Xyrokles
Xyrokles was a Warsmith in the Iron Warriors Legion, during the Horus Heresy and his Grand Company took part in the Battle of Beta-Garmon.[1]
There the Warsmith was ordered by his Primarch Perturabo to place defense lasers on Epsilon-Garmon II, as it was the world closest to the Epsilon-Garmon System's Mandeville Point. This was to ensure that the Loyalist Primarch Guilliman's Ultramarines warfleet would not be able to reach Terra, before it fell to Horus' forces. However the White Scars Primarch Jaghatai Khan also thought Guilliman would use the same System and led a fleet there. The White Scars, though, would be driven away by an Iron Warriors fleet commanded by Harkaton, but not before they were able to land a number of their forces on Epsilon-Garmon II. These White Scars then destroyed several of Xyrokles' defense lasers before the Warsmith discovered who was responsible for the attacks. After confirming it was the White Scars, Xyrokles believed he could ambush the Loyalists by using their tactics against them, as he had long studied the battle philosophy of their Primarch. He was unaware, though, that the Khan was commanding the White Scars on Epsilon-Garmon II and the Primarch saw through the Warsmith's plans. When the Iron Warriors launched their attack, they found themselves ambushed by hidden White Scars forces lying in wait and were destroyed. Afterwards, Xyrokles was taken prisoner and was forced to kneel in disgrace, as his surviving warriors were executed. He was then confronted by the Khan, who said that while the Warsmith had studied the Primarch's battle philosophy, Xyrokles had never truly understood it. The Khan was impressed with the Warsmith, though, as it was unusual for one of Perturabo's sons to be so flexible in their warfare. Xyrokles was surprised to hear this and attempted to sway the Khan to Horus side, but the Primarch refused. This infuriated the Warsmith who then began insulting the Khan, who quickly snapped Xyrokles' neck in response. Afterwards, the Khan told the White Scars to summon their fleet back and to destroy the remaining defense lasers on Epsilon-Garmon II. Before his orders were carried out, however, the Khan commanded that Xyrokles' body was to be respectfully buried, due to how well the Warsmith had fought against the White Scars.[1]
