Aldus Flynn

Summary
"I am under no illusions. In ten thousand years, should our Chapter last that long, I will be nothing but a footnote in the shadow of greater men." -Aldus Flynn.

Aldus Flynn is the current Chapter Master of the Revenants Chapter Astartes, having taken over from the late Marius Tron.

Essential Information
Name: Aldus Flynn

Homeworld: Peace

Chapter: The Revenants

Rank: Chapter Master

Status: Active.

Background.
Aldus Flynn grew up on Peace, was recruited into the Revenants as a child. He set himself apart from the other members of the Sout company fairly quickly with his shrewd grasp of tactics and bravery, and was promoted to full Marine, where he saw his first action during the Battle of Ragnarok, as well as the cleanup actions after the battle had officially concluded. These were hard campaigns, and at the conclusion of them the novice Flynn was a Veteran Sergeant. Shortly after this, the Third Company (to which he was assigned) was sent into battle in the campaigns around Tempostera on Armageddon, the reasoning being that the Revenants were very experienced at fighting Orks now. During the course of these missions, which lasted for many long months, the Captain of the third company died and Flynn took his place. Following this, the promotion was confirmed, and Flynn served as Captain of the Third Company of the Revenants.

Service as Chapter Master.
When Marius Tron, his predescessor, went out in the battle barge Doctrine of Peace to destroy the Tyranid splinter fleets, Aldus Flynn intially was not the choice to serve as acting Chapter Master; instead, he and the others voted Yan Rill to serve in this capacity. Rill's own vote was not recorded however as he was reported killed by a Dreadnought during the battles of the Black Crusades shortly afterwards. Although Flynn's career, by Astartes standards, was not remarkable (although it was somewhat speedy, if not meteoric), he was voted as temporary replacement for Tron until his return. When the Doctrine of Peace was destroyed and the Ultimatum of Nieman was recieved, Flynn expected to be asked to hand over to a more experienced or indeed remarkable individual for Chapter Master. however, in the following vote, Flynn retained command. His first act was to make the following vow before an assemblage of his entire chapter:

"I, Aldus Flynn, swear, by Marius Tron my predescessor, to whom I am an unworthy succesor, and by Yan Rill, the Marine who should have my position, and by my Chapter, and my planet, and my Emperor, I swear that the traitor Hans Nieman will die by hand and I shall not rest until it is acheived or I am slain. All of you witness this, and if I should fail and yet live in this failure, I would have myself cast out utterly from the Imperium, exiled until the ending of time. I so swear it." -The Vow Of Flynn.

With this vow, Flynn left Peace with three companies of Space Marines, determined to destroy Nieman and Sanctimonia Praesentia utterly.

The Quest to slay Nieman.
Flynn's quest would take him many years. During the battles, the Space Marines of the Revenant's would battle Chaos Marines on the Callous Moons, destroy splinter fleets of the Tyranids, and assist the fighting that continued on Armegeddon. In all this time, they found few signs of the location of Sanctimonia Praesentia, though many times their warriors found themselves in combat with the traitors.

Flynn eventually found himself and his fleet at an impasse; no sign of the traitors could be found. Despairing, he landed on the small planet Orbis. Orbis was a small agri world, and the Revenants landed fairly quietly.

That night, while Flynn slept, a visitor came to his tent, wearing power armour. Flynn demanded the name of this stranger, but he would say nothing about himself.

"Then how am I supposed to trust you?"

"You aren't. But know this, Revenant; your enemy is on this world, and he knows you are. His army is coming."

"I... I thank you for this information, if it should prove true. But who are you?"

"I am that which your Chapter claims to be. The walking dead."

-Flynn and the Stranger.

With that conversation, Flynn assembled his forces, and prepared to face Hans Nieman and defeat him once and for all.

Battle for Orbis Field
Flynn assembled his forces on Orbis Field, one of the primary sights of strategic importance on Orbis. At his disposal were three full companies of Space Marines, weary of long years of battle but eager to defeat the traitorous Nieman and avenge Marius Tron at long last.

