Trajann Valoris

"The hotter the forge, the finer the blade, or so they say. The forge of war in which we now find ourselves blazes hotter than anything the Imperium has seen in ten millennia. We of the Adeptus Custodes were built to endure these fires. They will not be our end. Instead, we will be honed to the finest cutting edge, that we may be the bane of even the foulest heretics."

- Captain-General Trajann Valoris

Trajann Valoris is the current Chief Custodian and 17th Captain-General of the Adeptus Custodes, the elite bodyguard of the Emperor of Mankind, and perhaps the deadliest individual warrior in the entire Imperium. There are no records in the Imperial databanks on his martial conquests or his ascent into the order. For as long as any living mortal can remember, Valoris' name has been spoken of with nothing short of reverence, for many considered the Captain-General to be the personal representative of the Emperor Himself. Even the High Lords might be mocked, when in wine or in anger, but to do so with the Captain-General was simply beyond imagination. For to mock Valoris was to mock the Emperor Himself. Such blasphemy would not go unpunished, and would inevitably result in a transgressor's untimely death. While the two Tribunes of the Adeptus Custodes are generally occupied with the many ritual purposes of the order, the Captain-General has no set remit, but governs the forces under his command with complete freedom, to the extent that if the Ten Thousand had dealings with any part of the Adeptus Terra, they are carried out through him.

History
"A wise man draws his swords when the time is right to wield them. A fool dies with blades still sheathed, fearing that there might yet come a time of greater need. For the sake of Emperor and Imperium both, we must take the fight to our enemies."

- Trajann Valoris to Ultramarines Primarch Roboute Guilliman, Lord Commander of the Imperium, in the wake of the Lion's Gate Incursion

The office of Captain-General is one of the most powerful military appointments in the Imperium. It confers full responsibility for the overall defence of the Sol System, Terra, the Imperial Palace and - ultimately - the Golden Throne and the Emperor Himself. The Captain-General is the master of the Adeptus Custodes, and, on many occasions during Imperial history, has stood amongst the ranks of the High Lords of Terra. He is further charged with leading the greatest military campaigns fought by the Ten Thousand, and must display a degree of warrior prowess that approaches that of the Primarchs of old.

In the millennia since the Great Crusade, there have been just seventeen incumbents of this weighty mantle. Most have died in battle, either on the holy soil of Terra or whilst leading crucial campaigns amidst the stars. Several have become Eyes of the Emperor, while three - including Constantin Valdor himself - simply vanished, their disappearances wreathed in mystery even amongst their own comrades.

The current Captain-General is Trajann Valoris. Many claim that he is the greatest warrior to hold the title since the Emperor bestrode the stars. Within his first decade of service, Valoris ran not just one, but two successful Blood Games, a record that remains unbroken. With his remarkable grasp of battlefield strategy and his naturally aggressive streak he earned a place for himself amongst the Allarus Custodians. There, Valoris won many names from deeds such as the destruction of the Space Hulk Mournful Siren, the defeat of the Genestealer Cult of the Emperor's Writhing Shadow, and his spearheading of the preemptive strike against WAAAGH! Krushfist.

If Valoris showed a weakness, it was his reluctance to stand back and wait for his enemies to come to him. He lasted only twenty-two years amongst the Companions before his desire to participate in a more proactive strategy of defence saw him reassigned. He gained the rank of Shield-Captain soon afterwards, and spent several centuries leading sorties against emergent threats throughout the Sol System and beyond. Valoris became well known for his tendency to observe his enemies carefully, predict their movements, then deliver a sudden and decisive blow. He cultivated networks of agents and informers across the Segmentum Solar, and even further out into the wider Imperium. Valoris recognised his own proclivity for aggressive action, and took constant steps to temper it with comprehensive foreknowledge. Thus his strikes always fell where they should, and no comrade was ever lost to reckless commands.

Though the Captain-General of the Adeptus Custodes traditionally served among the High Lords of Terra only under the most dire of circumstances, such as during the War of the Beast in the mid-32nd Millennium, it was only the persistence of Chancellor Lev Tieron that persuaded Valoris to assume the seat on the Senatorum Imperialis that had been left vacant for some time following the death of Lord Brach, the Chancellor of the Estate Imperium.

Trajann Valoris has proven a dynamic and effective Captain-General. Under his rule the number of Blood Games have increased tenfold, the defences of the stable warp routes into the Sol System have been strengthened, and long-hidden cults have been purged from the Terran underhives. Little escapes the eyes of his ever expanding spy network and, armed with the certainty of the truly righteous, his covert strikes have annihilated dozens of threats to the Golden Throne. It was as if Valoris had foreseen Guilliman's return and the Great Rift long before they came, and laid all the groundwork required for the Adeptus Custodes to adapt to the new Imperium. Perhaps, some whispered, the half-understood power of the Moment Shackle allowed him to do just that. Whatever the case, the Captain-General's many qualities make him ideally suited to lead in this age of unprecedented aggression.

Wargear
When Captain-General Andros Launceddre fell at the Battle of the Black Pyre, Valoris was named his successor. As tradition dictated, he took up the armour and weapons of his former lord. These masterfully crafted artefacts were fashioned in the wake of Constantin Valdor's disappearance and passed on to each new Captain-General ever since:
 * Watcher's Axe - Watcher's Axe is a master-crafted, relic Castellan Axe that takes the form of a huge polearm blade that crackles with golden lightning and can bisect the sarcophagus of a Chaos Helbrute with a single swing. The axe's haft incorporates a master-crafted bolt weapon known as the Eagle's Scream, which fires adamantium-tipped penetrator bolts at a ferocious rate.
 * Castellan Plate -The Castellan Plate is an elaborate suit of powered armour which incorporates a heraldic tilting shield, an auramite halo, and a magnificent cloak woven with adamantine thread so that it flows like cloth but yields to neither blade nor blast.
 * Moment Shackle - At the belt of the Captain-General, he carries a strange device known as the Moment Shackle. A relic of Dark Age Technology released from the vaults beneath the Imperial Palace, this artefact allows Valoris to trap fragments of temporal energy and turn them to his use, excising split-second events from history or slowing the localised temporal flow enough to tip a desperate fight in his favour.
 * Misericordia