Golden Lion
The Golden Lion is an Imperial Knight Errant Freeblade, whose heraldry represents perseverance and courage.[1b]
History
According to legends, the Golden Lion once served a now long lost Knight House[1b] and he was the valiant leader of its Silver Lionguard group. These Knights were his sworn protectors and stalwartly defended the Golden Lion no matter what odds they faced.[1c] But this was put to the test, when their Knight World was overrun by the forces of Chaos. While defeat seemed inevitable, the Golden Lion rallied his House's remaining Knights for a last attack against the invaders. He would slay many of the heretics in this final battle, which ultimately succeeded in blunting the strength of the Chaos forces.[1b] However only the Lionguard known as the Silver Knight and the grievously wounded Golden Lion,[1c] still lived.[1b] It was thanks to the Silver Knight's heroic efforts however, that the Golden Lion was able to escape from the battlefield.[1c] With their House now destroyed though,[1b] the two decided to become Freeblade Knights afterwards.[1b][1c] The Silver Knight still chose to fight beside the Golden Lion[1c] and they now both serve in the same Indomitus Crusade Fleet.[1b][1c]
The Freeblades have since aided their fleet[1b][1c] in reclaiming many of the Imperium's lost worlds. However, their service was nearly ended when the fleet was ambushed by the Prophet's Black Legion warband. This left its Space Marine Commander with no choice but to order the fleet's warships to escape into the Warp. Despite doing so, however, the Sorcerer Lord tracked them within the Warp and launched an attack on the Commander's Battle Barge flagship. But as his forces fought the Imperials, the Prophet began secretly summoning Daemons within the Battle Barge. They materialised throughout the flagship and once he was done, the Sorcerer Lord ordered his warband to withdraw. Shortly afterwards, the Daemons caused catastrophic damage to the Battle Barge and the Commander enacted an emergency exit from the Warp.[1a]
While the Crusade Fleet survived doing so, it was left scattered within a sector of the Imperium Nihilus.[1a] The Commander then began regrouping his forces and as he did so,[1d] he learned that that very same sector was now being invaded by the Prophet. The Commander then led the two Freeblades and the rest of his forces against the Sorcerer Lord's warband, in order to save the sector's worlds.[1e] Thanks to the Commander's leadership, the fleet was able to foil[1g] the Prophet's plot to pull the sector into the Warp,[1f] though the Sorcerer Lord escaped before the Imperials could kill him.[1g] The vengeful Prophet then sought to free the imprisoned Daemon Prince Halphas, so that he could destroy the fleet and its Commander.[1h] However, despite succeeding in doing so, the Imperials defeated the Daemon Prince. Afterwards, the Commander confronted the Prophet and once again defeated the Sorcerer Lord.[1i]
Sources
- 1: Warhammer 40,000: Lost Crusade - Campaign
