Aubrey The Grey

Aubrey Vokrii-Kendov 'The Grey'
Title/Honours	Aubrey The Grey
Aliases	The Surgeon
Discovered (world)	Lazarus I
Discovered (period)	901.M30
Legion	Sixteenth
Heraldry/Sigil
Distinguishing Traits	friendly, driven, scholarly
Flaws	naive, prideful
Horus Heresy role	Traitor.
Disposition	Ascended

This page details people, events, and organisations from The /tg/ Heresy, a fan re-working of the Warhammer 40,000 Universe.

He was gifted in the medical arts, but it was a narrow understanding at best. Aubrey did not see the parallel between the human body and the human society. A healthy immune system does not let "tolerance" prevent the elimination of foreign bodies or diseased cells. The Great Crusade taught the rest of us that this truth of nature also applies to politics.

(Excerpt from Gaspard Lumey's private correspondence.)

History

Few have the required clearance to read the biography of Aubrey the Grey. This is not, fundamentally, due to his crimes. That the perfidious Arch-Traitor made a mockery of all natural and human law is a matter that a humble Acolyte of our Order might learn. The reason for secrecy is that Aubrey the Grey's early life is in many ways a model of excellence, even among the Primarchs. His achievement in rising from the most difficult of upbringings to take an active and important role in the Great Crusade raises many difficult questions about the Emperor's Plan - questions that might cause an undisciplined mind to become vulnerable to the Ruinous Powers.

Youth

Aubrey's childhood was an oddity, even for a Primarch. Although he was lost along with eighteen of his superhuman brothers, his incubator came to rest on Lazarus, a planet inhabited by the inhuman Tarellians. These alien creatures recovered the capsule and discovered the infant Aubrey within, but as they were not human they deliberated on whether to let their captive live at all. Aubrey's life was spared only at the whim of the sadistic General Tareq, who felt it would be more interesting to see if the child could survive the rough life of a Tarellian. No mercy was given to the foundling and he was brought up in the lowest caste of Tarellian culture; The Doctors. In Tarellian culture, it was the doctors who were the disgrace. For a warrior, the highest honour and caste of the Tarellians, to have his blood spilled in anything but combat, such as by a surgeon, was the most vilified of possibilities. Aubrey showed prowess in learning, quickly becoming one of the most renowned doctors of the Tarellians in his early twenties.

By quirk of fate, Aubrey gained the opportunity to repay his saviour and performed a life-saving operation on General Tareq. Shamed and grateful in equal measure, Tareq offered a pact; if Aubrey told no-one of his surgery, the General would allow him to become a warrior. Aubrey rose through the ranks of the Tarellian military as quickly as he had risen through their medical world, becoming a valiant warrior and leader. Soon he took the place of the now retired general. His ascension to general was a very treacherous one. Although Tarellian culture was in principle based on merit and accident of birth should place no prejudice on a warrior, few took kindly to what they saw as a mis-shapen out-worlder giving orders.

Aubrey quickly learned the arts of Tarellian politics, just as he had those medicine and warfare. Under the honour code of the Tarellian warrior the only way to silence sniping comments was with the blade. Forged by the super-science of the Emperor of Mankind to be a peerless warrior, Aubrey was a natural swordsman and spent countless hours honing his craft to a razor-edge. Though it was not unusual for a Tarellian officer to bring a sword by his hip into the theatre of war, only Aubrey did so for the sake of duels with his own men. After many assaults upon him, the Primarch dueled his way to a bregrudging form of respect. He was eventually approached by Brother Makai, Major Vex, and Sergeant Vaas. Major Vex had also been another rising star in the military leading to comparisons to the off-worlder. This was a grave affront to Vex's honor. How could some lowly off-worlder garner so much respect?

