Zentos Alaricum

Zentos Alaricum is a Freeblade Knight that has lived since the Great Crusade, thanks largely to extensive cybernetic augmentation and a period of several millennia spent in stasis. Biologically, Zentos has only lived for around 1,200 years. During the Crusade, he lead a considerable force of Knights and Titans from Forge World Ferrata, a planet he eventually got lordship over. Since his reawakening, Zentos has operated as a Freeblade, having heard nothing from his old allies, working primarily with the Battencian Heralds.

History
Zentos was born the first son of the Fabricator General of Forge World Ferrata. Growing up in a society still connecting to the Imperium after the Treaty of Mars, he was groomed for succession, both in rulership of his planet and in command of his armies.He was raised in the ways of the Cult Mechanicum for an early age, and in his early twenties he took command of his forces, the aptly named Titan Legio Ferrata and Knightly House Ferrum, named slightly differently to avoid confusion between the two. Preferring tactical flexibility, Zentos decided not to lead from the command deck of an Imperator, instead leading from the front in a Knight Paladin. Zentos’ Mechanicum forces were attached as Auxiliaries to the Blood Angels Legion, fighting alongside the Scions of Sanguinius as they pacified the Galaxy. When a planet was so stubborn that even the Astartes struggled, Zentos’ titans went in to clear it, and his Knights and Skitarii fought alongside the Angels on many campaigns. At one point during the Crusade, Zentos was invited to Holy Terra itself for a meeting of the Primarchs. The purpose of this was the introduction of the Primarchs to their new brother Mortarion. Upon sighting the winged Sanguinius, Mortarion began to insult him, calling him a mutant and getting angry to the point of drawing his weapon. Sanguinius didn’t confront him directly, not wanting to further escalate the situation, but Zentos stood up, looked at the angry Primarch, and spoke. “Wait a minute... you called him a mutant, yet you look like you’ve never seen the sun and smell like you’ve never seen a shower..” At this, Mortarion rushed Zentos, and probably would’ve killed him had Sanguinius not supported Zentos, buying him enough time for the Emperor to show up and demand his son stand down. After returning to the Crusade, Zentos’ forces began to work with other Legions, and operate independently. During the Rangdan Xenocides, they once more fought alongside the Blood Angels, the firepower of their God Machines helping greatly against the Xenos threat. When the Horus Heresy began, Zentos was leading his forces in the border regions of Segmentum Obscurus and Solar. Fighting several battles along the way, they withdrew to Terra. They fought on both Mars and Terra, with the majority of their Titans being deployed to the latter. Legio Ferrata held the walls of the Imperial Palace, and were beaten heavily, losing many titans, including their Imperator, to the likes of Legio Mortis and its allied heretical Titan legions. In the Aftermath of the Heresy, Zentos helped pursue the Death Guard back to the Eye of Terror. Zentos also began searching for more STCs, delving into various ruins and Space Hulks. It was in the bowls of one of these Space Hulks that he fell into a Stasis chamber, where he would reside for several millennia.

Reawakening
Zentos would be discovered in 419.M41 when the Hulk he was on was swept by a task force of Adeptus Astartes from the Battencian Heralds chapter. Initially, he did not think he had been out for long, and was looking forwards to returning to his home world. However, as they were leaving the Space Hulk, the contrary was made apparent. After a brief history lesson, Zentos tried to contact the Adeptus Mechanicus, only to realize that they had gone completely insane. Deciding he didn’t want any part in that mess, Zentos accompanied the Heralds back to Battencia and searched Imperial Archives for information about his Legion, and his World. Unfortunately, both had not been mentioned for several millennia, and they were assumed lost. Realizing he was now almost certainly the last of his House, he took the title Freeblade and attached himself to the Battencian Heralds, fighting alongside them for half a millennium. Towards the end of M41 he would part ways with the Heralds, heading for Segmentum Pacificus, seeking Forge World Ferrata, or whatever was left of it.

(The following section is set in the Skaventide Alternate Universe)

Skaventide
Zentos’ travels towards Ferrata would lead him to the orbit of the agri world of Spaunus, an agri world near the Obscurus border. His ship would dock at a space station in orbit of the planet, and upon his arrival he would receive a message from Acolyte Naerina of the Ordo Theoreticus. Zentos had been contacted before by the Ordo some time before, who, having heard of his long life, sought him out to confirm several theories on matters that dated back to the Great Crusade. This time, the message consisted of a top secret briefing on the nature of the Skaven, and a request, a mission: Stop the Skaven Virus tearing its way through Segmentum Pacificus. Searching the station, he met Frederick Veil, who, after his boss had died on the planet, was the new Rogue Trader in charge of the Glorious Aspirations. Veil offered to help Zentos in his mission, and offered him use of the Aspirations and its crew. Transferring Zentos’ equipment from the freighter he had loaned, they set off for Stratholme, the planet where the cure was rumored to be located. They arrived on the planet, landing near an Ordo Theoreticus facility that supposedly held the cure. No contact had been received from the facility in two weeks. Zentos lead Frederick and his men into the facility, fighting the Skaven they found inside. Battling their way through the facility, they eventually found a hidden door that lead to another, deeper portion of the facility. At the end of that portion, they found the cure. Quite infortunately, they found that the cure was Subject 799, a Nurglite artifact in Ordo Theoreticus possession. The artifact itself is a staff, constantly covered in dirt. Upon doing some testing, Zentos deduced that it worked that it worked by sucking diseases from those nearby, channeling them for further use by the wielder. Zentos was somewhat dismayed to be working with an artifact representing his hated foe Nurgle, but he acknowledged it was the only way to cure the disease, which by now had spread into a considerable portion of the Segmentum, before it was too late. However, accessing the staff’s full power, enough for the cure to be used on a large scale, would take time, and this, plus the emergence of the Skaven on the planet’s surface above them, forced them to hunker down, sending a message to Naerina, who in return sent an urgent distress call to Imperial forces in the area. Zentos and his comrades dug in, awaiting the arrival of Imperial reinforcements and monitoring vox channels as Imperial forces fought the Skaven above them. Eventually, a combined force of Imperial Guard and Harlequins reached the labs, and were welcomed in to meet up with the cure. Zentos and Veil split up. Veil would take some of his men and the relief force up to the roof of the facility where they would be evacuated to the fleet by Valkyrie, while Zentos and the rest of Veil’s men would fight their way to a nearby shuttle.