Suami's Death Shrouds

Grim-faced, determinated and consumate guerrilla warriors, the soldiers of the 215th from Suami, nicknamed "Suami's Death Shroud" are proud to be counted among the oldest Regiments of the Astra Militarum. From the horrors of the Horus Heresy to the never ending battles of the Imperium Nihilus, those men and women walk in the footsteps of legends and intend to keep up with this legacy.

History
For almost ten thousand years, the men and women of Suami have fought for the Imperium. Ten regiments can proclaim with honor that they served during the Great Crusade, but the 215th's story started when the dreams of the God-Emperor collapsed.

The End of the Dreams
The Suami's Death Shroud are part of the 333 regiments levied on the toxic planet at the onset of the Horus Heresy, known collectively as the Unforgotten Martyrs on their world. Those soldiers, brave and dedicated beyond measure, knew they left their world in dangerous wweakness, it's armed forces depleted, at the mercy of the murderous machines roaming the desolate plaines of Suami.

But to all the inhabitants of this world, nothing was more important than to stave off the Warmaster, to ensure that the Imperium would continue to be guided by the God-Emperor, no matter the costs. The 999 000 soldiers joined their 30 000 comrades already serving in the Legendary First Ten, and they proved themselves time and again during the atrocious seven years of the civil war.

Led by Colonel Aatos Korhonen, a respected if very young warrior from Suami's war against the A.I., the 215th was lucky enough to be deployed alongside the Ultramarine Legion, even if most of its soldiers were quite unhappy with the relative calm that those Astartes faced during this war. However, while the regiments of their brethren sent to serve alongside the Shattered Legions saw more heated battle early on, they also suffered such casualities than most of the Suami's regiments were annihilated in the first four years of battle. Such news, as infrequantly as they came, made the soldiers of the 215th both sad and proud, for none of their brethren turned her back on the Emperor.

At the end of the Heresy, the 215th was fighting toward Holy Terra alongside all the forces that Roboute Guilliman had managed to muster around him, in a desperate and ill-fate last dicth attempt to save the Emperor. Alas, those forces came too late and the Death Shrouds were never allowed to fight and die on the Crown World, letting this honor go to their comrades from the 343th, Terra's blessing. Nevertheless, the grim and determinated soldiers served admirably during this era of madness, and in the following decades of the Great Scouring, even if their Colonel died in Sol when Heretek tried to escape from the system and were confronted by the Imperial Army.

When, at last, the regiment was allowed to return to Suami to replenish, only two hundreds soldiers remained, most of whom were not born on Suami but remnants of other, less fortunate regiments, added to the depleting ranks of the Death Shrouds. Despite those origins, those foreigners were treated as natives of the Death World when the 215th finally went home, an honor which has been granted to any and all serving with honor alongside the regiments of Suami.

Those additions of foreign soldiers helped the Death Shrouds evolve from a simple light infantry -albeit armed with very powerful laser-rifles, into the guerrilla/grenadier infantry it has become renonwed for thousands of years. Ever since the end of the Heresy, the 215th has kept alive its honor and glory, serving in many a war of the Imperium.

The death of the Death Shrouds
Over the course of the Imperium History, the Death Shrouds fought valiantly without any significant interruption until the Reign of Blood. During those thousands of years, the effective regiment became ever more renowned for its absolute dedication, lack of fear and ability to operate deep behind enemy's lines, striking at depot supplies, sowing chaos and confusion in territories the traitors or aliens believed safe. Those successes, however, never made the regiment arrogant, like some others from more resplendant and famous worlds, instead driving the new recruits to new heights of fervor in the hope to be worthy of their inclusion in this ancient corps.

However, even the determinated natives of Suami can become wary of war unendings, when under the scrutiny of Commissars they often saw as weak and incompetents, because of the unorthodox battle tactics which became a staple of the regiments as it spend months, sometimes years, away from the main armies it fought with. Furthermore, in their attemps to always remain battle-ready, the Death Shrouds were known to recruit forcefully conscripts among some enemies they captured. Furthermore, while their devotion has never been put in doubt, the 215th was known for the incredible - some says, utterly traitorous- death rate of the Commissars when the regiments was deployed too far away from the main armed forces of the Imperium.

