Suboden Khan is the master of the White Scars’ 1st Brotherhood, and a vital war leader since the Chapter Master’s near-fatal wounding during the War for Chogoris. He’s roaring into pre-orders this weekend as part of the new Combat Patrol: White Scars, so before he joins your army on the tabletop, you should get to know him first with a bite-size story.
Suboden Khan accelerated hard, guiding his grav bike across the windswept plain. Squads of outriders followed, their Raider-pattern bikes carving furrows through the thick grass. The jagged Chogorian markings on their alabaster power armour clearly denoted them as veterans of the Spearpoint Brotherhood: riders without compare.
The grass plains gave way to rough scrubland. The khan could see the trailing elements of the Ork convoy now. Pillars of dust had long since betrayed its position. Fresh from their assault on Grell Magna Garrison, the Orks were now advancing on the agri world’s northern habs. One last obstacle stood before them: the Grell river. It was here that he had planned to strike them.
Already, the xenos had begun to cross. Giant beasts were struggling to haul wheeled wagons and rigs through the fast-flowing water. Large groups of Ork infantry clung to the wagons or waded alongside them, fighting against the torrent. Suboden smiled. They were at his mercy now.
Orkoid stragglers heard the sound of engines and began gesticulating wildly in the direction of the Space Marines. A handful of riders mounted on squighogs managed to haul their bulky beasts around to face the khan’s charge head-on. Others scrambled to bring their guns to bear.
Flashing a hand signal, Suboden ordered a handful of his outrider squads to peel left and right, striking the flanks. Overhead, Storm Speeders screamed down to begin their attack runs, spitting red-hot death into the floundering Orks. Explosions rippled through the mobs, sending corpses and debris spinning through the air. One of the Kill Rigs caught fire, stowed explosives crackling and popping as they cooked off.
Bracing Stormtooth under his left arm, the khan angled its curved tip level to meet the oncoming Ork cavalry. Singling out the largest Ork, he angled his bike towards the target. Thunder’s engines whined as Suboden threw the throttle forward and weaved through hails of Ork fire. The hulking Ork roared, raising his crude-looking spear. Suboden ducked in the saddle, avoiding the rider’s thrust and burying the tip of his lance in the centre of his enemy’s chest. The blade punched through bone and gristle, knocking the Ork from his saddle. Suboden accelerated away, tugging his polearm loose. Riderless, the steed bounded away, smashing an outrider from his bike and falling upon the Space Marine in a blur of teeth.
Hauling Thunder around in a sharp turn, the khan drove towards the mass of Ork infantry scrambling from the ruins of the burning Kill Rig. He fired the grav bike’s nose-mounted gatling cannon as he closed in, scything several down as they raced to join the fight. The rest of the aliens returned fire. Bullets thudded against his power armour and gouged furrows in Thunder’s ceramite plating. Sweeping past the Orks, he leaned from his saddle and swung his curved power lance through the mass of foes. The crackling blade bit through armour and flesh, sending severed limbs and heads spinning into the air. Crimson blood splattered on his white armour.
Shaking gore from his weapon’s blade, Suboden Khan took a moment to evaluate the unfolding conflict. Green corpses bobbed in the flowing water, and the ruins of their Kill Rigs and wagons smouldered on the river banks. The White Scars’ flanking units now roared into the aliens, chainswords and power sabres butchering their foes.
In the midst of the fighting, a hulking Beastboss stood alone. The leader decapitated a passing outrider with a giant blade, then tore another from the saddle with his power klaw, hurling the body of his victim into the dirt and stomping on the Space Marine’s head with a booted foot.
Guiding his bike towards the giant, Suboden Khan roared a vox-augmented challenge. The Beastboss turned to face him, echoing the khan’s shout with a cry of his own and breaking into a loping run. The khan accelerated, bringing Stormtooth around to face the Ork leader. He grinned once more as the wind whipped at his topknot.
Another glorious hunt. Another head for the White Road.
