Armoury: Sergeant Surma carries a power sword, as is customary to his chapter. He has been gifted a precious plasma-pistol, which he, true to his origins, wields with deadly accuracy. Surma also bears a cloak made from the pelt of the snow-daemon he killed as a part of his initiation. His armour has been crafted with many potent icons of the chapter, such as lightning motifs and sculpted images of the black mountains of Hel V. The sergeant is an awe-inspiring sight as he relentlessly leads his men through the fiercest of battles, ever eager to bring more honour to the chapter and serve his masters. Current Position: After the battle of Gladius Bay Surma was promoted to the rank of veteran sergeant. He commands the first tactical squad of the third company of the Storm Swords chapter and acts as the second-in-command of the company's captain. Sergeant Surma is also a member of the Inner Circle, having taken part in the pacification of the Raukiv system which resulted in the capture of a Fallen Dark Angel. It is evident that Surma will also be the successor of captain Kaamos and the company's next commander. Surma's squad consists of nine brother-marines. Under his control have been placed a lascannon, a missile launcher, a meltagun, a flamer unit and an ancient plasma gun, of which he may choose the armament of his squad. He has also the command of a Rhino APC re-named 'Deliverer of Death' in his honour. As a leader of men sergeant Surma is demanding. He has been seeking to serve the Storm Swords ever since he first saw them as a child. After his induction to the chapter Surma embraced it totally and devoted his life to the Swords. He expects his men to follow him, no matter what the opposition or the outcome. This has led to many seemingly lucky instances and Surma is something of a legend among the Storm Swords. His place in the Inner Circle is low, yet the masters of the chapter have planned his fate already. As he is a shining example of the calculating hatred and the efficient death-bringing the Swords hold as their ideals, it would not be very surprising to once see veteran sergeant Surma rise to the very command of the chapter. Assuming he survives his fiery compulsion to fulfil his duty to the last. The Ordo Hereticus commanded the Storm Swords in their first wars and has kept an eye on them ever since. Inquisitor Nodweid has noted sergeant Surma's progress through the ranks and his actions in the field of battle. The exemplary nature of the sergeant has not escaped Nodweid either. According to his secret report of the chapter's current situation, Surma has several qualities the Swords seek to impose on all of their battle-brothers. This is seen as a two-bladed sword by the inquisitor. On one hand, the fanatical need to succeed no matter what is regarded as a good quality in a space marine, who are expected to act as the ultimate strike force. On the other hand, the events of Gladius Bay are likely to repeat if more marines like Surma gain leadership positions. One squad of Storm Swords crippling the transport capabilities of an entire world is not something the inquisitor wishes to see repeated. He recommends no action at the conclusion of his report, other than keeping track on Surma's career and its effects on the training system of the Storm Swords. It is possible, the inquisitor muses, to see Surma responsible for the training of the chapter's neophytes at some point in the future. Famous Achievements: Among the exploits of sergeant Surma, two events eclipse all else. First of these is not discussed out loud, save in shadowy sepulchres beneath the Strom Sword Fortress monastery where the Inner Circle gathers. In the Pacification of the Raukiv system in 3220932.M41 Surma served as the sergeant of the fourth squad of the fifth company under captain Synk. When Synk led the attack against the leaders of the Raukiv rebels, Surma was ordered to accompany the captain with his squad. The small strike force assaulted the underground bunker of the enemy commander with fanatical ferocity, bringing the Storm of Hate to those who had forsaken the Emperor and mankind. Their target was the complex laying beneath the planetary governor's palace. All the escape tunnels had been scouted out and collapsed with orbital lance strikes. The enemy was trapped and now captain Synk wanted to make an example of them, to have their heads on stakes for all the neighbouring systems to see. The Storm Swords fought through the long, narrow corridors with tremendous fury. The rebels were not equipped to handle such a foe and were vanquished with ease. No remorse was given, it was too late for that. Surma, ever eager to prove his worth, requested the honour of having his squad as the first wave of assault. It is said that he personally took the lives of a hundred rebels holed in those corridors that day, resolving to deal death with chainsword, faith and power armour alone when his bolt pistol ran out of ammunition. When the party had finally fought their way into the deepest bunker, suffering only minor casualties, it was Surma who deployed a melta-charge against the gigantic plasteel door. He was the first to enter and the first to face the terror that lurked inside. For the rebel leader wore the armour of the Dark Angels Legion, the source of the Storm Swords' believes, their honoured ancestors. The only recording of the event, the so-called 'Synk dataslate', depicts clearly how Surma froze for an instant when the terrible realisation reached him. This was enough for the traitor and his lieutenants. Surma was dealt a deadly blow and it is a testimony of his great willpower and faith that he rose to his feet again. While sergeant Surma lay on the floor, captain