Things too a turn for the worse in the middle of M.34, when the 215th was accused of goign rogue and express assassination of their affected Commissars, extremely grave accusations which could have seen the regiment disbanded and its records forever marred. More and more, the brave if too indomitable men and women from the 215th found themselves sent in the deadliest, thickest, battlezones, in line formations instead of their usual guerrilla tactics. Even then, the Death Shroud did not falter, enduring those gruelling centuries with their traditions intacts, and their defiance of the dogmatic Commissars growing.

Even other forces from Suami started to condemn their comrades for what they saw as blind separatism and isolationism, a rejection of outsiders, something the Death Shrouds always fiercely rejected, pointing to their practice to recruiting conscripts into their ranks. Their opponents shrewdly pointed out that said cosncripts were hardly better considered than the members of the Penal Legions by the regiment's original soldiers. The destruction of the regiment was finally decreeted just before the events of The Howling, in 401.M34. The Death Shrouds were supposed to be deployed as part of a garrison against Ork invaders in the Segmentum Pacificus.

However, the ships bringing the ill-reputed regiment alongside other problematic troops was led astray by the distortion of the Astronomican. Instead of reaching for the border of the Segmentums Solar and Obscurus, the fleet emerged from the Warp in the Segmentum Pacificus, in the very middle of the Nova Terra Interregnum. The soldiers had spent centuries lost in the Warp and were almost destroyed by civil war when the troops learnt of the Imperium's situation. Almost immediately, bloodshed erupted between the regiments which had been sent to their death.

The Death Shrouds fought valiantly against those who, having seen a possibility to escape from the Imperium and join the Nova Terra, in hope of a less cruel fate. For the 215th, such ideas were utterly abhorrent and they quickly became a linchpin of the loyalists battles inside their ship, and then against those commandeered by traitors, refusing to give up even when it became clear that over 75% of the troops had turned their backs on the Imperium. When the armies loyal to the God-Emperor finally reach the ancient fleet, they discover it ruined, but the loyalists were still holding out as best they could.

This even would see the Death Shrouds cleared of their ill-reputation, but alas it was a last spark of glory before ignominious death. Indeed, centuries later, when started the Age of Apostasy, Goge Vandire had the Suami Creed declared heretic, all the Suami servants of the Imperium he could find killed and their forces still fighting in his armies sent into useless and grueling wars without the necessary support and equipment. The 215th was no exception, and even if Colonel Yrjo Heikkila managed to send the relics of his regiment to his homeworld, he and all his men where slaughtered by fanatics in the service of Vandire on the world of Costus.

However, the Death Shrouds brought with them countless servants of the corrupt High Lord and Ecclesiarch, waging a guerrilla war on Costus for years, unable to replenish their troops for fear of letting traitors infiltrating them. In the final days, the last hundred soldiers fought with sharpened branch, stones and their bare hands, refusing to give up no matter what. The archives of those events were discovered thousands of years later, when other Suami fighters came to put down an insurrection on this corrupt world.

The call of war
For almost four thousands years, the forces of Suami became almost unheard off in the Astra Militarum, as the Imperium forgot almost everything about this planet. Merely a dozen of regiments, the First Tens mainly, saw constant active service. But if the Empire of Man didn't really care about the heroes of the 215th and others, on the toxic world, the history of the regiments which were now but dust-clad standards and relics, was kept alive, children playing the roles of ancient heroes, their flaws forgotten and their qualities made even brighter.

Those well-loved memory allowed for the quick renaissance of the regiments of the Unforgotten Martyrs when the Imperium was beset was forevermore threats, the awakening of the atrocious Necrons, the arrival of the monstrous Tyranids and the rise of the blasphemous T'au Empire, even as Aeldari, Drukhari and Orks seemed to rise to new heights of power. In dire need of fresh troops, the Imperium returned with a fanfare on Suami, leveling tithes in tens of thousands of soldiers, even as a new Chapter of the vaunted Adeptus Astartes was allowed to make Suami its homeworld.

