{{citeotheruses|USE=Blood Angels|OTHERUSE=[[Craftworld]]|OTHERPAGE=Mero}}{{Character|Portal ={{BloodAngelsPortal}}|Name ={{PAGENAME}}|Image =MerosLegions.jpg|Caption ={{PAGENAME}}{{Fn|4}}|Title =|Homeworld =|Birth =c. Late [[M30]]|Active Period =[[M30]] - ???|Death =006.[[M31]], [[Battle of Signus]]|Cause of Death =Became possessed by the [[Red Angel]]|Species =[[Human]]|Type =[[Astartes]]|Gender =Male|Relatives =|Occupation =[[Apothecary]] of the [[Blood Angels]] 9th Company|Preceded by =|Succeeded by =|Faction ='' ''*[[Imperium of Man]]**[[Blood Angels]]|Notes =}}'''Meros''' was an [[Apothecary]] of the [[Blood Angels]] [[Legion]] during the [[Great Crusade]] and the start of the [[Horus Heresy]]. Serving as a "Junior Medicae" or squad level apothecary, Meros served in the 9th [[9th Company (Blood Angels Legion|9th Company]] under [[Space Marine Captain|Brother Captain]] [[Furio]].{{Fn|11a}}

===History==={{spoiler|source=Fear to Tread (Novel)}}Meros was a simple line-[[Astartes]] of solid if unremarkable service. Following the battle of [[Melchior]], [[First Captain]] [[Raldoron]] tasked Meros with removing the [[progenoid]] glands from Brother [[AlotrosAlatros]], then instructing him to never repeat what had happened to anyone. {{Fn|1a}}

During a war against the [[Dark Eldar]] on [[Nartaba Octus]], Meros was assigned to [[Task Force Ignis]], a Blood Angels flotilla overseeing the evacuation of the human population of the planet before it was subjected to [[Exterminatus]]. Part of the last group off the planet, the [[Stormbird]] Meros was riding in was shot down by a [[Soul -SeekerAmmunition|Soul Seeker round]] round and Meros slipped into a poison induced coma. In an attempt to save the injured apothecary, Sergeant [[Cassiel (Blood Angels)|Cassiel]] and Brother [[Sarga]] placed Meros in one of the exsanguinators, the blood coffins used in the Blood Angels neophyte transformation process. The intent was to drain the poisoned blood from Meros and replace it will fresh, clean blood. During his time in the exsanguinator, Meros met Brother [[Rafen]] through a genetic link they shared and who has in the same exsanguinator, albeit ten thousand years in the future. The two soon found that they were not alone, encountering the [[Sanguinor]]. Unable to believe what he was seeing, Rafen pulled his bolter on the mysterious entity, and Meros, assuming that the Sanguinor could only be [[Sanguinius]] himself, tried to stop him. When Rafen told Meros that Sanguinius had been dead for ten thousand years and that there was no Blood Angels Legion anymore, Meros attacked Rafen in a rage. Before the two could kill on another they were beset by phantom enemies; blood memories of past victories. Fighting side-by-side the two Blood Angels found a sense of camaraderie but it was Rafen who figured out what the magnitude of the two meeting could mean. Before they were pulled from their parallel yet separate blood comas, Rafen managed to utter a single word: [[Horus]], but the Sanguinor appeared and placed its finger over his mouth, indicating that Rafen was to be silent. At that moment, both were pulled back to their respective realities. Upon awakening, Meros was presented before [[Azkaellon]], Captain of the [[Sanguinary Guard]]. who was impressed by his resilience. Azkaellon then informed the assembled Astartes that they had received orders from the [[Warmaster]] to gather the entire IX Legion at the [[Signus System]]. {{Fn|11x}}{{Fn|2}}

====Signus Prime====During the Blood Angels cleansing of the Signus System, Meros served aboard the ''[[Red Tear]]'', the flagship of the Legion. When the Legion discovered derelict starshps drifting aimlessly through the system, Meros was one of the apothecaries called to examine the bodies of the slain. To his horror, Meros discovered the bodies simply had no bones, nor was there any trace of what had killed the humans. The blood of the bodies had been a strange pinkish hue that reminded Meros of the color of the [[Warp]]. {{Fn|1x}}

