Agun Soric
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The following paragraphs contain spoilers for: | Gaunt's Ghosts (Novel Series) |
Agun Soric was a foundry boss who lived and worked in Vervunhive on the planet Verghast. Following the Siege of Vervunhive, he signed up for the Astra Militarum, becoming an officer of the Tanith First and Only.[2a]
Biography
Verghast
According to Soric, his great grandmother was a witch and a fortune teller who could see glimpses of the future in her dreams; Soric's mother insisted that, being the seventh son of a seventh son, Soric would inherit his ancestor's "second sight", but Soric displayed no psychic talent for most of his life.[3d]
Prior to the Siege of Vervunhive, Soric was the supervisor of Vervun Smeltery One, a foundry in service to the Noble House Gavunda.[1a]
When the Ferrozoicans attacked and laid siege to Vervunhive, Soric lost an eye during the initial artillery barrage which killed many workers such as Vor.[1a] Despite his injury, Soric was able to evacuate over 300 smeltery workers from the ruined building.[1b] Notably, even after the siege, he chose not to have an augmetic replacement or indeed to cover the lost eye with a patch.[2a]
While guiding his evacuees through the streets of Vervunhive, Soric and the others were prevented from accessing a refugee camp by VPHC Commissar Bownome. Tensions between Bownome and his Vervun Primary troops and Soric's gang rose until the smeltery worker Ozmac tried to push past Bownome's barricade, with the Vervun troops opening fire on the workers. However, Soric quickly led the workers in a charge that overwhelmed the soldiers through sheer numbers.[1b] Over the course of the Siege, Soric and his workers provided labour in exchange for better-quality rations.[1c][1d]
By the time of the Third Zoican Storm of Vervunhive, Soric had become the leader of a Scratch Company some 700 strong known as the Smeltery Irregulars. After saving the life of Colonel Bulwar, Soric was given the brevet rank of Sergeant and his Irregulars were officially made part of the hive defence forces.[1e]
Sabbat Crusade
In the aftermath of the siege, Vervunhive was practically destroyed. Warmaster Macaroth declared an Act of Consolation, allowing the survivors of Vervunhive to enlist with the Astra Militarum. Soric took this chance, joining the Tanith First and Only regiment and, due to his experience in the siege, was allowed to keep his brevet rank, becoming one of the first Verghastite members of the regiment to achieve officer status (alongside the likes of Kolea and Haller).[1f][2a][2b]
Major Rawne considered Soric as a good fighter and leader despite his inexperience - Rawne also noted that he wasn't afraid to ask questions about how to lead his men.[2b] Soric's platoon soon came to be regarded as one of the five finest in the entire regiment (the so-called "front five").[3a]
He first saw action with the Tanith First on the Shrine World of Hagia. At this time, Soric was the oldest member of the regiment, older even than Chief Medic Dorden or Colonel Corbec.[2a]
Later, when the Tanith First were deployed in the assault on Cirenholm on the planet Phantine, Soric suffered a bad chest wound while fighting against Blood Pact cult soldiers.[3b] The Imperial forces were victorious at Cirenholm and thanks to the efforts of his fellow Guardsmen he was able to receive medical attention. Despite flatlining twice, the regiment's medics were able to stabilise him.[3c]
He remained in a coma for weeks after the event, before awakening for seemingly no reason. When he woke up, he snuck out of his hospital bed, somehow acquired a laspistol, and stood vigil over Colonel Corbec (also in a coma from injuries at Cirenholm), claiming that he had a dream about "daemonic rats" in the Colonel's blood. Chief Medic Dorden and Surgeon Curth were able to calm him down and return him to his bed. However, Soric's words led Curth to ask Dorden to perform a precautionary screen of Corbec's blood; Dorden found that Corbec had developed an infection that would have killed him had they not discovered it in time. Thanks to Soric's warning, they were able to stabilise Corbec's condition and save his life.[3d]
Soric's strange premonitions continued during the regiment's deployment to Aexe Cardinal. He was shaken awake by Trooper Vivvo as the first artillery barrage came down. The younger trooper was in a panic, but the two could not get out of their position due to gas and mud in the air. Once back in the foxhole, Soric found a message shell in his pocket, though had no memory of writing one. Unfolding it, he found a warning of the exact length of the artillery barrage as well as the direction the enemy assault would come from. Not a single enemy made it within fifteen meters of his position, and Soric knew at least 76 had been slain without a single loss among his platoon. He could not stop himself from drinking on duty after the assault, desperately trying to make sense of one piece of the note: it was written in his own handwriting.[4a] The notes would continue to come, warning him that the air was clean within the Seiberq Pocket, but his sweaty hands prevented him from fully reading the warning to Raglon and his platoon. Sure enough, Raglon ended up pinned down.[4b] Soric knew the Ghosts' next deployment before the orders came, as a message shell in his pocket had one word written on it: Herodor.[4c]