The Death Shrouds were among those regiments brought backs from the shadows of History in 999. M41, reforged to an even more stringent standard. Colonel Irja Vahanen, the great-grand-niece of Tuomas Vahanen, the Second Inflexible of the Sons of Iron, was designed as Colonel for the newly assembled regiment. Thanks to her many readings, she knew exactly how to equip and train her troops. Unlike the Death Shrouds of old, which had mostly evolved into their role of guerrilla/grenadier infantry because of sheer luck and need to survive, she crafted them in such a force from the get go.

Like her distant and transhuman kin, Colonel Vahanen proved herself an incredibly shrewd and gifted tactician, who has brought glory and honor like few of her predecessors or any other Colonel of Suami ever did. She was joined to the Indomitus Crusade, were her severe leadership combined with the absolute dedication and hatred of weakness she fostered to new heights among the men and women under her command. The regiment saw terrible losses during their half-century part in the Crusade, but it came out strong enough to immediately join the Iron Crusade launched by the Sons of Iron.

As of today, the regiment is once more at full force, having recruited many a soldier Colonel Vahanen deemed worthy, instead of the conscripts and disfranchised soldiers which were added to the 215th before the destruction of the regiment during the Reign of Blood. Whatever flaws may have marred them, the Suami's Death Shrouds are now a revered force among their comrades of the Astra Militarum, those who are expected to charge headlong into the toxic clouds of warfare, to slaughter and disrupt far from the rest of the crusades they fight for.

The Horus Heresy
First levied at the onset of the Horus Heresy, the Death Shrouds quickly managed to join the Shattered Legions (Iron Hands, Salamander and Raven Guard) alongside most of the 332 other regiments forming alongside them the Unforgotten Martyrs. Sadly for the 215th, the small fleet they had managed to join quickly wished to dish their mortal allies to strike valiantly -but fruitlessly- at the Traitor Legions. Therefore, the Death Shrouds were sent to Ultramar, where they were mostly tasked with the scouring of heretics which had invaded the 500 Worlds, rarely striking beyond the borders of Guilliman's realm.

Tension arose when the Imperium Secundus was created, many among the Suami regiments deployed alongside the Ultramarines and their allies starting to openly riot and proclaim Roboute Guilliman a traitor. Bloodshed was avoided only when the Death Shrouds officers -and those of other unhappy armes forces- were granted an audience. They were given more opportunity to attack the strongholds of the traitors, despite the horrendous losses they incurred doing so. Many a soldier of Ultramar actually vied for acceptance into the regiment, impressed by their effectiveness and impressive track records in the missions they were tasked with.

Recognized by all for their ferocity and dedication in the war for the Imperium, they joined the Ultramarine Legion when they departed for Terra once the Warp Storms, which had isolated the Eastern portion of the Imperium, dissipated enough for fleets to attempt the gigantic journey toward the Throne World. Many a small battle was fought and the Death Shrouds were often part of those sent to fight them. In the Sol system, the ferocious battles of the Great Scouring would see the 215th at the forefront.

The Great Scouring
For the whole duration of the Great Scouring, the Death Shrouds were deployed in the deadliest, thickest zones of battles, those were throngs of heretics still held out worlds, screaming for their mad Gods to save them. But only the God-Emperor answered their prayers, in the form of His armies. The 215th was deployed deep behind enemy lines, rooting out cells of traitors hidden in the wild, often operating months or even years without so much as vocal contact with the larger body of the Imperium.

Still, they earned accolades even from the newly created Space Marine Chapters of the Black Templars, Crimson Fists, Iron Hands, Red Talons and Brazen Claws for their bravery and hatred of the Heretics. Many a Chapter insured that the Suami-born (and those child-soldiers born into the regiment or added to its ranks over the decades) were deployed on world after world. In total, the Death Shrouds boast recommendations from 923 systems, and twice as much battlefields, second to none among the Unforgotten Martyrs regiments.