Vex challenged Aubrey to single combat. Inevitably, the Primarch quickly gained an advantage. However Vex had an edge of his own. His brother Vaas had slipped into Aubrey's blind spot and struck Aubrey with a club, allowing Vex to wound Aubrey and win the duel. Aubrey's pride was wounded. Tarellian honour allowed for interference by kinsmen and to overlook the possibility of Vaas deciding the issue was a grievous error. Aubrey knew the only way for him to regain his status was to beat Vex and Vaas at the same time. Without kin of his own to even the odds, Aubrey took up a second blade and practiced new techniques in secret. For their second meeting, it was Aubrey who approached Vex and demanded a rematch. A very cocksure Vex accepted, with his brother Vaas now insulting Aubrey and attempting to enrage the Primarch. The reply was an icy emerald glare and the glitter of sunlight on Aubrey's blade. The fight began. Aubrey toyed with Vex, showing only a single blade and not pressing the issue. The Primarch's first target was Vaas, but he could not honourably strike a warrior who had not entered the duel. Slowly the duelists circled until Aubrey felt the position was right. He suddenly quickened his pace and swept forward, pressing Vex into a corner. Alarmed, Vaas leapt to his brother's defence only to find his club blocked by a second sword, drawn faster than the Tarellian eye could see. With a flick of his wrist Aubrey disarmed Vaas, a second lightning strike laid open the warrior's legs and sent him to the ground. Vex, consumed by fear and rage, rushed at Aubrey and was defeated as quickly as his brother. From that day on, Aubrey held his head high, two swords by his side.

Success with the blade and in command led to further advancement. In time, Aubrey became recognised as Tarellia's supreme commander with full authority to prosecute interstellar wars against lesser civilizations. However, as in the past, his elevation aggravated chauvinists among the Tarellians and a series of revolts broke out, slowing expansion efforts. Of more import to the expansion of the Terellian sphere was the arrival of Imperial Crusade ships bearing the markings of the Wolves of Dawn. These ships were far more powerful than the Tarellian warships present and many feared invasion. But the Astartes' mission was more subtle. Following up the reports of Rogue Traders who had dealt with the Tarellians and learned of Aubrey's presence, Hektor Cincinnatus took his honour guard to the surface of Lazarus and demanded an audience with the supreme commander.

Aubrey presented himself in Tarellian finery of black, scaled leather highlighted with silver filigree. Naturally, he wore his blades - alien to Hektor's eyes - at his side. The two Primarchs spoke through an interpreter, the Rogue Trader Alvec Rhan. Such measures were not unusual, but Hektor was unnerved to hear his brother speaking a serpentine tongue so unlike any form of Low Gothic in the Galaxy. After some pleasantries, Hektor made it clear that Aubrey's place was in the Emperor's service as a leader of the Great Crusade. Politely, Aubrey insisted that he already had duties to attend to and that he could not desert his post without being bested in a duel. Not being one to shirk from a fight, Hektor issued a challenge and the two Primarchs faced one another in ritual combat: spear and shield pitted against twin swords. It cannot be doubted that Hektor won the duel, but Alvec Rhan's testimony suggests that this victory had more to do with superior Imperial technology than superior skill.

On the long return voyage to Ancient Terra, Hektor and his entourage helped Aubrey prepare for a meeting with the Emperor. Aubrey quickly mastered High Gothic and the essentials of Terran etiquette, though the philosophies of the nascent Imperium were exotic to his mindset and he particularly questioned the human-centric view of the Galaxy. Hektor deflected arguments by suggesting that it was his own explanation that was lacking and that the Emperor could make his case better in person - an excuse which helped to win Aubrey's friendship, but hardly steered him towards the Imperial Truth. So it was that, despite the natural awe that Aubrey felt towards the Emperor, he quickly leapt into debate. After an arduous week of debating, during which Hektor was occasionally called upon to provide testimony, it was agreed that the Tarellians would be put under quarantine with the ultimate fate dependant upon Aubrey's conduct.

The Great Crusade

Gaspard Lumey

Although Aubrey and Hektor had a rapport, the Emperor decided to put His newly-discovered son under the guidance of Gaspard Lumey, master of the Fifth Legion "Winged Victory". What reasons moved His Unfathomable Mind are beyond the ken of mere mortals but Winged Victory had certainly won many great victories in the years preceding Aubrey's rediscovery. Perhaps more importantly, Gaspard had a reputation for ruthless wars against Xenos, a practice that Aubrey would need to embrace if he was to perform in the Great Crusade. Accompanied by a small force of his own gene-sons, then known as the Sixteenth Legion "Emerald Doom" Aubrey undertook the long journey to rendezvous with Gaspard. The Warp voyage gave the Primarch time to gain the trust of his men, though he knew that their loyalty could only be won in battle.

