Uriel's Youth

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The year was 750.M30. The Primarch Project, begun by the Emperor in his secret laboratories deep beneath the Himalazyan mountains, was complete. But the hands of fate never let plans run smoothly for anyone. The gestating Primarchs were pulled into the warp by the Ruinous Powers. Only Hektor Cincinnatus was saved from this fate by the heroic actions of Malcador the Sigilite. The rest however, were scattered across the galaxy like feathers in a storm. And so, much like his siblings across the galaxy, one particular Primarch landed on Tiberia V, a strange(why is it strange) world a lifetime away from Terra.

The pod containing the baby Primarch was discovered by a poor family living in the slums of the planets capital, Eret Zhakodesh . Izaac Salazar, a former-soldier turned animal trainer, discovered the baby Primarch laying silently in his pod in the woods to the north of the the city while out training his new canids. Though poor himself, Izaac could not bring himself to leave the child, knowing what fate would befall it if he did so. And so Izaac returned home with the baby primarch. Izaacs wife Magdeléna, a nurse, was furious; they already had a boy and a newborn baby girl, how could they afford to feed another child who is not even their own? But Izaac calmed her, and when he told her of the extraordinary circumstances of the baby's discovery, she changed her mind and agreed to raise the baby primarch as one of their own. They named the baby primarch Uriel.

Uriel's early years were spent reading every book he could in the local libraries, playing on the streets with his siblings Gabriel and Azriela, and spending time with their father while he trained his canids. Izaac didn't like the children playing in the street; the slums in which they lived were ruled over absolutely by gangs of violent thugs. The government forces who controlled the entire planet, had long given up on the vast and labrynthine slums districts in pursuit of the rebels who sought to oppose them. Life was cheap there, and death even cheaper on Tiberia. In this world Uriel learned to be quiet and observant. He grew quickly, and soon found himself working with his father, training canids and other exotic fauna for the rich living in the city-centre. One day however, 5 armed youths of the biggest local gang arrived at the Salazar house. They demanded Izaac pay them what he owes. When Izaac tried to explain that he had no money to spare, one of their number suggested gleefully he sell his daughter to them to cover the debts. Izaac refused instantly, his disagreement was met by a violent strike to his head, sending Izaac sprawling to the floor. Uriel had been quietly watching inside the house on his fathers orders, but upon seeing this he sprang into action. Violence followed; a blur of fists, and broken bones, and anger ending with Uriel watching the gangers as they fled with a strange out-of-body calm. Uriel snapped out of his focus to the sound of his father Izaac berating Uriel for his lack of forethought: now the gangers would return seeking blood. Salazar blood. Uriel began to argue, but instead accepted his fathers criticism, and promised to consider the consequences in future. But Uriel also resolved himself to see the bloodshed he had begun through to the end, for the sake of his family.

In what the local papers called 'a one-man campaign against crime', Uriel, still technically just a boy, took the gang down piece by piece. Documenting their crimes, and 'arresting' them under a self-appointed jurisdiction. Over the course of a month Uriel managed to capture every single gang member, and turned them all into the police with evidence proving their wrongdoing. The newspapers made Uriel a hero, but also ran stories detailing the release of most of those Uriel had captured without charges ever being made. Uriel was deeply frustrated by this. However, it was not all in vain; the media attention caught the eye of Ferran Machala, the Minister of the Interior for the Tiberian government. Though technically just a bureaucrat, Machala was feared by most as his authority included command of the infamous División Commando, a military police group whose job was to hunt down and arrest the rebels, and those who supported them. Renowned for possessing a scary eye for spotting talent, Machala sought to recruit Uriel. Upon locating him, Machala promised Uriel that the Salazars would be well looked after, and Uriel and his siblings educated in the prestigious Collegium of Ghalylé. All Uriel had to do was swear loyalty to the government and join División Commando. Uriel agreed, despite his misgivings about Machala; the benefits it brought to his family were just too good to ignore.

And so Uriel was sent to the Collegium of Ghalylé with his brother and sister. It took some time for the quiet and observant Uriel to adapt to being formally taught and not just reading from old dusty library books, but he learned with incredible speed. Within an astounding speed, Uriel was enrolled on multiple advanced Collegiate courses, including law, politics, economics, and the sciences. Uriel spent most of his free time helping tutor his siblings who were struggling to catch up with an education lost to them for living in the slums. With Uriels help, Azriela soon caught up. Uriel was intensely proud when professors told her that Azriela showed real promise, especially in the science and medicine fields; Azriela had expressed a desire to become a doctor, to follow in their mothers footsteps and help the sick and injured. Gabriel too found it difficult at first, and though he did eventually catch up, he never did equal Azriela or Uriel. Instead Gabriel spent much of his time socialising with other students at parties; Gabriels good looks, ability at sports, and natural gift for social politics left him a very popular individual. It was thus Gabriel, and not fate, that lead Uriel to Annastasya. In an effort to get his quiet prodigy brother to leave his books and studying behind, Gabriel dragged Uriel out to a party on the campus intent on showing the young primarch there was more to life than could be found in academia. Most of the other students saw Uriel's now alarming stature as intimidating and freakish, and kept their distance. But there were some who were fascinated by Uriel and upon speaking to him, found themselves quickly becoming friends with him. One other student in particular however, would change Uriel's path forever; Annastasya Keye, the only daughter of the Governor of Tiberia, Leopoldo. As a child of the Governor, Annastasya had bodyguards watching over her at all times, blending in as students or watching from afar. Uriel noticed them, noting how they reacted to his prescence with tense seriousness. But Annastasya took no heed of her incognito entourage, and approached Uriel, and with little subtlety, began asking Uriel questions of his stature. Her coy bluntness aside, Uriel found her rather interesting; few other people he had met were so learned as to be able to regularly correct or outdo Uriel, but equally none were as naive as she was.

