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{{Ambigambig|subject=the [[Imperial Fists]] [[Space Marine Captain|Captain]]|disambiguation=Taelos}}
{{Character
|Portal ={{ImperialFistsPortal}}
}}
'''Orpheus Taelos''' is the current [[Space Marine Captain|Captain]] of the [[Imperial Fists]] [[Chapter]]'s [[7th Company (Imperial Fists)|7th Company]]{{Fn|7a}}, but also once led the [[2nd Company (Imperial Fists)|2nd]]{{Fn|1}} and [[10th Company (Imperial Fists)|10th]] as well.{{Fn|5a}}
==Biography==
===2nd Company Captain===
As Captain of the [[2nd Company (Imperial Fists)|2nd Company]], Taelos played a decisive role in the [[Nimbosa Crusade]] against the [[Tau]]. The Tau expansion to Nimbosa, led by [[T'au Commander|Commander ]] [[O'var|Bright Sword]], caught the [[Imperium]] unaware and unprepared, leaving the world defended only by the [[Vostroyan Firstborn]] IX.{{Fn|1}} With reinforcements months away, the Imperium dispatched a diplomatic mission to [[T'olku]] to engage the Tau in protracted negations on the subject of Nimbosa, to which Taelos was attached as a military adviser. The diplomatic maneuver manoeuvre was not a genuine peace overture but intended as a delaying tactic. {{Fn|2}}{{Fn|3}} However, the tactic failed and the Vostroyan Firstborn IX were destroyed along with the population of the colony.{{Fn|1}}
Taelos and [[High Marshal (Black Templars)|High Marshal]] [[Helbrecht]] of the [[Black Templars]] lead the Imperium's military response. Nimbosa was successfully liberated and the Tau force was destroyed totally.{{Fn|1}} However, in the course of the reclamation, Taelos' forces sustained considerable casualties. During the battle of Koloth Gorge, elements of his 2nd Company and accompanying [[Imperial Guard]] units were pinned in a cross-fire and subjected to a three hour massacre.{{Fn|3}}{{Fn|5a}} Captain Taelos was himself severely injured in the action. His wounds were grievous but because the Imperial Fists [[gene-seed]] had lost use of the [[Sus-an Membrane]], Taelos did not enter into suspended animation. Consequently, he remained conscious and witnessed the deaths of the men lost under his command while unable to intervene in his wounded state.{{Fn|5a}}