Gaspard Lumey's 25th Expedition Fleet dwarfed the forces of Aubrey's entire Legion. The sense of inferiority was only underscored by the Primarch's sophistication and his warriors' proficiency. While Lumey and Winged Victory were welcoming hosts and fierce allies, the Emerald Doom struggled to achieve their objectives in joint operations. These frustrations pushed Aubrey to make a thorough study of his brother's way of war. Fifth Legion's use of mobility appealed to Aubrey's tastes, though he felt that Winged Victory mistakenly emphasized manoeuvre as an end rather than a means to closing the battle for a decisive hand-to-hand clash. In reforming his own Legion, Aubrey melded swiftness and discipline with fire and courage to create a unique military doctrine.

Matters of war were not the only topic of discussion between the brothers. Aubrey the Grey did not meekly surrender his objections to humanocentrism and harshly criticized Gaspard Lumey for apparent inconsistency. If Gaspard felt that mankind as a whole should not be judged by the worst of men, why judge every alien species of their worst representatives? Aubrey also pressed the point that the Fifth Legion had benefited tremendously from the traditions of Gaspard's homeworld and felt that his own Lazarus had as much to offer to the Sixteenth. These discussions bore great fruit. Gaspard conceded the point in principle and agreed to support Aubrey in a petition not only for the Tarellians to be spared but for Imperial Law on aliens to be loosened. Under Aubrey's proposal, there would be no change to campaigns against terrible aliens - the old Xenos Horrificus that had tormented mankind through Old Night. But humanity should also recognise those aliens who were no threat and potential allies as Xenos Amicus and explore beneficial relations with them. The Emperor, in His Great Wisdom, gave this proposal sanction in the Edict of Tolerance of 903.M30.

The Standard of Aubrey, original Eternal Zealots emblem

Aubrey made first use of the Edict in that same year, negotiating the annexation of the Tarellian Empire. He stayed at Lazarus for several years after, hosting Gaspard Lumey for six weeks in 904.M30 and preparing the way for his Legion's relocation in 908.M30. The Emerald Doom's presence on Lazarus was nominally for the purpose of training a native auxilia, but it also allowed Aubrey to devote his attentions to repairing their damaged genetics. Selenar genewrights certainly played a part in this project and it is generally believed that Pallas Eugenesis herself visited Lazarus to help with the cure. Having exhausted the greatest minds among humanity, Aubrey used his Tarellian contacts to broker a deal with alien genewrights and by this expedient finally put an end to the degeneration of the Sixteenth Legion. As the numbers of his gene-sons began to swell with fresh recruits, Aubrey renamed the Legion the Eternal Zealots and set them to the task of driving injustice from the Galaxy.

Led by the Primarch's 71st Expedition Fleet, the Zealots took to their mission with gusto. Aubrey's crusading fire often put his men on thin margins, with the Legion ever pushed forward to meet difficult objectives when more prudent commanders might have called a pause to await replacements, but it also won many splendid victories for the Imperium. Thanks to their repaired genetics, the Sixteenth could absorb the losses incurred by their breakneck speed and still expand their ranks, but they became highly reliant on local supplies foraged by attached Rogue Traders. Aubrey often signed away economic privileges among Tolerated alien species as an incentive to his merchant allies, and though this expedient was a great aid to conquests in the short-term it sowed resentment among the Imperium's non-human populations.

The most resentful were, ironically, Aubrey's own Tarellians. In 975.M30, the Tarellian Empire's banners were raised once more and a great revolt threatened several sectors. Worse still, other aliens incorporated into the Imperium rallied to the Tarellians, spreading disorder further. The War Council took swift and decisive action. Gaspard Lumey's Fifth Legion was granted full powers to annihilate the rebels, while Aubrey's men were required to surrender their warships and heavy weapons and report to the Imperial fleet base at Pandora. From there, the Eternal Zealots were transported to Lazarus to bear witness to Fifth Legion destroying their homeworld. As the last of the Tarellians was slain and their once-splendid monuments thrown down, Aubrey approached Gaspard. He offered his brother the blade Cintamani and challenged him to a duel, half in mind to die on Lazarus's soil, half to avenge his people's death. Many among the Primarchs would have obliged him, but Gaspard Lumey was a soldier not a warrior. He refused the challenge as it was part of the Tarellian tradition and that tradition was dead. Gaspard then broke Cintamani beneath his heel and left Aubrey to mourn the ruin of his life.