When the forces of Sanctimonia Praesentia finally appeared, try were as numerous as Flynn could have feared, if a Space Marine could fear. However, Flynn possessed a shrewd tactical mind, and realised that, traitor as he was, Nieman had a sense of honour and might be persuaded to act with it. Flynn called a Parley to discuss terms with Nieman.

Nieman ordered that Flynn submit his entire Chapter and homeworld for termination "if you have any loyalty to the Emperor in you." Flynn retaliated by suggesting that the Emperor's will must surely guide their hands. He suggested a battle between the two men, one on one, that would decide the fate of the Chapter. On the face of it an uneven request, what with the Marine's superior strength, Nieman nevertheless agreed.

Duel
The duel took place three hours later at the exact median between the two army's lines. Flynn wielded his power sword and armour, Nieman his own power weapon and a simple set of robes. It looked as though the duel would be over in moments. However, Nieman had a few surprises up his sleeves.

The two combatants began duelling almost immediately; Nieman moved faster than any mere man had any right to, and quickly wounded Flynn, who was confused for a moment before noting a sanctioned psyker among Nieman's retainers, whom he deduced to be lending the rogue Inquisitor an edge. Unsheathing a bolt pistol and killing the psyker slowed Nieman down, but unfortunately, it also proved a signal that his army took as an order to charge.

The Battle
The battle was a long and bloody one. The armies of Sanctimonia Praesentia were well trained and fanatical, and outnumbered the Space Marines by three to one all told. However, with the righteous skill that the Astartes were famed for and bravery unmatched by any others of their Chapter since its founding, the Marines of the Revenants held, though at great cost. Fully half their number lay dead on the field.

Hans Nieman had continued to fight his foe, even though he must have known he could not win. Aldus Flynn, though he had spent many years seeking the rogue Inquisitor out, could not find any joy in victory. All he saw was a broken old man who had been trying to do what he thought was right for the Imperium, in a way. Nieman's last words, spoken blindly to air, were unrecorded by any save Flynn. Flynn ordered the entire army of Sanctimonia Praesentia buried on Orbis field, with full identification. The process of doing so took the assembled Marines six days with full effort and no sleep, and afterwards it was a mournful army that left the small planet.

Flynn returned to Peace, to continue his work as Chapter Master.

Time of Solitude
After the defeat of Nieman, Flynn spent the better part of a year on Peace, in the Fortress Monastery's strategic operations room, co-ordinating his soldiers actions across a Segmentum. In that time, he thought long and hard about the stranger who had come to him prior to the battle. He had not known why he had let the Marine go, but he had. He did not know whether he had made a mistake, but he was determined to know the identity of the stranger, especially given the many outlandish rumours about the Stranger that had been flying around. Therefore, almost a year to the day after the victory at Orbis field, he summoned Brother-Captain Jared Severus, Yan Rill's replacement as Fourth Company Captain, and gave him a mission: find the Stranger of Orbis at any cost, learn who he was, and if possible bring him to Flynn's presence.

It took a great deal of time for Severus to find any evidence of the Stranger of Orbis, and every time he did, he arrived too late to see the strange Marine in action. Every time he failed, he would report it to Flynn, who would order him to continue; Flynn knew that the Stranger was important, somehow. He had other sources seeking out information on the Stranger, and found evidence of him being near the Cadian Gate; however, he then received a report from the battered Captain Severus that the Stranger had appeared and been killed in battle on Nenia Pomarium. It was considered odd by both Marines that there were still reports, and it occurred to Flynn then that perhaps the Stranger of Orbis was not merely one Marine... in any case, the chief rumour about him (that he was Marius Tron returned) was quashed by Chaplain Marcus of the Fourth Company's expert testimony: the voice had not been Tron's. Secretly, Flynn was relieved; he had, for the vast majority of his time as Acting and later Full Chapter Master been overshadowed by Tron's legacy, and now felt he could try to step out from that shadow, and forge his own path.

Personality.
Flynn is a humble and self deprecating individual. During his training his tutors regarded him as a studious, dedicated, intelligent and ultimately reserved individual who was quiet but strong. They felt that command would not easily come to him but that he would serve well as a foot soldier. However, command did come to him, and he has risen to that challenge remarkably. His vow reinforces the idea that he does not wish to fail his Chapter or Emperor and will do whatever he feels necessary to protect them.