The pair became close, much to the glee of Gabriel now captain of 2 Collegiate sports teams, glad to see his brother doing something other than read. By the time Uriel graduated from Ghalylé with honours and began his career with División Commando, Uriel and Annastasya were cohabiting, though Uriel was often absent for his new work. To celebrate her own graduation two years later, Annastasya's father Leopoldo was holding a dinner event, having invited nearly all the planets elites to celebrate his only daughters achievement. Annastasya of course brought Uriel as her guest, much to Uriel's consternation; he was an abnormal boy from the slums, and had no desire to spend an evening being talked down to or treated with suspicion. But Uriel found himself at the party anyway. It was awkward. And confusing what with the rules of elite social etiquette so completely alien to him. But Uriel endured, and even thrived; acquiring a small entourage of individuals fascinated by the novelty Uriel provided. Before long, Uriel found himself being introduced to President-for-life Leopoldo Santiago Ezekiel Keye, Annastasya's father. A strong and confident man, Leopoldo addressed Uriel directly, as Uriels father would address an alpha in a pack of canids. Uriel could tell it wasn't intentional, Leopoldo was just a man used to power. What followed, Uriel realised was an interrogation, disguised as pleasant discourse.

To Uriels surprise, Leopoldo revealed he found himself impressed by the young primarch. He noted Uriel's work, short as it was, far exceeded anything others in his position had done before him; taking down a slum gang and its network of corrupt police. These were the same police who had been bribed by the gang that had threatened Uriels family. Leopoldo admired such unflinching and single-minded devotion to justice, especially given the stigma that comes with turning in ones own comrades. He also noted how highly Annastasya spoke of Uriel, and expressed his apprehension at first, but having looked into Uriel, he could express his approval of the pair. With this in mind, he announced Uriel's appointment into the División Commando Officer Corps. The Officer Corps were more than just trigger-men for the government, they were responsible for leading and managing investigations into any and all targets within the purview of the División Commando.

And so Uriel began undertaking investigations and leading operations. He investigated and arrested everyone from notorious murderers to whole criminal organisations, and tracked down rebel strongholds and logistics routes, personally leading the raids to arrest them. It was common practice among División Commando to "shoot first and ask questions later", but Uriel saw such methods as often counter-intuitive against Divisións aims, especially when combating the rebels who often embedded into local communities for cover. Coming from the slums where the people view the government with severe distrust at best, Uriel understood that winning over the people was the key to defeating the rebels, and Uriel set about doing just that within his sectors. Uriel's operations lead to a dearth of rebel intelligence being captured. This in and of itself was not unusual, but the content of it was; it was subtle, but Uriel spotted a clear pattern that seemed to imply a figure or group was in fact controlling the disparate rebel factions in a concerted effort against the government. Uriel didn't have enough to take it to Machala, but he understood the importance of what he had, so he began investigating the case personally while continuing his regular duties.

Some of the intel Uriel's luck kept leading him to was more directly applicable to the governments efforts; various pieces of intel indicated that a major operation was under way, targeting at least one member of the ruling Keye family. The intel revealed that the rebels were using the slums to the south of the capital as a staging area using their connections with local criminal elements. The specifics were vague, but Uriel made some calls to his criminal informants, and confirmed the location and rebel involvement. Uriel tried to inform the local División head with no luck - the lines were dead, or worse cut. Understanding the time-frame was imminent, Uriel made a judgement call. Leaving orders with his support staff to notify the local División forces of Uriels arrival by any means necessary, Uriel gathered as much arms and equipment from the armoury as he could carry and set off to muster his off-duty squad from their time off; his active-duty was squad unavailable due to being out on an operation elsewhere in their district. To this end, Uriel personally commandeered a civilian Rotorcraft to transport his ad-hoc team to the operational zone. Briefing his men in the Rotorcraft, Uriel's rag-tag team were quickly brought up to speed with the intel: they were heading in without backup, without authorisation, without uniforms, without full intel on the targets, and without any preparation. All this to end an imminent coup of the ruling Keye family, in the presidential palace itself. Uriel was met with dark-humoured acceptance, but no dissent; his men were loyal, and Uriels dedication to justice resonated with them and made them want to be better men.

The rag-tag group flew right into the staging point identified by their intelligence, and went about their bloody business like the professionals they were. Uriel and his team moved through the palace grounds, and just metres from the entrance, came into contact with the enemy rearguard; a squad of rebel soldiers at least a dozen strong. The fight was over quickly, Uriel and his men adapting quickly to the situation, set up bases of fire and out-manoeuvring the enemy forces with some inspired use of destruction to create new ingresses from which to flank the enemy. Their fight with the rear-guard was only the beginning however, and with the advantage of surprise lost, they had to rely on speed and aggression. The fighting was ferocious in such close quarters, and in the myriad of rooms in the Palace, every corner, staircase, and room became a fortress. Uriel noted with concern the rebels were incredibly well armed and prepared, and also how worryingly absent the Palace guards were.