Leoten Semper

Flag-Captain Leoten Semper was the master of the Dictator-class cruiser of the Imperial Navy during the Gothic War. He fought many engagements and achieved great renown amongst Battlefleet Gothic during the course of the war, and his name and deeds are still cited as example at the end of M41.

History
Leoten Semper hails fom the Semper bloodline of Cypra Mundy, an extended family group who has a long and honorable tradition of furnishing the Imperial Navy with fine naval officers since the Age of Apostasy in M36.

Little is known of his history before he rose to command of his own ship, as it is the naval tradition to attribute the feats-of-arms of a ship to it's captain. It is known that as a young, freshly comissioned Lieutenant, he volunteered to lead a boarding assault against an Ork Krooser and faced of against the vessel's Warboss. He managed to kill the Ork, but was severly wounded in return, losing an eye an earning an impressive vertical scar across his visage. Semper kept the ork's skull as a memento of his first command, and as a warning against hot-blooded decisions. At another point in his career as Lieutenant, he earned the Order of the Gothic Star, Battlefleet Gothic's highest distinction for bravery, however the exact nature of the action which earned it is unknown.

Semper was promoted to captaincy at the onset of the Gothic War. He was put in command of the Lord Solar Macharius who had lost his captain during Abaddon's initial rush out of the Eye of Terror. Quickly asserting his authority on his ship's senior officers and techpriests, Semper led his ship out on their shakedown cruise: a rendezvous with a squadron of Cobra-Class Destroyers followed by a patrol. This took a turn for the worst as, when they emerged from the Warp, they were ambushed by the Chaos Hades-Class Cruiser Contagion. Outgunned, and unable to flee their opponent either in the Materium or Immaterium, Semper only managed to best his opponent with a desperate gamble: he ordered his Geller field lowered to simulate a failure, and lure the Contagion closer to admire the spectacle of daemons destroying the ship utterly when the Geller field disappeared completely. The Contagion took the bait, and the Macharius swiftly put a full spread of 6 torpedoes into its opponent, destroying it.

Impressed by Semper's unorthodox resourcefulness, Lord-Admiral Ravensburg then tasked the Macharius to track down, intercept and destroy the Dauntless-class Cruiser Bellerophon who had mutinied and declared for Chaos. In an effort to mash his officers into one well-tuned chain-of-command, he allowed his second, Flag-Lieutenant Hito Ulanti to lead the chase and the engagement when they did corner their prey. Ulanti surprised everyone by suggesting and then leading a boarding assault on the Bellerophon, reasoning that retaking the turncoat ship was better in the long term than merely destroying it. Semper greatly approved the show of initiative, and commended his officer.

Having proved their worth, Semper and his crew afterward rejoined a battlegroup inbound for the planet of Helia IV, with the orders to liberate it from an attacking invasion fleet. Alongside the Cruisers Drachenfels, Scipion, Tonnent and Graf Orlok and their respective escorts, the Macharius routed the attacking Chaos fleet, destroying their troop transports and a half-dozen capital ship while losing only the Tonnent. During the battle, The Macharius came under heavy attack and was submitted to a boarding assault from the Chaos Slaughter-class Cruiser Virulence, keen on advenging the earlier destruction of the Contagion. They however managed to repel the boarders, and the Virulence relented when the Drachenfels hammered it with his lance batteries, the Chaos captain ultimately choosing to survive and get his revenge another day.

Immediately after their victory at Helia IV, the battlegroup of the Macharius was ordered to oversee and protect the evacuation of the planet Belatis. Belatis had been identified as the next target for Abaddon's Planet Killer spaceship, and, unable to properly defend it, the Navy has settled for evacuating as much people and materiel as was feasible from the doomed world.

Due to the incompetence of the planetary leaders and a full-scale insurrection fomented by the agents of Chaos, Semper became trapped on the surface of Belatis after being forced down to the surface on a pointless diplomatic gesture. Seeking refuge from the Chaos worshippers in the capital's Ecclesiarchy cathedral, Semper, his bodyguards, and his charges amongst the high and mighty of Belsavis joined the Frateris Militia, led by Imperial Guard officer-turned-Confessor Johann Devane in defending the cathedral from wave after wave of heretics. The cathedral last remaining Astropath managed to get a message trough to the Macharius, and when Erwin Ramas, the master of the Drachenfels sensibly refused to abandon the convoy for an hazardous rescue mission under the guns of the Planet Killer and its escorts, he was overruled by the Arbites Marshal Byzantane, who commandeered the Macharius and proceeded with the rescue anyway.

After repelling yet another assault, and besting the Chaos Champion responsible for the uprising with the help of his bodyguard Maxim Borusa, Semper finally managed to return to the Macharius, he immediatly ordered to run for the nearest jump point at full speed, as the Planet Killer was bearing down on Belatis, and the escorting Chaos vessels were already surging forward to engage the Macharius. A runnig fight erupted, but, as the situation looked grim, the Chaos ship suddenly disengaged at speed: the Planet Killer opened up on Belatis, and all but one of the Chaos ships ran for deep space, unwilling to be caught in the blast of the planet's destruction. The Virulence, still hell bent on taking revenge on the Macharius kept pursuing, and managed to land a crippling lance strike on the Macharius. But at the same moment, another ship appeared in front of the Macharius: Erwin Ramas, knowing that the rescue mission would certainly be pursued, had powered his ship down and patiently layed in waiting, ready to ambush the pursuers. The Drachenfels put a full spread of torpedoes in the Virulent, utterly destroying it, before rejoining the convoy along with the Macharius and making good their escape.

Personality
A stern and grim-looking human male, Leoten Semper was a man devoted to his task, who believed in the virtue of leading by example. When promoted to captainship, he quickly asserted his authority over his crew, and made sure he had a good working relationship with his ship Comissar. However he was no iron-fisted tyrant, and gave all under his command enough leeway to speak out and voice their opinions, since he was ultimately interested in having competent officers under him an not mere "yes-men".

On a personal level, Semper was somewhat dull. His only passion was commanding his ship. His personal quartes were devoid of any entertaining and decorations, save his personal collection of starcharts and the skull of the Ork he bested, and unlike most senior officers, he did not keep any personal lady concubine on board. He, however, enjoyed testing any under his command, and often feigned anger when dealing with underlings, respecting those who stood their ground and defended their opinion.