Synk, the second to enter that bunker, acted. Realising the implications of the sight he beheld, Synk ordered his command squad to seal the chamber and so limit the number of battle-brothers exposed to such a dire vision of betrayal. This left the remnants of sergeant Surma's squad and captain Synk's command squad inside the bunker. The lieutenants of the Fallen Angel were easily disposed of. Realising the end was night, the Fallen powered up his weapons, a mighty power axe and a plasma pistol, both relics from the Great Crusade. He intended to die fighting, but the cautious captain Synk had other plans. This disturbing enemy was to be captured for interrogation, for such a mystery could not be left unsolved. The Fallen Angel fought ferociously, taking the lives of seven of the fifteen Storm Swords opposing him. Finally, brother Viima achieved a clear line of fire for his meltagun. The enemy fired his plasma pistol, but sergeant Surma, being aware of the stakes, took the hit and allowed Viima to fire the weapon on low power. The shot stunned the Fallen Angel who was promptly captured. Surma was carried out of the bunker after him. The sergeants wounds were grave and it took time to heal. His sacrifices were not in vain, though, and he was secretly commended as a hero of the chapter. Another, more famous incident took place in 3182945.M41 in the Acmodia system. The world of Bathor II had been under attack by the vile eldar. The Storm Swords had crushed the xenos raiders, but the purity of the population was still questionable. Sergeant Surma was one of the squad leaders given orders to investigate the matter. Surma operated in the port city of Gladius Bay, where the dark clouds of industry and space ship exhaust fumes kept daylight in check for all eternity. Surma had always been close to fanatical in his devotion to the chapter and his methods reflected this. The tactical squad marched through the war-torn streets of Gladius Bay, distributing the Emperor's judgement to any and all criminals, thieves and mutants to cross their path. Their goal was the city's centre, where the leaders of the nearby settlements had retreated during the fighting. Surma was no inquisitor, not one for delicate questioning and research. Upon arrival, he lifted the local governor right off the ground and in a growling voice demanded answers. The governor denied all knowledge of previous xenos interference in the area and explained the sighted mutants by the highly polluted air and water. After some physical violence had been inflicted, the governor was ready to admit a black-market trade of xenotech and ancient artefacts in the city. He offered assumptions of the reasons for the eldar attack, that the xenos had come to retrieve something valuable stolen from them. He was also willing to divulge a full list of names behind the illegal trade. Sergeant Surma, however, did not care. The city, in his eyes, had been irredeemably poisoned by the xeno presence. For it was clear that the filthy aliens had visited the city many times before, perhaps even lived under its black roofs, spreading anti-imperial propaganda and teaching the wrong ways of tolerance and openness to the people. There was only one option left and Surma executed it gladly. Quick communication with the company command in orbit ensured that the other cities had been found free of taint, being rural areas uninteresting to the xenos. After establishing his objective, sergeant Surma began his work. Request for orbital support was immediately granted and only an hour after the tactical squad had left the governor to tend to his broken legs did lance fire shatter the impenetrable cloud cover. All major exit ways were turned into fiery pits of meltafire and both the spaceport and sea docks reduced into smoking rubble. Surma himself led his squad to the huge underground fuel storages, necessitated by the heavy transport activity in air, land, sea and space alike. Well placed melta-charges created pressure waves and ruptured the huge fuel tanks, turning them into geysers of inflammable liquids. Tons of fuel rained upon the city and toxic fumes scoured the streets. Then, it was allowed to catch fire. A burning inferno raged through Gladius Bay, crushing buildings in its way and creating a huge vortex of blisteringly hot winds around it. Surma himself had chosen an underground launch-observation bunker for his squad to take refuge in. The temperatures inside the bunker would have killed an ordinary man, but the power armoured space marines survived. The recovery crew of the thunderhawk despatched to evacuate them after the firestorm had seized did have to use plasma cutters to get to the squad. When they did, sergeant Surma insisted on personally inspecting the plain of ashes once known as Gladius Bay to make sure his mission was complete. The fiery display had been visible for miles in every direction and the bleak farmers of Bathor II were spreading the word of the Emperor's mighty wrath upon the decadent city folk even as Surma was completing his inspection. Soon the word had spread far and wide and though the principle spaceport of Bathor II had been annihilated, slowing the planet's trade operations considerably and brining much poverty, sergeant Surma of the Storms Swords was hailed as the hero of Acmodia, the slayer of xenos and the restorer of faith. Though it is unusual for a space marine sergeant to have his image immortalised on a distant world he had never heard of, a statue of sergeant Surma, made of black stone and dark iron, stands on the ashen plains in the ford of river Mourning, where Gladius Bay once stood. |
SANCTUM OF HEROES |
VETERAN SEARGEANT SURMA Storm Swords Chapter By Henry Vainio ( The Officer ) |
