By 007.M31, Strabo had attained the rank of Centurion (centurio immunes*) within the 114th Company, contenting himself with commanding Legion-bonded war-automata instead of Legionaries. Strabo would survive the fires of the Horus Heresy. His memoirs, penned after the Scouring, would form the basis of this record. Panoply of War: Centurion Strabo's armor was constructed from elements of the "Iron", "Maximus", and "Corvus" patterns of Legiones Astartes armor. At the time of this pict-capture, such a hybridized suit was a rarity in the XIII Legion. Therefore, Strabo most likely performed extensive modifications upon his own armor. Beyond standard Legion-issue battlefield command and control equipment such as the cognis-signum and the nuncio-vox, Strabo's armor was also equipped with an advanced vox disruptor array for engaging the enemy in electronic warfare. The reinforced "Mantilla" pattern helm incorporated an artificer-wrought augury scanner. Such a suite of sophisticated equipment allowed Strabo to function as Praevian and Master of Signal both. *XIII Legion title referring to specialist officers whose normal duties did not involve line command.