Severe sanctions limited the actions of the Eternal Zealots after the Tarellian revolt, but it hardly mattered to Aubrey. The Primarch was deprived of his people, his command, and his purpose. What the Legion could or could not do without him was of little interest. Johannes Vrach attempted to For several years, Aubrey lived as a hermit in the ruins of Lazarus, admitting no visitors other than Shakya Vardhana. What the two Primarchs discussed is unknown, but those few reports of the incident all agree that the Vardhana left Lazarus unhappy. Aubrey's solitude only ended when a secret message was delivered to him by a Legion serf. The sealed codex was keyed to Aubrey's unique genetics and encoded in the highest encryption protocols of the Sixteenth Legion. Yet its contents were seemingly mundane. Star co-ordinates. A date. An orbital scan of the world Paskal III. The Primarch stared at the scan for long minutes, then bade his serf to make ready for departure. Aubrey's faithful Eternal Zealots had discovered a way home.

Following the trail of clues that began at Paskal III was difficult. The 71st Expedition Fleet was severely limited in its activity and its movements constantly monitored. To shake off suspicion, Aubrey often relied on trusted Rogue Traders to track down leads too far out of his Crusade's area of activity, while leading the Zealots with an imitation of his old fire. In his heart, the Primarch felt nothing for the Great Crusade any longer. The Empire that Aubrey had sought to build had died along with Lazarus, but perhaps he might find a world of comfort, a place to rest and live out however many centuries his life would last. For months he and his agents gathered snippets of information, until finally the destination was revealed: a red dwarf star designated PA10.

The Hektor Heresy

After the betrayal, their Primarch threw himself further into his studies of magicks to be used for an alternate form of healing. It was then that Uriel introduced a race of Chaos worshiping Xenos; The Cyfecti, a race close to the Eye of Terror who worshipped the Great Eye and the mighty beings that dwelt within. Uriel had kept this secret in the hopes it could be used, and no other would be so easy to fall to this bait then Aubrey. When contacted by the Zealots, the Cyfecti invited them down to their planet and Aubrey was witness to a summoning of a Daemon, which spoke to him. Thus were his eyes opened, showing him the proof of these magicks and giving Aubrey the deal he could never refuse, in the name of medicine. Aubrey would go on to use these powers to corrupt the wounded Warmaster Hektor and cause him to fall to Chaos.

Aubrey wanted a better Imperium, where men and xenos could live in prosperity; this was his vision and no one could get in his way now that he had a god on his side. His legion believed now, fully, that they would be the ones to lead a new and perfect Imperium. The Eternal Zealots then soon believed that the loyalists were beneath them and should therefore die in the name of Aubrey's new Imperium.

Now with zealotry and fanaticism, the Eternal Zealots pursue Mankind and the Imperium, world by world, shrugging off their Hippocratic Oaths of healing in favour of cutting out the tumor that is The Corpse-Emperor's followers, so that he may heal the Imperium and shape it into his own image.

Post-Heresy

Aubrey led half of his legion out into the Galatic East to sow more heresy and culminate followers to the Zealots side, resulting in the strike force style in which the Zealots exist today.

After the dividing of his Legion Aubrey resided on the planet of the Cyfecti, Sucked into the Eye of Terror, where he resided for some time inside his fortress "The Hall of Skulls", Decorated with the skulls of Knights of Justice heroes, while also sending out his sons to take any high priority target in the Imperium.

He sought to cut out the cancer of the Imperium, wishing to keep most of it intact so that he could instate his own "perfect" Imperium that is free of any xenophobia and filled with the worship of Chaos.

He disappeared into the warp in M37, seeking Roman Albrecht to finally settle once and for all who was the greatest swordsman, only finally returning in M41 when he had Ascended into Daemonhood, summoned when his Legions forces are in great need.

Personality

Naive, prideful. Aubrey is the spiritual heart of his Legion, the epitome of all that his sons stand for and all they wish to achieve. He likes to be on the front line, doing his part to keep his sons safe, challenging the leaders and champions of the enemy armies, like a surgeon cutting out the cancer of his foes.

