Lieutenant Cray Rush

Full Name: Cray Rush
Rank: Lieutenant
Gender: Male
Birthdate: 0432790M41
Height: 5' 11"
Build: Athletic/Wiry
Eyes: Grey/Blue
Hair: Bald (shaven), Greying brown otherwise
Skin: White

Career: Arch-militant
Origin: Penal World - Maleziel
Birthright: In Service to the Throne - Tithed
Lure of the Void: Chosen by Destiny - Fated for Greatness
Trials and Travails: Lost Worlds - Beyond the Pale
Motivation: Endurance
Lineage: A Dark Secret
Connections: Bodyguard to Captain Rack
Public Reputation: (To be finalised)
Ship-board Reputation: (To be finalised)

Imperial Docket 27059

"Educate Men without Faith and you but make them clever devils"

Form 88.443.xf66
OH-141-4982-113D
Docudesc: Background report on Subject 4-10.
Security Clearance: Carmine
Author: Classified
Recipient: Classified

My Lord, as per your request details pertaining to the origin of Subject 4-10 as follows. Be advised much difficulty arose concerning much of its past, not least of which included the recalcitrance of the Malezian "authorities". This humble servant of the Throne has however endured and persevered as much as his limited abilities permited and I present unto you the following.

Subject 4-10 was born on Maleziel, approximately 0432790M41, although precision is almost impossible here I believe correlation of Imperial records along with the fragmentary anecdotal evidence provided by local "volunteers" can establish the date to within 4 standard months. The mother apparently died shortly after childbirth, no doubt due to the tender ministrations of the infamous "Papa" Rush and his misbegotten clan. It appears this figure of local legend is reviled even amongst the wretched, twisted and ashen-souled populace of this most blighted of worlds. According to local evidence (Provided mostly by the "Wardens", the nominal descendants of the worlds crashed prison ship) this Rush has been responsible for an almost mythical number of disappearances amongst a variety of far wandering gang and group members. Rumour has it he dwells far into the barren, twilight-enshrouded worlds badlands, preying on any he can aquire in order to feed his motley family. Indeed, cannibalism appears to be the main activity practised, although the locals took great delight in informing me of his practice of using female captives as breeding stock.

Apparently this Rush adheres to a vile, heretical ideal of the consumption of ones enemies, preferably the hideous Mutant, in order to acquire their nebulously defined "strengths" in order to prosper in their harsh environs. A great deal of the accursed beings are to be found here and one would almost approve the sheer amount that are rumoured to have been destroyed by this man were it not for his utterly damnable ideals and practices. According to testimonial from escapees and other unfortunates, this has led both himself and many of his offspring developing a multitude of hideous afflictions. Whilst they do prey upon each other and winnow out those considered too weak to survive, I must believe most of these accounts to be spurious conjecture. How else could one such as the Subject have survived to maturity, yet alone prospered and earned his own legends on this shadowed sphere?

Inasmuch as this "Papa" Rush's household would seem inhospitable, local legend states that the Subject survived to be raised by a string of captive women, no doubt clinging to the most human seeming of the children out of some desperate desire for comfort or familiarity. Allegedly learning to not to avoid the bigger, more violent members of his clan but to use his inherent talents and no doubt much keener intellect to outwit and strike down the brutes before being subject to great violence. It appears that many of the clan despised him, probably for his blessed form compared to their twisted miens, yet he was tolerated as not only being a useful lure in their many traps, but also for his ability to travel and enter other settlements relatively unnoticed. In short, he was already learning to blend in whilst disguising his monstrous nature.

Needless to say, no attachment to the many female victims was developed, given their ephemeral lifespans in such an environment. Neither was the standard fare of the clan avoided, although unlike his brethren who delighted in such sustenance, apparently the Subject simply ate what he could to survive. A picture of a particularly cold and survival-focused individual comes to light. Apparently by his early teens the Subject was considered both competent and difficult enough to be ejected from his clan, seemingly for eliminating a few too many of them. As with any pack of predators the sick or dangerous are driven away into the wilderness, to live or die according to their own skills and the winds of Fate.

From this point on tracing his movements becomes much easier. Fleeing far from their enclave he apparently took up companionship over the next 6 years with several of the larger gangs as well as spending months at a time ostracised and alone in the wilds. Quite how he survived it is probably best not to ponder on too long, although as his reputation grew it became generally accepted he had upheld most family traditions. Certainly as his welcome wore out amongst each group (generally quickly) he became notorious for various imaginatively performed assassinations of those known to have publicly snubbed, insulted or derided him amongst said groups before vanishing back into the twilight of this shade-realm. Frankly after a few years it got to the stage where none would welcome him. Many would contract him for assistance in the various settlement raids or frontier wars, none would shelter him beyond that. Of course as his reputation grew the Wardens in particular, always looking for suitably entertaining Trial fodder, began to search in earnest.

Justice on Maleziel is a particularly warped and brutal take on the concept, my Lord. Only the Wardens, as their head is the recognised Governor, may issue warrants, arrest, detain and sentence those considered criminal on a planet of criminals. In practice this veneer of legality is only applied to the Trials held within the bowels of the crashed ship, Maleziel, under the solemn gaze of a hand carved version of the figurehead itself. Here the convicted are hung by chains as a parade of "witnesses", alleged victims and other individuals who can entertain the baying crowd are paraded before the accused to denounce, insult and deride as much as possible for the entertainment of the masses. These farcical trials are generally followed by notably gory punishments…

As the bounty offered by the Wardens had grown large enough to be of interest to the outlying raiders of the planet, it seems that many of the Subjects former employees, victims and others grouped up to bring him to "justice". The hunt apparently took over a month, with the ferocious chase suffering tremendous losses from various traps, ambushes, night-slayings and suchlike. Eventually though he was brought to heel and dragged before the primitive court. The details of the Trial are extensive (The Wardens seem to take great delight in demonstrating their adherence to the Administratums standard recording techniques for official events). Over 400 seperate criminal charges are levied at the Subject, including but not limited to heresy, treason, rape, murder and so forth. The most interesting thing to note here is that the majority of the local crimes, such as the mass rape and murder, appear to be genuine! Needless to say the sentence of death was inevitable.

