Val Tarchos
Val Tarchos was an Imperial Fists Sergeant in Captain Fisk Halen's 19th Tactical Company, during the Horus Heresy's Siege of Terra.[1a]
History
He would be among the Imperial forces that were outside of the Imperial Palace's Eternity Gate, when it was closed near the end of the Siege. Afterwards, Captain Halen's Company was among the Imperial Fists forces that Captain Fafnir Rann commanded and Tarchos led several of its squadrons. While they continued to hold their own against the Traitors, the Captain's forces were nearly killed after a surprise attack by a Daemon, disrupted Rann's battle plans. His efforts to hold a position against an oncoming horde were lost because of this and the Captain's forces were only saved due to an intervention by Commander Archamus II. With the aid of his much larger Imperial force, of Blood Angels and Imperial Fists, the horde was defeated and Rann's surviving forces then joined with the Commander's.[1b]
Further battles were fought, but during one at the Imperial Palace's Delphine Viaduct, Archamus II's forces bombarded the Traitors and caused them to retreat. This allowed the Imperials to gain new territory near the Viaduct and they secured it, as they waited for the Traitors to return. Captain Fafnir Rann though, sought to further expand their new territory by securing the ruins of the Hasgard Gate. It was among the areas struck by the Imperials' bombardment and with Archamus' permission, Rann led his forces to claim the Gate. He would be joined by the forces of the Blood Angel Zephon and White Scar Namahi, who aided the Captain's forces in reaching the area. While the surface of the Hasgard Gate was clear of foes, the auspex of the White Scars' scouts, had detected several in the bunkers that lay beneath its surface. To clear them out would require close combat work, so Rann chose to send a small force to cleanse the area. The Captain, Zephon and Namahi would each go and also chose two members of their Legions to join them. Tarchos and Leod Baldwin were selected by Rann[1c] and though it was a tough fight, the Hasgard Gate's bunkers were successfully cleansed[1d]. Their forces then secured it and then prepared for the Traitors to attack the Gate.[1e]
