‘Many foes have sought to shatter my mind and my spirit. I bear the myriad scars of their wasted efforts. In my veins runs the blood of Dorn, and while my hearts still beat, I shall never be broken.’
Darnath Lysander
No warrior embodies the stubborn might and indomitable spirit of the Imperial Fists so completely as Captain Darnath Lysander. Every bit as dauntless and resolute as Rogal Dorn is remembered to be, Lysander has led his warriors into hellish battles beyond count and, in most cases, emerged victorious.
Darnath Lysander has known strife all of his life. Born to pilgrims murdered long before they even came close to reaching Holy Terra, the young orphan was forced to learn how to survive alone. That he reached Terra unaccompanied demonstrates his force of will, even at such a young age. Lysander was recruited by the Imperial Fists Chaplain Shadryss, who found him standing alone before the Pillar of Bone, a monument dedicated to the Chapter. Even in the earliest days of Lysander’s service in the Tenth Company, it was clear that the young warrior possessed all the traits sought after by the Imperial Fists and that he was destined for true greatness.
Thereafter, Lysander progressed swiftly through the ranks. On Iduno, while serving as a Sergeant, he earned high commendation for leading a defensive action at the battle of Colonial Bridge. He led elements of the Second Company to victory over successive waves of rabid heretic forces. His promotion to Captain was earned for the boarding and capture of the Aeldari vessel Blood of Khaine. For many years, he led the Second to war, his service in that position culminating in the bloody three-year siege of Haddrake Tor.
Leading an assault on the planet’s highest peaks, Lysander and his battle-brothers set up teleport homers to allow the veterans of the First Company to launch a decisive assault. The Traitors they faced conducted blasphemous rituals, however, which served to disrupt the Warp. Imperial Fists Terminators materialised in solid rock or were isolated and surrounded by teeming masses of enemies. Captain Kleitus of the First Company appeared with half of his body merged with mountain stone, surviving just long enough to hand command to Darnath Lysander and bestow upon him his thunder hammer, the Fist of Dorn. With this weapon in hand, Lysander led the survivors to a glorious, if bloody, victory.
In the later years of the 40th Millennium, Lysander was aboard the strike cruiser Shield of Valour when it disappeared into the Warp. The Chapter maintained a solemn vigil for centuries, hoping that, eventually, the lost ship would return to realspace. Eventually, however, Lysander and his lost warriors were added to the roll of the fallen, and an alabaster statue was raised in the Hall of Heroes aboard Phalanx.
One thousand years later, Shield of Valour returned over Malodrax, a stronghold of the Iron Warriors. Outnumbered and outgunned, Lysander and a handful of other survivors were imprisoned by Warsmith Shon’tu and tortured. Lysander alone survived, escaping unarmed and unarmoured to return to his Chapter. Though his brothers were elated at the reappearance of such a renowned hero, their joy was tempered by concern. Had the Captain been tainted by his exposure to the Warp? The Chapter’s Apothecaries, Librarians, and Chaplains subjected Lysander to every conceivable test of physical, mental, and spiritual purity. The returned Captain submitted himself willingly to all of these examinations, enduring great suffering in the process. No trace of corruption could be found.
Restored to his position as First Captain, Lysander led a campaign of vengeance against the Iron Warriors, returning to Malodrax and engaging in a costly battle against Shon’tu’s warriors. Though Lysander was able to recover the Fist of Dorn, Shon’tu proved elusive, escaping the Captain’s wrath on multiple occasions. Eventually, he would catch up with the Warsmith again on the industrial world of Taladorn. Though the Blood Angels and Ultramarines were also present and offered their aid in defeating the Iron Warriors, Lysander refused them. The Imperial Fists eventually crushed the Iron Warriors’ resistance, but the losses among Dorn’s gene-sons were heavy. Lysander’s pride and selfishness in pursuing personal vengeance saw him demoted to serve as Captain of the Third Company.
It would not be long, however, before he would be returned to his former command. When a space hulk infested with Tyranids crashed onto the world of Drashin, Chapter Master Vladimir Pugh and a great number of the First Company raced to save the planet. Lysander and elements of the Third Company would arrive late in the conflict, and though the Imperial Fists would emerge victorious, both Pugh and the Captain of the First Company were slain during the fighting. In the days that followed, Lysander emerged as an obvious candidate for Chapter Master, only to refuse the position. Instead, he was restored to command of the First and has no intention of relinquishing this role again.
Since the opening of the Great Rift, Lysander and elements of the First Company have been active across the Segmentums Solar and Obscurus. It was Lysander who slew the Ork Freebooter Droknog Redfist and turned the tide of the naval battle over Amurav. He led teleport and dropship strikes against the Necrons on the forge world of Mons Magnifica, liberating a number of invaluable manufactorum facilities from the alien invaders. Of late, Lysander has been active in the vicinity of the former Cadian Gate, suppressing Chaos uprisings on Hazzephet and responding to calls for aid from dozens of worlds in this region. His suspicions have been raised by reports of renewed Iron Warriors activity. Though he has learned much restraint in recent decades, the First Captain still harbours a burning desire to find and destroy Warsmith Shon’tu. Perhaps such an opportunity will soon present itself.
Weapons and Wargear
Captain Lysander has long favoured Terminator armour and is an expert in its use. It was he who pioneered the use of Terminator Titanhammer Squads, bespoke units armed with thunder hammers and tasked with launching teleportation strikes on Titan-scale war machines to destroy them from within. In addition to his suit of armour, Lysander bears the relic storm shield Rampart and the Fist of Dorn, a relic power hammer once wielded by his Primarch.