Justice is a strange thing in this place. As a Penal World, Maleziel can boast that every single person tithed to the Legions from there is a volunteer. They are absolutely right, as it is considered a sentence of death in all regards and those sentenced to such a fate may choose to partake of it in service to the Emperor within the Penal Legions. Such was the Subjects choice and fate. The records state this prompted a full blown riot within the ship/city itself, brutally put down over the period of a week by the Wardens at great cost to themselves.

Suffice to say the Subjects record from his induction into the Penal Legion in question (Ident. 14952343) up to his deployment on Classified is provided in Form 88.444.yg04, summarised here for consistency. Service with the Classified starts on Classified until their final engagement on Classified which culminated in his transfer as the sole recorded survivor of the trench wars there to the Classified whereupon the winter invasion of Classified commenced. Officers of the Commissariat reported the Subjects unit, while admirable in their role as forward reconnaissance, was also linked to the disappearance of no less than 11 NCO's and commissioned officers as well as 3 Commissars. Whilst distracted by the actions undertaken across the planet and with the necessity of maintaining order with very limited Commissariat presence not much was done given the lack of evidence beyond their well-fed appearance amongst the frostbitten and malnourished mass of Legionnaires.

Now around 28 standard years of age, a veteran of a brutal upbringing and several years of Penal servitude with occasional promotions, frequent disciplinary actions and a fearful reputation the Subject comes to the attention of Classified in the worrisome case of affairs surrounding Classified and the actions of the Adeptus Mechanicus there. Exactly who authorised his transfer after Classified to that missions, under the overall comand of Classified is a mystery I have not been able to unravel. My Lord I would suspect the hand of one with influence to rival your own at the least given the similarity between my investigative problems here and in the previous case of Subject 372! For fear of discovering that which I am not meant to know I must ask for instruction on this matter and its continuation. However the readily accessible information is summarised here for your convenience and to display the limits of my research so far.

On Classifed the Subject is transferred to the Classified at the behest of parties unknown. Transport to Classified is undertaken with the troops given the usual logistical information concerning jungle warfare, known native flora and fauna dangers and other standard procedures. Upon landing the Subject is assigned limited command of B Section, 12 Command as befits his then rank of Corporal. Several months go by with clearance, reconnaissance and labour work notable only for encounters with particularly vicious native wildlife. these are noteworthy for the reports (collated in addendum files below) of the seemingly flawless pack tactis employed by the beats. I have managed to find similarities between this and ERr0R+FileM1ss1ng+IDE0045298083/CarmInKrypted054378 disturbing to say the least! However as is later confirmed the creatures are unable to maintain this cohesion around the Subject. Whilst this is noted by the Captain it is not considered important and attributed to simple combat confusion.

Upon gaining entry to the structure reports become garbled. Apparently squads were sent down behind the Adeptus teams to secure lines of communication, when contact was severed abruptly with both the Adeptus teams and the Command structure above. The accounts hereafter of the running battles, the involvement of Classified Interrogators and other servants as well as the Adeptus's treachery are difficult to correlate. Apparently some bio-agent was responsible for the spontaneous mutations of much of the Legion personnel as well as many of the Mechanicus involved. These included chameleo-form mimicry of the Emperors divine form and massive confusion amongst the Guard. Subject is noted for identifying several tell-tale marks as well as vox-comp ident of mutated command personnel by voice pattern. Counter-psychological manoeuvring ensues alongside attempts to regroup and consolidate with the Astropath Classified and Interrogator Classified. It appears that a small squad of Guard under the Subjects command formed in the chaos, with information on threat ident and countermeasures (Overcharged Lasgun pack grenades!) being disseminated and enacted. The intial retreat from the structure is remarkable and organised, if nightmarish, yet it is nothing compared to the aftermath.

My Lord, this Subject escaped the initial release of the bio-agent, its servants and creations, fought through to the Interrogator and Artropath under the mental direction of Classified (Incidentally formally confirming the existence of the ERr0R+FileM1ss1ng+IDE000000676/CarmInNoctis in the Subject for the first time!), Escaped with them to the outside world and then survived nearly 3 months in the alien jungle with only the hope of the recently deceased Astropath's communique keeping the squad unified! Subsequent reports indicate that a possible romantic connection to Interrogator Classified may have been key to maintaining a cohesion as well as basic group survival tactics. Upon Inquisitorial intervention and the cleansin operation, subject was evacuated, genetically tested and confirmed. Whilst pronounced clear of any taint, he is also confirmed as correctly diagnosed by your esteemed colleague.

Convalescence on Classified follows with transfer to Port Wander ordered as the same time as formal release from Penal Servitude into the Imperial Guard itself, along with secondment to Classified. As such the Subject is now on his way to the Port as of Classified

Addendum I cannot help but feel that whilst the qualities desired are certainly present, that extreme caution must be used in dealing with this Subject. It appears that authority figures will only work if there is respect for ability or capability present. Rank and station are incidental and possess no inherent worth to this Subject. Deal from a position of strength, make him need you and maintain control. Without that the Subject is unpredictable, dangerous and inherently malevolent. It is still to early to say if he can be conditioned, let alone trained for ERr0R+FileM1ss1ng+IDE000000677/CarmInNoctis!