During a search and rescue mission to the planet Holst in the Signus system, Meros and his squad, along with a seemingly loyal squad of [[Word Bearers]], encountered a Warp possessed [[Hive City]]. The city itself tried to kill them, using Frankenstein-esque monsters of rebar, concrete and steel. During their attempted escape from the city's outer precincts, Meros stumbled upon the body of a slain Word Bearer and noticed his blood was the same pinkish hue of the Warp touched humans. Before he could conduct an in-depth study, the Word Bearer's Captain drove him off, demanding he leave the slain warrior at peace. The Blood Angels and Word Bearers were only saved by the personal intervention of Captain [[Amit]] who used [[ThunderhawksThunderhawk]] s and [[Storm RavensRaven]] s to destroy a maggot-like creature made from abandoned subway tunnels. Holst was subsequently destroyed by orbital bombardment. {{Fn|11x}}

Meros was part of the detachment that traveled travelled to Signus Six and rescued a small band of survivors, among their number a [[Blank]]. It would be on Signus Prime that Meros would meet his ultimate fate. After Sanguinius was knocked unconscious by the [[Blood Thirster]] [[Ka'Bandha]], Meros took part in a strike team to destroy the daemons fortress, the Cathedral of the Marque. While the rest of the legion, save the handful in the strike force under First Captain Raldoron, were gripped by the [[Red Thirst]], Meros and his brothers fought through hordes of [[Daemonettes]] and [[Bloodletters]] to infiltrate the Cathedral. It was during the final confrontation between Sanguinius and the two [[Greater Daemon]]s, Ka'Bandha and [[Kyriss]] the Perverse, that Meros sealed his fate. After Sanguinius threw Ka'Bandha to its death from the tower of the Cathedral, Kyriss offered the Angel a deal. The daemons, along with [[First Chaplain]] [[Erebus]] of the [[Word Bearers]] and [[Chief Apothecary]] [[Fabius Bile]] of the [[Emperor's Children]], had created a cursed artifact of pure rage, using the half dead body of Captain [[Tagas]] who was believed to have been slain on the planet [[Murder]] years earlier. Stripped of all that made him a Blood Angel, Tagas was driven mad with pain and rage and was the conduit for the rage that had consumed the Blood Angels Legion. Kyriss's deal was simple: Sanguinius need only step into the swirling vortex of blood and rage and allow his body and soul to be fully corrupted. In return, Kyriss would cure the Blood Angels of both the [[Red Thirst]] and the [[Black Rage]] forever. Seeing that Sanguinius was seriously considering taking the deal, Meros leapt into the [[Chaos]] realm instead, followed swiftly by Sanguinius. Inside the vortex, Meros refused to let his [[Primarch]] take the deal. Instead Meros cut out his own [[geneseed]] and offered it to Sanguinius before allowing the rage to possess him. Meros the apothecary was dead, and the '''[[Red Angel]]''' had been born. {{Fn|11x}}

====The Red Angel====

Sanguinius confronted the daemon and demanded Meros be freed. When the Red Angel refused, Sanguinius softly asked if anything of Meros remained that could hear him. After a moment the Red Angel responded that there was a small part. Sanguinius promised Meros that his sacrifice would not be in vain and that Sanguinius would find a way to kill the daemon that now possessed him. Without further words, the Red Angel disappeared into the swirling [[Warp Gate]] it created. {{Fn|11x}}

The Red Angel would later present itself to [[Horus]] aboard the [[Vengeful Spirit]] and claim it would be a weapon in the [[Warmaster]]'s hands. When asked by Ererbus Erebus why the daemon thought it could take the name "Red Angel" which belonged to [[Angron]], the daemon merely responded that the name fit it better and that it would fight Angron if the primarch took issue with that. The ultimate fate of the Red Angel is unknown. {{Fn|11x}}{{Fn|3}}

====Legacy====Because Meros removed his geneseed before his sacrifice, his genetic legacy was able to continue. Eventually his geneseed would be implanted in [[Rafen]], who was greatly honored honoured to bear the geneseed of a hero of the Legion and a man who personally saved Sanguinius.{{Fn|2}}

===Sources===*{{Endn|1Citation issues}}*1: [[Fear to Tread(Novel)]] by [[James Swallow]], :**{{Endn|1a}}: ''Prologue: Melchior''**{{Endn|1x}}: {{Cite ThisCME}}*{{Endn|2}}: ''[[Bloodline (Short Story)]]'' by '''James Swallow'''*{{Endn|3}}: [[Collected Visions]] , pgs. 265-266265–266*{{Endn|4}}: [[The Horus Heresy: Legions]]

[[Category:Characters (Space MarineGreat Crusade)]][[Category:Characters (DaemonHorus Heresy)]][[Category:The Horus HeresyCharacters (Space Marine Apothecaries)]]