Ishlar bal Nezaar
Ishlar bal Nezaar is an Intercessor Sergeant in the Tome Keepers' 3rd Company, who has over 60 years of service with the Chapter. He is currently among the Company's forces, that are taking part in the Indomitus Crusade's Argovon Campaign.[1]
History
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The following paragraphs contain spoilers for: | The Final Chapter (Short Story) |
Prior to that, Nezaar was a Tactical Marine who had just entered his Chapter's 6th Company, when they were sent to destroy a Genestealer Cult. He zealously fought the Cult, but he underestimated his foes and by the battle's end, many of Nezaar's Battle Brothers had been killed. He kept their memories alive, though, by writing the names of the dead in his personal tome, which all the Tome Keepers kept with them to record their history. In M42, Nezaar would later take part in the campaign against Orks that invaded Forhaven, which saw the Xenos slain and the world saved. When the Tome Keepers received the technology to create Primaris Space Marines, Nezaar underwent the Rubicon Primaris so that he could become one himself.[1]
He then became an Intercessor Sergeant in the Tome Keepers' 3rd Company, which took part in the Indomitus Crusade's Argovon Campaign. During the Campaign, Nezaar's squadron was among the Imperial forces sent to cleanse a Genestealer Cult infestation on Argovon. There the squadron fought beside some of the 43rd Navroni Regiment Guardsmen against the Cult, which soon unleashed its Genestealers against the Imperials. The Intercessor Amel was the closest to the Xenos and he relentlessly began to fire upon them. Nezaar would tell the Navroni to get back, as they were no match for the Genestealers, before he raced to Amel's aid. The Sergeant also called the Intercessors Asil and Nasir to assist him, just as Amel's Bolt Rifle ran out of ammunition. This allowed two Genestealers to close in on him, before Amel killed them with his Bolt Pistol. However the Genestealers were still able to heavily wound Amel before they died. This enraged, Nezaar, who reached Amel's side and fired upon the other Genestealers who were attempting to kill the wounded Intercessor. Even with Asil and Nasir's aid, though, the Xenos' numbers did not thin and soon Nezaar was out of ammunition as well. He then charged and killed several Genestealers in melee, before Nezaar felt a looming presence bear down on him. The Sergeant quickly moved away from his position and was barley able to dodge a killing strike from the Cult's Genestealer Patriarch. Nezaar would attempt to attack the Patriarch, but the Xenos used its psychic gaze, to make the Sergeant feel like he was fighting underwater. This allowed the Patriarch to avoid Nezzaar's blows and it would have killed the Sergeant, had Amel not intervened. Though he was heavily wounded, the Intercessor shoved his Sergeant away from the Patriarch, which freed Nezaar from its psychic hold. Amel then placed himself between Nezaar and the Patraich, before he pulled out a Krak Grenade. The Intercessor asked Nezzar to make the final chapter in his personal tome a good one, before he then pulled the grenade's pin. The subsequent explosion killed both Amel and the Genestealer Patriarch, which allowed the Imperials to defeat the Cult's forces.[1]
Afterwards, Nezaar and the surviving nine members of his squadron, returned to the Tome Keepers' Strike Cruiser Hariwok. It served as their base of operations, during the Argovon Campaign, and it was there that Nezaar contemplated Amel's personal tome. As his immediate superior, it was the Sergeant's responsibility to write down the final Chapter of Amel's life within it, in a ritual known as the Closing of the Book. Nezaar struggled with this, however, to the point that the Sergeant's second-in-command, Enlil, offered to write the final chapter instead. The Sergeant said no, as it was his duty, and then went to his room aboard the Hariwok to begin writing. As he sat down, on a desk generations of his House Nezaar ancestors had built and which he aided in meticulously decorating, Nezaar finished his task. The Sergeant wrote that Amel had shown great fortitude in the face of the enemy and that the Intercessor had given his life to achieve victory. Amel's final chapter was then later read aloud by Orator Sephax, as he held the Chapter's Rites of Remembrance ceremony for the slain Intercessor.[1]
Sources
- 1: White Dwarf 465, pgs. 38-43 - The Final Chapter (Short Story)
