Marco Lillo
Marco Lillo[1a] was a Verghastite Guardsman of the Tanith First and Only regiment.[1a][2a]
Biography
Lillo originally served in the Vervun Primary, the standing army of Vervunhive on the planet Verghast. His twenty-one year career with the Vervun Primary came to an end following the Siege of Vervunhive; as Vervunhive had been reduced to a ruin over the course of the Siege, Warmaster Macaroth officially declared the hive dissolved but allowed any surviving Vervunhivers to enlist with the Imperial Guard and reinforce the regiments of the Sabbat Worlds Crusade. Lillo accepted the offer and was drafted into the Tanith First, the so-called "Gaunt's Ghosts".[1a]
He was amongst those new recruits to the regiment who saw its commanding officer, Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt, as a great hero (Gaunt, having taken charge of Vervunhive's defence towards the end of the Siege, had been responsible for the Imperial victory in the conflict, even if that victory had been Pyrrhic in nature).[1a] Gaunt himself considered Lillo to be one of the best of the Verghastite contingent of the regiment, on par with the likes of Agun Soric.[1b][2b]
Lillo first saw action with the Ghosts on Hagia, fighting to retake the Holy Doctrinopolis from the Infardi.[1a] He served under Sergeant Haller.[2a]
Later, Lillo joined the rest of his regiment in the Phantine theatre. Following the assault on the city of Cirenholm, a combination of battlefield casualties and the pressing need to more fully integrate the Verghastite elements of the Tanith First led Colonel-Commissar Gaunt and Commissar Hark to put forward a number of Verghastite Troopers for consideration for promotion. Lillo was suggested for one of the positions by Hark, and Gaunt agreed that he would be a good choice.[2b]