This era saw the regiment garner a more sinister repute, however, among the forces of the Imperium for whom traditions and obedience should be paramount over ferocity and headstrong soldiers. Many a complain was levied against the Death Shroud for their refusal to take into account what bureaucrats and officers hiddenf ar away from the front line ordered to do. For a lot of politicians in the newly emerged order of an Imperium bereft of its Emperor and more than half its Primarchs, the 215th were too stubborn and too unreliable, even if their track record prevented them from being put in danger.

Those centuries of war finally ended and the depleted ranks of the Unforgotten Martyrs were allowed to return to Suami. There, the soldiers, most of whom weren't born on the toxic world or didn't even posses ancestors who had, were granted a hero's welcome, a whole year of feasts and festivals, a unique event in the whole history of the grim Death World. Thanks to their commendations, the Death Shrouds were hailed among the noblest regiments and were one of the few levied during the Horus Heresy who saw near constant battle until the Reign of Blood.

The Nova Terra Interregnum
The Death Shrouds part in the Nova Terra Interregnum, while minor, was a time of great change for the regiment. Sentenced to ignominious death in battle centuries ago, it had been deemed lost into the Warp and assumed destroyed. But when the Ur-Council seceded from the Imperium, the fleet which had brought them to a long forgotten war sent them back hurling into the material emptiness of space. Alas for the 215th, this return to reality after the traumatizing travel through the Warp, which had lasted twenty-five years for the soldiers from Suami. Among the innumerable regiments which had been sent to die and which had survived, many chose to join Nova Terra, eliciting a brutal civil war in the old transport ships.

The Death Shrouds refused to yield and break their vow to the Emperor and unleashed their deadly weapons into the corridors of the ship, commandeering it and garnering around them all those same-minded servants of the Throne they could find in this madness. As soon as they had secured the bridge, they had sent a distress signal, knowing full well that should the traitors overwhelm the loyalists in number, all hope may have been lost. And soon enough, it became clear that over three quarters of the regiments had rebelled. The leading officer, whose name has been lost to time, then ordered that the ship's weapons were turned against its kind in the hands of traitors.

Such course of action sacrificed many a loyal servant of the Emperor trying to commandeer more vessels, but it allowed the loyalists to survive. Deprived of long range weapons, however few there is on transport ship, the rebels had to try and invade the few which had been seized by the loyalists. During six months, intermittent battles erupted between the two sides, until a fleet of Astartes and Astra Militarum regiments loyal to the Golden Throne finally discovered the half-destroyed fleet. In mere hours, the traitors were slaughtered.

As soon as they were granted permission, the Death Shrouds went willingly into the fray of the larger Nova Terra Interregnum battles, clearing their name and earning great renown.

The Reign of Blood
The rise of Vandire saw the death of the 215th from Suami. As the tyrant's grip over the Imperium grew stronger and stronger, he thought out forces he could shape in his service, insuring his absolute control over the High Lords of Terra, and thus the Imperium. After recruiting the Daughters of the Emperor, and turning them into the Brides of the Emperor, his personal servants and bodyguards, he turned his attention to the backwater world of Suami. The inhabitants of the deadly planets seemed to be wonderful material for his plans.

However, all the regiments he approached refused to bend the knee to the one they called the Usurper. On Suami, open revolt against the agents of the newly "elected" Ecclesiarch was brewing, and none among the noble families felt the need to insure Vandire's envoys of their enduring loyalty. To the contrary, the then Planetory Governor Juliia Ilmatar Antronidus rebuffed any and all orders sent by Terra, claiming that her devotion was to the Emperor Himself, not some lowly tyrant.

This refusal to bend the knee led almost to the death of all Suami. There backwater world was isolated and left to fend for itself, to unimportant and out of the galactic trade routes to be worthy of direct destruction. However, agents of Vandire insured that none born on the Death World would escape their master's wrath. For the 215th, such news were hardly a surprise, for their Colonel, Yrjo Heikkila, had been approached by servants of the rogue High Lord. He had immediately sent the banners and relics of his regiment to Suami, and waited for the storm to blow.

