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Mansirius Thorcyra[3a][3d] was Chapter Master of the Scythes of the Emperor before the destruction of their home world Sotha. Though he was not present when the planet fell, he led the survivors in a defiant last stand on the death world of Miral.[1][2]

He had long grey hair, and a beard.[1]

Biography

Hive Fleet Kraken & The Fall of Sotha

In M41, the Eastern Fringe was overwhelmed by the locust-tide of Tyranid Hive Fleet Kraken. The Scythes of the Emperor stood ready to defend the worlds of the Imperium from the xenos threat, with Thorcyra leading the First Company on an expedition into the Saphir Cluster to combat the threat.[3d]

Unfortunately for the Scythes, the Kraken's targets includied the chapter's homeworld of Sotha. With six companies defending the planet, led by Captain Thrasius, the remaining Scythes prepared to make their stand at their fortress-monastery in order to give as much time as possible for the population of Sotha to evacuate.[3c] Sotha, along with so many other planets in the inexorable advance of Hive Fleet Kraken, was reduced to the state of an asteroid by the Tyranid swarms. Before the planet and Fortress Monastery was completely over-run, the Scythes managed a breakout from the doomed planet, with two hundred Marines managing to break through the Tyranid assault before falling back to regroup in the nearby Miral System.[3b]

Meanwhile, Master Thorcyra received word of the fall of Sotha while returning from the north following the unsuccessful Saphir Cluster campaign, and was stunned by the news. He joined his men at Miral Prime.[1][3d]

The Battle of Miral

The last of the Scythes eventually landed on the jungle death world of Miral. Somewhere on the surface of this planet, a huge rocky outcrop called the Giant's Coffin rose from the jungle. The pursuing Tyranid fleet caught up and encircled them, leaving the Scythes trapped and surrounded on the jungle death world. The surviving forces of the Scythes prepared to make this their final stronghold. The Giant's Coffin was a tremendous natural citadel whose steep cliffs would slow the invaders and the rocky promontories would provide excellent firing positions for heavy weapons.

Passing the torch

As the Tyranids mounted their forces for a final push to wipe out the remaining Scythes, Chapter Master Thorcyra ordered all of the remaining Battle-Brothers to withdraw from the world so as to avoid the complete extinction of their Chapter. In his last official act, Master Thorcyra passed the artefact known as the Emperor's Scythe (the Scythes Chapter Master's symbol of office) to Captain Thrasius of the Third Company, the only Captain of the Chapter still alive. As the rest of the surviving Scythes escaped the doomed planet in Thunderhawk gunships, Thorcyra and the remains of the Veteran First Company took up their positions as the last line of defense, to sell their lives dearly. Only a company-sized element managed to escape Miral before the defenders were wiped out to a man.[1]

Thorcyra himself was killed by a tyranid Lictor.[3e]

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