Leo Lemuel
Leo Lemuel was a Sergeant of the Imperial Guard closely tied to Lord Solar Macharius during the Macharian Crusade.[1a]
Biography
Hailing from the Hive World of Belial, Leo and his comrades Ivan and Antoniev joined the Imperial Guard in order to escape the constant gang warfare of their world. He soon became a tank driver on the Baneblade Indomitable in the 7th Belial Regiment.[1a]
Leo and the Indomitable were deployed to Karsk IV in the early days of the Macharian Crusade, and during the fighting their tank commander, Lieutenant Doblinsky, was killed. Leo, Ivan, and Anton along with two new recruits were the sole survivors of their tank crew.[1b] They next were assigned to take part in the securing of the city of Irongrad and battled the Cult of the Angel of Fire, during which he entered a relationship with an Imperial Assassin dubbed Anna who in truth working for Inquisitor Hyronimus Drake and was disguised as a nurse.[1c] Through Anna, the group were assigned to guard the wounded Lord Commander Macharius at a hospital.[1d] During an attack on the city by Cultists, Leo and his squad protected the wounded Macharius[1e] and helped Macharius in defeating the Lord of Change at the heart of the Cult. For their heroism, Macharius appointed Leo and his squad to his bodyguard unit.[1f]
Serving for the next ten years in Macharius' personal guard, Lemuel became embroiled in the battle against the Dark Eldar for control of the Fist of Demetrius after their ship Lux Imperatoris was lost in a Warp Storm and raided by the Xenos.[2a] Fighting alongside Macharius, Drake, and Space Wolves under Ulrik Grimfang and Logan Grimnar they managed to drive the Xenos back from the ship, though they escaped with the Fist.[2b] Leo accompanied Macharius to Procrastes and then into the Webway in pursuit of the Dark Eldar Lord Ashterioth, who sought to use the Fist to reach the Reality Engine.[2c] During the final battle, Leo threw a grenade at Ashterioth which destabilised his connection to the engine, and before the Xenos could kill him he was saved by the intervention of Macharius and Logan Grimnar.[2d]
Lemuel's service with Macharius went all the way to the last days of the Crusade on Loki, where he and Ivan were becoming demoralized by the bitter plague-ridden conflict.[3a] During the conflict, he contracted a mysterious illness which gave him horrifying hallucinations.[3b] He was taken to a Hospitaller facility on Loki to recover, where he seemingly reunited with Anna, whom he began to suspect may be something else entirely.[3c] After returning to Macharius' side, he witnessed the political turmoil of the final days of the Crusade, where the sickly Macharius was now the victim of constant plots by his own Generals and advisors.[3d]
During the final battle on Loki, Lemuel accompanied Macharius for the final attack on the Traitor General Richter's stronghold. Leo was again given control of a Baneblade.[3e] Battling through Daemons and other horrors, Lemuel survived the final battle as Richter was defeated, but learned afterwards that Anna was a Callidus Assassin now impersonating a Inquisitorial Stormtrooper and had killed both Macharius and Drake. The assassin claimed that Macharius was already close to death, and the assassination on the behalf of unknown parties was an act of mercy to preserve his legacy and heroism. The assassin let Leo live to let him tell the "official" version of Macharius's death.[3f]