Sent to resupply on the world of Costus, the Death Shroud found themselves trapped on a whole planet utterly devoted to the newly appointed Ecclesiarch. The 3000 soldiers fought valiantly, holding out for more than six years, hiding into the countryside and bringing into the grave as many as they could. Colonel Heikkila himself died in a fiery explosion, after having led his force into a factory, where he detonated thousands of bombs, ravaging a whole town. Nonetheless, the Death Shrouds were destroyed and their legacy would lay dormant until the very end of M.41.

The Rebirth (998M.41)
For thousands of years, the Death Shrouds' legacy remained dormant, their relics gathering dust in the ancient halls of the Refuge-Cities of Suami. Soldiers were still levied, war had to be fought, but never had the need to revive all the Unforgotten Martyrs had felt necessary. A hundred regiments was deemed sufficient tithe for the toxic world, when completed by its potent toxins and poisons, weapons and devotion. Then, Mankind was beset by dangers never seen before.

Abomination devouring whole worlds came from the depth of space, starting to destroy all life in the Eastern Fringe. Xenos rose from a backwater region of space to threaten the way of life and integrity of all law-abiding imperial citizens. Atrocious machines rose from graves forgotten since untold eons to slaughter humans. And of course, traitors, heretics and other ambitious usurpers grew ever more numerous. And even as Astartes settled on Suami, its Governor decided that the Martyrs had to rise again.

Three thousands of the hardest, bravest souls from the Death World were selected to revive the Death Shrouds. Led by Colonel Irja Vahanen, nicknamed the Iron Daughter partially because of her discipline, and partially because of her family ties with the then Fifth Captain of the Sons of Iron Space Marines. Under her command, the 215th managed to regain his reputation for long-term guerrilla warfare deep into enemy's territories, without the almost traitorous headstrong behavior which had almost led their ancient predecessors to their death.

The Death Shrouds were quickly sent toward Armageddon, as soon as the Munitorum and the authorities of Suami deemed them ready. Te large fleet they were a part of gathered ever more soldiers as it was dispatched to the distant world. However, they never reached it, for as they were still travelling through the Warp, the Cicatrix Maledictum opened, sending them flailing wildly on the waves of the Warp. The survivors of this event found themselves into the Sol System, the soldiers and every crew member awed by such an event.

But all were brought to their knees when the reborn Primarch Roboute Guilliman called for them to join the forces he was gathering, his Indomitus Crusade.

Homeworld
Suami is a notable Imperial death world which also serves as the Adeptus Astartes Homeworld of the stoic and unforgiving Sons of Iron Space Marine Chapter since the 26th Founding. An ancient planet, Suami has belonged to the Imperium of Man since the bygone era of the Great Crusade. Polluted and reduced to the ashes of its former glory and beauty by the mistakes of its settlers, thousands of years ago, Suami still endures, breeding strong and determinate warriors dedicated to the wars of the Imperium.

In spite of the impossibility to survive outside of its Refuge-Cities, Mankind persist on this blighted world. It's inhabitants, used to the hardships of life and the need to toil thanklessly to survive, have sent their sons and daughters to the Imperial Guard since time immemorial, as far back as the Great Crusade last years. Surviving on Suami requires one to be strong of body and mind, which bred excellent soldiers, made all the more valuable by the martial traditions necessary to fend off armies of Abominable Intelligences which besiege the humans since the Age of Strife.

Because of the small population that call this toxic planet their home, Suami's regiment are far smaller than most, but what they lose in quantity, they more than compensate in quality.

Regimental Organisation
The 215th from Suami is a 3000 strong regiment, as is ordinary for the forces levied on the toxic Death World. However, instead of being comprised of only one kind of troop, usually light infantry, the Death Shrouds are organised around 2400 guerrilla fighters and 600 grenadiers, which are equally shared between the two Companies, for a total of 1500 soldiers (1200 guerrilla fighters and 300 grenadiers).