Appearance

A lean physique, coupled with a gaunt and angular face; he tends to have a certain warmth to his face. His skin tone is pale, almost pure white in colour. His hair is silver, parted towards the right of his face and flowing, with a pair of emerald coloured eyes. He bears a pair of curved scars under his left eye, which curl towards the edge of his lip, the outer scar dwarfing the smaller scar and curling around it.

If he isn't seen with a pondering look on his face, he is either in battle or conversing with his valued brothers, normally with a small smile on his face.

When out of his armour he wears a black coat, it is said to be made of precious material as strong as adamantium, yet as soft as silk, with a green lining made of the same material. Underneath it he wears a soft leather cuirass made of weaves.

Inside of his armour, he wears a cloak made of this material, purely green over his armour.

Wargear

Aubrey wears the Armour of Lazarus. Jörmun and Gandr are a pair of matched serpentine blades, made by dark powers in the heart of the Eye, are fast as quicksilver and can slice any foe apart with ease. He also carried the Wledig crown, a gift from the King of Cattegirn that was both a symbol of his authority and a powerful relic incorporating a defensive field as strong as a Storm Sheld.

A fan's Attempt at Rules

	PTS	WS	BS	S	T	W	I	A	Ld	Sv
Aubrey the Grey:	450	9	5	6	6	6	8	7	10	2+/3++

Unit type: Jump Infantry, Independent Character.

Wargear: Armor of Lazarus, Jörmun and Gandr, Wledig Crown.

Special Rules: Adamantium Will, Bitter Rage, Bulky, Crusader, Eternal Warrior, Fear, Fearless, Fleet, Furious Charge, Independent Character, It Will Not Die, Master of the Legion, Suspicious Reputation, Venomous Concoctions.

Armor of Lazarus: Primarch armor, crafted by the awesomest priests of mars, blah blah. 2+, has a jump pack that makes him jump infantry. Additionally, his jump pack may be used in both the movement and assault phases of the same turn. Provides a 4+ FNP and a rerollable 4+ IWND

Jörmun and Gandr: The twin blades of the primarch. S:U AP2, Paired (+1A), Duelists's Blades (Aubrey gains +1d6 Initiative in a challenge) faints instant death, shred and ignore eternal warrior on double 6's in to wound rolls

Wledig Crown: Iron Halo +1, basically. Offers Aubrey a 3++ invuln save. Additionally, Aubrey counts as having assault grenades, and any unit he charges must make a blind test. All units overwatchong him must reroll successfull to hit and to wound rpll

Bitter Rage: Aubrey's many years as a warrior slave gave him a harsh determination to meet the enemy's champions in fair combat, and prove his worthy by defeating them, sometimes going to seemingly insane lengths to catch them. Aubrey must give out and acccept challenges whenever possible, and has Hatred: HQ's, LOW's, and Characters. If any character ever refuses a challenge from Aubrey, he gains the Rampage USR, and must always move, consolidate, and run towards that character until he kills them.

Suspicious Reputation: Aubrey's history of conflict with his own brothers and factions of the Imperium leads to great distrust from his allies for Aubrey and his sons, even beyond what his deviant legion had already earned for themselves, and his tolerance for aliens makes him an outcast even among his traitor brothers. If Aubrey takes to the field, all armies count as By The Warmaster/Emperor's Command, regardless of where they sit on the allies table.

Venomous Concoctions: All of Aubrey's melee attacks count as poison 3+. Additionally, every roll of a 6 to hit in melee counts as 2 automatic wounds.

Aubrey is Fun!*. He's obviously a character killer, with his high WS, I, and A, plus poisoned attacks that multiply on a 6, a 2+/3++, and hatred against characters? There are like two characters in the entire freaking game who can fight him and win (Roman and Horus). But, he has some major drawbacks. A 440 point model that does nothing to buff your army is of questionable value, and his absolutely neurotic pursuit of his role as a duelist could potentially lead to him spending the whole game chasing a biker sergeant around the board (with the appropriate benny hill music playing), because if he decides to kill you, he will kill you. Granted, the odds of this happening are relatively low, considering that Aubrey is generally going to be on his own, he's very fast, and with all his bonuses, if your opponent refuses a challenge, he's going to be getting 10+D3 attacks, hitting and wounding on 2's, with rerolls, so even if your opponent does try to pull him off to run around the map, odds are Aubrey will catch whatever character, and eat his entire squad in one charge.