Diocletian Coros
 Diocletian Coros[3] | |
|---|---|
| Homeworld | Terra |
| Born | c. M29/M30 |
| Active Period | M29/M30 - ??? |
| Species | Human |
| Type | Custodes |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation(s) |
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| Affiliation(s) | |
Diocletian Coros was a Tribune[1] and Prefect of the Hykanatoi caste of the Custodian Guard during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy.[1]
History
Diocletian was amongst the earliest members of the Custodes and had served in the Hetaeron Guard.[8] Falling under the command of Tribune Ra Endymion, during the War Within the Webway Diocletian was charged with organising a fresh wave of Imperial forces to resist the Chaos forces in the Webway including the condemned prisoners of House Vyridion. During the final battle for the portal Diocletian fought alongside both Ra and the Emperor himself, eventually managing to evacuate the Webway and make it back to Terra. After the battle the Emperor began showing visions of the past to Diocletian much as he had done with Ra, indicating that he had become Custodes Tribune following Ra's disappearance into the Webway.[1]
Now the sole remaining Tribune, Diocletian commanded Custodes forces of the Inner Palace during the Siege of Terra and oversaw the defence of the Eternity Gate alongside Sanguinius. As Daemons began manifesting inside the Sanctum itself, Coros went off to seek a "good death", wishing Malcador the same.[4] Diocletian accompanied the Emperor during the teleportation assault aboard the Vengeful Spirit, becoming scattered from his liege-lord and fighting alongside Constantin Valdor.[5] Finding total madness aboard the Vengeful Spirit, the Custodians were forced to fight in pitch-black against waves of Daemons. During the fighting, Coros was brought down despite Valdor's attempts to save him.[6]
Coros and a few other surviving Custodes later make it to Lupercal's Court, where they discover Valdor, Dorn, Garviel Loken, and Leetu with the bodies of Horus and the Emperor. Seeing the state of the Emperor caused Coros along with Valdor and the other surviving Custodes to weep. Coros was then able to initiate the teleportation that brings the loyalists back to the Imperial Palace.[7]
After the siege, Diocletian met with the now Lord Commander of the Imperium Roboute Guilliman frequently to organise the state of the post-war Imperium. Despite these meetings, Diocletian never stopped distrusting and hating the Primarchs for what they had done to the Emperor and His dream and contemplated killing Guilliman out of rage. Afterwards, Diocletian clad himself in the gold of his order once again to journey into the Imperial Dungeon to visit the now-enthroned Emperor. He then asked the Emperor if He dreamed.[8]
Legacy
Diocletian was noted for being one of the few Custodes capable of dreaming and they were reverently written to script. These scripts were then buried in the deepest vaults of the Imperial Palace's Inner Palace, along with the recorded dreams of other Custodes.[2a] Later on in his career, Diocletian wrote a seminal work dubbed The Master of Mankind. The book was still read by the Custodes 10,000 years later.[2b]
Sources
- 1: Master of Mankind (Novel), Chapters 20–Epilogue
- 2: Watchers of the Throne: The Emperor's Legion:
- 3: The Horus Heresy: Legions
- 4: Echoes of Eternity (Novel), Chapter 31
- 5: The End and the Death: Volume I (Novel), 3:xiv
- 6: The End and the Death: Volume II (Novel), 8:xvi
- 7: The End and the Death: Volume III (Novel), 10:xix
- 8: Era of Ruin (Anthology) - The Carrion Lord of the Imperium (Short Story)