Despite being divided into two distinct Companies, which are both expected to operate independently, the chain of commands is extremely strict and enforced with a iron hand in an iron gauntlet, which doesn't mean that the Death Shrouds can be considered stuck in their ways. The Colonel and the Commissars have power of the life and death of all their subordinates (and even the Colonel in the case of the officers from the Schola Progenium). Such organisation is supposed to allow both versatility and discipline in the ranks, something highly sought after by Irja Vahanen

At a lower level, the Companies are structured around the squads, twenty-men strong, for a total of 75 squads in each, all lead by a Sergeant. Most of those soldiers are the basic light infantry, using las-carbine and full armor, with some of them specializing in the use of mortars, to add heavy support easily movable for the regiment to crush their targets in a short but extremely violent barrage of artillery. In each squad, four soldiers are grenadiers, equipped with the same armor as their comrades, but wielding grenade-launchers, fitted with explosive and shock grenades, but mainly the "Poisonous Breath" grenades, filled with deadly toxins that the men brew in their camps.

Specialists can be found among the squad-mates, such as the Malkyr's Handlers, who breed and care about the bat-like beasts which strive in poisonous environment and are used both as a mean to gauge the toxins in the warzones the Astra Militarum is deployed, and added poisonous fangs and claws, the toxins present in the beasts able to at the very least drive the healthiest normal human to a ravaged husk, battling with the poisons to survive, even among the least dangerous breeds.

Other specialists, such as tech-adepts, psykers and radio-specialists are mostly found around the Commissioned Officer of the Regiment, mainly the Colonel for the Warp-users. Radio-specialists are usually dispatched to the most Senior Sergeant in each out of five squads, which is tasked with insuring that the orders from the higher-ups will be flawlessly relayed, and that the observations of the squads will reach the Regiment's leaders as soon as possible to ensure that plans will change to accommodate the flow of war and the actions of their foes, a necessity for a force operating so far behind enemy lines.

Doctrines
The Death Shrouds are one of the most harshly drilled soldiers in the Astra Militarum regiments from Suami, standing even above the common hardened warrior of this toxic world. Their battle doctrines stand on three principales, called the Pillars of Victory by the members of the regiment. Those are know as : Beyond such specific Doctrines, the regiment shares the same iron discipline of the other forces from Suami, expected to follow orders as soon as they are given and to act as one cohesive unit, no matter the enemies, the terrain and the dangers they face. Discipline is what allow even a waning soldier to bring with him in death several foes, what makes the difference between a futile last stand and an heroic sacrifice for the survival of the Imperium and the protection of the God-Emperor.
 * The Pillar of Hardening Death : This particular doctrine takes the form of constant reminders of the deadly dangers of Suami and every battlezones the regiment has fought on. While discipline is held in high esteem, it is the ability to not give in to fear, to endure even the worst the countless horrors of the Galaxy can offer, which allows the Suami's Death Shrouds to keep fighting against all odds, to hold their ground and stop in their tracks abominations from beyond the stars or crawling horrors escaped from dark chasms in space. To become a member of this regiment, one has to become unyielding. The men and woman unable to do so will be the first to be left to die by their comrades.
 * The Pillar of Surviving All : When one is sent far beyond enemy lines, learning what plant to eat, which meat is edible and how best purge water from any unwanted material is but the barest knowledge which must be acquired. While the Death Shrouds are often sent into toxic environments, where most other servants of the Emperor would falter and die in a matter of hours, they take great pride in their ability to endure and survive, no matter the odds, to keep harassing their targets. Their aptitude to the hunt and kill comes in handy with their guerrilla tactics, making them hard to elude and misdirect.
 * The Pillar of Discreet Advance : A regiment which can't be seen is a regiment which can strike hard at the weak points of an enemy's army time and time again. To survive in the wilderness and become able to laugh at the face of death, one require to live long enough and to take down his fair share of kills. Being able to melt away in the shadows as soon as they have achieved their objectives is one of the greatest strength of the 215th from Suami. Their extensive training and first hand experience in those fields combine perfectly with their forces, allowing them the ability to operate extensively beyond enemy's line.

Uniform & Equipment
Fully armored and isolated from the external world, the troops from Suami, which are all classified as Light Infantry by the Departmento Munitorum, often appears at first glance to be equipped with heavier armors, especially in their small and somewhat sickly frames. However, in spite of their bulky shape, the Suami's armor is easy to wear and fight with - while affording excellent protection for a Light Infantry regiment - especially for the hardened soldiers who have trained since childhood to earn the right to wear it.

