Maelon Dhrost
Maelon Dhrost is a Cadian General of the Astra Militarum.[1]
History
Dhrost is something of a hero to his men, though in truth he has served the Militarum for so long, that the General has little compassion left for the common soldiery. Men come and go, but war is eternal. Being a stalwart foe of the Ruinous Powers, Dhrost knows full well that victory against the horrors of the universe will always come at a high price. Amongst all of those who wore the binary star icon of the Cryptus Campaign, Dhrost alone realized the cost the system’s defenders would have to pay.[1]
As the Campaign began in in 998.M41, he commanded the Astra Militarum's forces that defended Asphodex, but the Tyranids of Hive Fleet Leviathan overwhelmed them. As the world began to fall to the Xenos, the Blood Angels and Flesh Tearers arrived to save the Cryptus System, due to its closeness to the Baal System. Led by the Blood Angels Commander, Dante, the Space Marines dispersed and fought the Tyranids. Dante himself led his Chapter's forces on Asphodex, where the found General Dhrost and the remnants of the Astra Militarum Regiments he commanded. They would fight together to try and save the world, but like before the Tyranids proved to be too powerful. This led Dante to make an alliance with the Necrons of the Mephrit Dynasty, who dwelt within the Cryptus System. This alliance saw the activation of a powerful weapon the Dynasty possessed, which inflicted heavy casualties amongst the Tyranids. However it was not enough to stop Hive Fleet Leviathan and Dante declared the System was lost to the ravenous Xenos. He then ordered for any surviving civilian or military forces to be evacuated, as the Blood Angels' fleet prepared to retreat back to the Chapter's Homeworld of Baal. As the Tyranids attacked their position on Asphodex, Dante ordered for Dhrost and his surviving forces to prepare to be evacuated. Dhrost was amongst the last of the Astra Militarum to leave and the General spared one last look at the world he had tried to save[2a]:
I did what I could. I leave three million dead men here. I pray it was enough.[2a]
Dante and the Blood Angels evacuated soon afterwards[2a] and the Imperium's surviving spaceships in the Cryptus System gathered together, as they prepared to leave the System. As these preparations were underway, Dante called for his Chapter to have a Red Council meeting, to discuss how to defend Baal against the advancing Hive Fleet Leviathan, as the Imperials' fleet made their way to the Blood Angels' Homeworld. General Dhrost and his fellow high ranking survivor Sister Superior Amity Hope were allowed to attend the meeting by Dante, despite not being of the Chapter. Soon the matter of what to do with the Cryptus System's two million surviving citizens came up and Dante remarked that many would soon die, as there were not enough supplies to feed them all. The Commander declared that the survivors would need to be settled in other Systems as a result of this and General Dhrost said that he would take the survivors to Cadia, where the Fortress World would take in as many as possible. When Captain Karlaen remarked on how Cadia lay near the Eye of Terror, Dhrost declared that despite that, the Fortress World was still vastly safer than other Imperial worlds.[2b]
Dante stated the Blood Angels would do their part as well and settle as many survivors as possible in the Baal System, while also taking Aspirants from the population to restrengthen their Chapter. Due to how far Cadia was from the Cryptus System, however, the Commander declared that the survivors would need to be settled on Imperial worlds closer to the System as well. In order to best solve this problem, Dante decided to provide the General with a letter of demand from the Blood Angels, requesting assistance in the matter. Dante then told Dhrost, that as the General was leading the survivors to Cadia, he was to present the letter to the Imperial Commanders of the worlds that laid beyond the Red Scar. As Hive Fleet Leviathan continued its advance, many of these worlds would request the Chapter's protection and Dante remarked that if their Commanders' wished for the Blood Angels' aid, then they would need to take in as many of Cryptus' survivors as possible.[2b]
Sources
- 1: Shield of Baal: Leviathan — Champions of Asphodex
- 2: Dante (Novel)
