"What makes you such an expert on oathbreakers?" inquired Sergeant Ashel.
"I know that I am not one," Nuon replied quietly. "But I slew many to be here. As I said, breaking one's oaths is a sign of weakness. I will die a warrior, not a victim."
- —Conversation between Kasati Nuon and Sergeant Ashel of the Raven Guard Legion during the "Day of Vengeance" upon Carandiru.
Armorial of the Night Lords Legion.
Kasati Nuon was an Astartes of the infamous Night Lords Space Marine Legion during the Great Crusade and the opening years of the Horus Heresy. Even in a legion of thieves and murderers, few among the warriors of the VIII Legion dared to turn against the will of their primarch Konrad Curze, but some did and a few even survived. Kasati Nuon was one of them. He was one of the rare Night Lords who did not join their gene-father and Horus Lupercal in treachery against the Emperor but chose to remain loyal.
Kasati Nuon led but a handful of Loyalist Night Lord warriors, fleeing the wrath of his Legion and those that had sided with the Warmaster. Nuon joined his forces with the Raven Guard and participated in the great victory on the world of Carandiru, the "Day of Vengeance."
History[]
Kasati Nuon was a rare and defiant figure within the Night Lords Legion, choosing loyalty to the Emperor over allegiance to his primarch Konrad Curze during the tumultuous events of the Horus Heresy. As many of his brethren eagerly embraced treachery, turning their backs on the Emperor to follow Warmaster Horus Lupercal, Nuon stood resolute in his convictions. He viewed those who had forsaken their oaths to the Imperium as dishonourable, branding them as oathbreakers. This betrayal, in his eyes, demanded justice, and Nuon took it upon himself to exact that justice, ruthlessly hunting down and killing a great number of his traitorous brothers.
His disdain for the Traitors and his unwavering loyalty to the Emperor eventually led him to cross paths with remnants of the Raven Guard Legion at the world of Scarato, some time after the infamous Drop Site Massacre on Isstvan V. Scarato, a desolate and war-ravaged world, became a refuge for the battered remnants of the Loyalist forces that had been nearly destroyed in the massacre, and it was there that Nuon joined ranks with the Raven Guard survivors. Swearing his fealty anew to Primarch Corvus Corax, this decision to fight alongside another Legion, rather than remain isolated, marked the beginning of a new chapter in Nuon's personal war against the Traitors.
Nuon's loyalty was soon proven once again during the Raven Guard's liberation of the world of Carandiru, known as the "Day of Vengeance." On this Hive World, a brutal rebellion against the Imperium orchestrated by the Alpha Legion had taken hold. Fighting with precision and vengeance, Nuon. his Loyalist Night Lords and the Raven Guard forces managed to crush the Traitor forces, bringing the insurrection to a decisive end. His actions on Carandiru cemented his place among the Loyalist forces as a warrior willing to go to any lengths to defend the Emperor's vision.
For standard years after the liberation of Carandiru, Kasati Nuon fought side by side with the Raven Guard, a stark contrast to his past as a member of the Night Lords. His skill in stealth, terror tactics, and guerrilla warfare, all hallmark tactics of his original Legion, served him well among the Raven Guard, whose expertise in such methods made them natural allies. His reputation as a grim and uncompromising warrior grew, though the shadow of his former allegiance to Traitors followed him everywhere. Yet, even in the face of constant suspicion, Nuon's dedication to the Emperor was never in question.
As the Raven Guard prepared for the Battle of Yarant, a significant campaign in the later years of the Horus Heresy, a strange and unexplained turn of events occurred. Primarch Corax issued a decree that all non-Raven Guard elements fighting within the XIX Legion's forces were to be sent to Terra, the seat of the Emperor Himself. The reasoning behind Corax's decision remains unknown, but it marked a pivotal moment in Nuon's journey. By this time, he was one of only two Loyalists originally members of the Traitor Legions still fighting alongside the Raven Guard, the other being the Iron Warriors Warsmith Annovuldi.
Though his years fighting with the Raven Guard had forged him into a trusted ally, Nuon's departure from the Legion alongside Annovuldi marked the end of a long and bloody alliance. Both warriors, bound by their shared defiance of their original Legions, were now destined for the final battles of the Horus Heresy on Terra, where the Emperor's fate -- and the fate of the Imperium -- would ultimately be decided. Nuon's legacy, though rooted in betrayal and bloodshed, would endure as a tale of redemption, loyalty, and vengeance in the darkest hours of the Imperium.
Sources[]
- The Value of Fear (Short Story) by Gav Thorpe
- Ravenlord (Novella) by Gav Thorpe, Ch. 5, Epilogue
- Weregeld (Novella) by Gav Thorpe, Ch. 3