The Death Shroud's armors are often grey or dull grey-brown, all the better to escape the casual glances of their foes in the Zone Mortalis where they are usually deployed. Their well-crafted gaz masks and chameloeonine capes complete their defensive gear, and are often highly sought after by non-Suami regiments, even if such relics are considered far too sacred and precious to be exchanged by the Shrouds.

Their armament is also powerful and deadly, combining the Las-Carbine model "Fire of Suami" and the Grenade Launchers model "Poisonous Breath" as the staple of their weapons. The carbines are variation of the classical Laser-rifle found in use among the throngs of the Astra Militarum. Crafted to ensure that it keeps deadly fire through even the densest fogs, it is an extremely violent weapon, which consumes a lot of energy but allows the 215th's soldiers to assault better armored enemies than most Light Infantry regiments.

The Grenade Launchers is a deadly tool of war, throwing ammunition filled with brewed toxins, able to choke and kill an Ork in mere seconds. Only the most resilient of Tyranids or fighters preserved in sealed armors like the Death Shrouds themselves can endure those fumes. This is because of those terrible poisons that the 215th has a grim reputation among the regiments of the Astra Militarum, being known for unleashing it on any target designed by their officers, even civilians if need be.

Finally, the last weapon used by the regiment are small mortars, easily deployed and movable, allowing them to strike at convoys and lightly fortified redoubts, or even simply unleashing apparently blind rain of death on enemy settlements, to sow fear, confusion or blind anger into the foes of the Imperium.

Regimental Colours
Various tones of grey, brown and green are the staple of the Death Shroud's colors, like all the regiments hailing from Suami. The only touch of true color can be found on their insignia, usually a toxic blue which is the most common color of the deadly clouds covering their native world. Those colors allow the regiment to better hide into the various zones where they are most often deployed.

Regimental Badge
The badge used by the 215th from Suami is the silver imperial Aquila holding in its talons a globe covered by an icy blue shroud. The Aquila's use was allowed for the participation of the first men and women of this regiment in the purge of the Sol System at the end of the Horus Heresy, but it remains silver since they didn't make planetfall on Holy Terra. The globe is obviously Suami, the fact it is held by the Aquila a testament to its eternal devotion to the Imperium. Finally, the shroud is there as a reminder of the toxicity of their homeworld and the fate which awaits all who would dare raise arms against the Empire of Terra.

Colonel Aatos Korhonen, Martyred in Sol
Aatos Korhonen was a child when the forces of the Imperium reached the bleak world of Suami. He saw the Iron Hands destroy the murderous machines haunting this cursed planet and tried to join the ranks of the Legendary First Ten, but was far too young to be enlisted. Alas for him, and the whole of Mankind, the betrayal of Horus gave him an opportunity to do so far sooner than expected. Even while he was still just a young teenager of fourteen years, he was inducted into the Imperial Army regiments levied on Suami.

Aatos quickly proved himself a charismatic figure, commanding men and women far older than himself. While he lacked the strategical abilities of the higher ranks of officiers, he was recognized for his quick thinking and absolute devotion to the Emperor and Terra. Prone to doing away with constraining rules of engagement and the chain of command, the teen became nonetheless the first Colonel of the Death Shrouds, for on Suami valor always supercede age.

During the whole duration of the Horus Heresy, Korhonen remained in the orbit of the Ultramarine Legion and his Primarch, even if he chaffed at what he deemed cowardice and other prudence. When the forces of Guilliman finally marched toward Terra, he rallied not only his surviving Death Shrouds but also all the other Suami-born he could find, reforging his regiment anew. He then plunged directly into the battles of the Sol System against the remaining forces of the now dead Arch-Heretic.

It is there that he died, butchered by a vicious World Eater berserk, who mauled to death over a hundred brave Suami before being finally stopped. The martyrdom of Aatos, aged barely twenty-one when he died, became a staple of the regiment and Suami's legends. Many a woman from the 215th who had become pregnant during the duration of the civil war proclaimed their children to be his, and while such claims were never proven, to boast a direct ancestry to those bastards is still considered a good omen on the Death World.

