Ferdal Quiller
Ferdal Quiller[Note 1] was a Lieutenant in the Cadian 75th Armoured, who commanded the Shadowsword Titans' Bane.[2]
History
After Cadia was destroyed by Abaddon the Despoiler, Quiller was riddled with guilt as she was not able to take part in defending her Homeworld. Months later, a plea for aid was received from the Imperial Agri World Xalxat, which was being attacked by Nurgle Cultists and a Plaguelord-Class Titan. Eager to avenge the loss of Cadia, the Cadian 75th Armoured and several other Cadian Armoured Regiments went to aid Xalxat, alongside Armoured Regiments from Mordia and Paragon. Lieutenant Quiller was among the Regiments' forces that attacked the Plague Titan and they were able to successfully destroy it. Doing so had resulted in heavy causalities, however, and Titans' Bane was damaged and suffered the loss of a crew member. In their rush to engage their foes, though, the Regiments were unaware that there were in fact two Plague Titans invading Xalxat. As they celebrated their victory and made repairs, the second Plague Titan appeared and attacked the unprepared Regiments. It struck without mercy and destroyed many of the Regiments' tanks and once again Quiller's Shadowsword was damaged and lost a crew member. The surviving tanks were forced to flee and Quiller had to take in tankless Mordian and Paragonian crew members to keep Titans' Bane operational. The second Plague Titan had turned the tide of the battle and soon the Cultists began to sweep aside the Imperials. Meanwhile an on-going argument between of Quiller's Cadian crew members and the replacement Paragonian, turned physical. This was after the Paragonian refused to stop singing battle songs from his Homeworld, which led the Cadian crew member to attack him. Quiller was forced to threaten to bring a Commissar aboard the Titans' Bane to restore order and end any squabbling among the crew. Soon afterwards, however, they received word that the battle for Xalxat was lost and an Exterminatus had been ordered to destroy the doomed world. 90 minutes remained before its destruction and the Regiments' survivors were now evacuating from the last remaining citadel in their control.[2]
As Titans' Bane now rushed to the citadel, the crew received word that the second Plague Titan was now moving to attack. With the Mordian tanks having all been destroyed in the battle, the Cadian and Paragonian tanks engaged the Titan to protect the citadel. Quiller knew that only her Shadowsword's weapons could damage the Titan, though it was so heavily damaged that there was a risk of it exploding should they be fired. Nonetheless, the Lieutenant knew they had to take the risk and urged her crew to work faster to reach the citadel. The Cultists, however, had unleashed deadly diseases across Xalxat, which had not only destroyed its crops, but also created deadly miasma smog to appear. One such patch of smog surrounded Titans' Bane and with the many gaping wounds in its armour, the miasma soon seeped inside of the Shadowsword. Though Quiller's crew quickly donned respirators, the Titans' Bane's Tech Priest warned that the smog spread to the citadel and they would be dissolved by the miasma before they could clear it. After hearing this, Quiller decided to strike a final vengeful blow against their foes and told her crew that though they would die, they had a chance to save the remaining Regiments within the citadel. If they could get close enough and misfire while firing at the Plague Titan, the damaged Titans' Bane would explode and destroy the Titan as well. Quiller's crew agreed with her plan and as they raced toward the Plague Titan, the Lieutenant ordered the safety measures to be removed from Titans' Bane's armaments and allowed them to begin overcharging. The advancing Plague Titan had already defeated the Regiments' tanks defending the citadel, when the Shadowsword finally reached it. While it came under heavy fire, Titans' Bane was able to near the Plague Titan before it reached the citadel and fired its canon at point-blank range at the Titan. As Quiller had hoped they would, the Shadowsword's armaments misfired and caused Titans' Bane to start exploding. The Lieutenant and her crew then sang a Paragonian battle song, before they were consumed by the Shadowsword's massive explosion.[2]
Notes
- Note 1: Spelling taken from an interview in the first link
Sources
- 1: Track Of Words website: RAPID FIRE: Chris Dows Talks Titans’ Bane (Posted on 16/03/2018) (Last accessed on 2 October 2020)
- 2: Titans' Bane (Audio Drama):
- 2a: Cover art
