Rusheck Vakkim

Ruscheck Vakkim is a formidable and notorious Magister of the Forces of Chaos who served under both Archon Nadzybar and Archon Urlock Gaur during the Sabbat Worlds Crusade.

History
Ruscheck Vakkim was one of many powerful Magisters, or lieutenant warlords, subordinate to the Archon himself. They commanded particular sites and regions within the Sabbat Worlds sector in his name. Like many of these Magisters, Vakkim commanded a charismatic hub of his own private tribal force, expressing his own depravity in the most murderous and vile ways. Certainly, Vakkim appears to have been one of the most guileful and cautious of the enemy Magisters, a stealthy, predatory warlord who preferred deceit and subterfuge to outright war. The prospect of facing Magister Ruscheck Vakkim had been long dreaded by the Crusade's High Command. As early as 756.M41, his name and reputation as one of the most formidable enemy commanders had become well known to Imperial Intelligence sources, but due to the vagaries of circumstances, his forces - known as the G'uttkhra, or Thorns of Heaven - had not yet been directly encountered by Imperial forces.

Between 757 and 763, his war fleet had been identified on three separate occasions, moving into support Archenemy actions, but each time the threat came to nothing. Within the Crusade mindset, he became something of a 'bogeyman', a constant threat waiting just out of sight, choosing the most auspicious moment to strike. A series of savage raids on civilian centres along the edge of the Khan Group in 764 were attributed to his followers, and added to his reputation for cunning and the ability to avoid military confrontation in favour of more vulnerable targets. In 765, Vakkim was undoubtedly in command of the principal reinforcements hosts heading to Balhaut to support the Archon after Slaydo's Fabian Ruse. Recognising he was too late to deny Imperial victory, Vakkim once again preferred to slip away rather than allow himself to be caught in a full scale battle. Archon Nadzybar was killed at the hands of the Imperial Warmaster Slaydo. Their Archon slain, the Chaos host was soon broken in retreat.

It is believed that Vakkim's forces were amongst those that obliterated six minor worlds in the coreward Newfound Trailing, including the forest world Tanith, in late 765. In 768, his war fleet, for so long the subject of rumour and fearful myth, was discovered by surprise at high anchor above Nyzon II. General Urienz, the brightest and best of the 'new minted' commanders of the newly elected Warmaster Macaroth, had been directing a line of advance towards Alpha Madrigo when his recon squadrons identified the Magister's ships on station.

Never one for trepidation, Urienz ordered an immediate engagement, taking the Magister unawares. The orbital battle swiftly became a bloody and furious ship-to-ship boarding action, and in its course, the Thorn of Heaven proved themselves to be every bit the nightmare foes that myth had built them up to be. However, Urienz was victorious in the end, personally leading the boarding action of the Magister's own warship, Crown of Thorns. Vakkim was captured, only to escape custody by means that are still not fully understood. In the ensuing confusion, Vakkim and nine of his G'uttkhra managed to flee to the surface of Nyzon II, but they were hunted down two days later by a kill team lead by Urizen's brilliant protégé, Commander Lang Mowzer. Cornered in an out-hab district at Penetor Hive, Vakkim and his followers were all exterminated during a brutal gun battle.