Commissar Anthony Stark
Anthony Stark is now an old and revered Commissar, who has earned the begrudging respect of all the Death Shrouds he has served with. He knows the history of this regiment and how it treated his kind in ancient times, but has grown somewhat fond of the hardened soldiers. In more than two hundred years serving alongside them, he hasn't executed more than a dozen soldiers and petty officiers each. His commanding presence, coupled with the natural devotion and grim determination of the Suami, insured that his charge of duty would be light.

Nonetheless, the Iron Man remains a figure of awe and fear among the Death Shrouds, all of them knowing that he has power of life and death over them. Today more man than machines, with his two legs and arms replaced by bionics, Stark earned his nickname in the early days of the Indomitus Crusade, when he refused to yield as madness and horror engulfed the Galaxy and thus nurtured the fires of the 215th's commitment to the Imperium. Armed with his simple chainsword and las-gun, Stark never cowered before the Traitors, Xenos and Heretics facing his regiment.

Anthony Stark is not only a grim figure, but also one of Colonel Vahanen's closest adviser, for his training at the Schola Progenium was meant to allow him to take control of any Imperial Guard regiment if need be, even if his tendency to operate "by the book" and a general lack of flexibility in his approach to warfare would certainly make him a poor Colonel-Commissar. Still, Anthony Stark has earned many a decoration and commendation for his bravery, devotion and feats of strength on the battlefield, during his long career.

Commissar Adriana de la Vega
De la Vega is a young and particularly strict Commissar, who has earned a rather bad reputation among the Death Shrouds, punishing even the most minor of offenses with harsh punishment, sometimes even death for drinking or betting while in campaign. She is almost universally reviled by the Suami, who are off-put by her tanned skin, luxurious black hair and toned physique. Still, she remains an incredible field leader, with a knack for tactics and quick-thinking, which has allowed her to be, begrudgingly, the honor of commanding the 215th in a few occasions.

Adriana was trained by the Schola Progenium to become a member of the Adepta Sororitas, but while she is a devotee of the God-Emperor, both her abilities and faith were found too weak to be ordered into the Sisters of Battle, but good enough that sending her to an Auxiliary Order would have been a waste. She was thus inducted into the Commissars, but never surmounted the shame she felt as she was deemed unworthy. This is the fire which push her to be so strict and quick to punish even the smallest errements.

She remains nonetheless a close advisor of Colonel Vahanen, even if the two women rarely see eye to eye. The Iron Daughter is far too flexible in her tactics, her only goal being to achieve victory, even at the cost of some of the harshest tenets of the Astra Militarum, when the soldiers need it. De la Vega, to the contrary, sees those demands as weaknesses which should be excised from the Death Shrouds, no matter the means or the cost. Still, her charisma and deadly abilities make her a valuable asset for the regiment.

Sergent Aliisa Virtanen, Loud Mouth
Aliisa is a towering brute of a woman, especially on Suami. Where the average inhabitant of the Death World is around 1m70 (5'6), men and women alike, the daughter of the Virtanen family of soldier stands at 2m17 (7'1). Combined with her large muscles -and other large portions of her anatomy which entices even the hardened warriors of Suami- she truly looks like a mountain domineering her comrades. And her voice sounds especially loud, even compared to her body.

Loud Mouth earned her nickname during training. Her thundering voice rallied those around her, and drove them to ever greater shows of devotion and martial skill. And when she was given the mortar that everyone knew was to be her weapon, she wore it almost as if it had been a small grenade-launcher, enjoying its loud barks when fired. Her rash and pugnace behavior allowed her to rise to the rank of sergeant. But her brutish and direct way of thinking prevented her to become a captain.

It wasn't a problem for this mountain of a woman, however. Loud Mouth enjoy to be standing among her smaller comrades, behaving not unlike a mother bear of Old Terra did when protecting her cubs. And several of them are her children, for Colonel Vahanen made sure she received excellent rejuvenating treatments, to keep fighting for the Emperor as long as possible. None of her kids is as tall as she is, but many a mortar wielder is now significantly taller than the rest of the 215th, and it bring great pride to Loud Mouth.