Tiberius Drusus

Tiberius Drusus is the chapter master of the Cobalt Scions. He is the first to hold that position, and has been thrust into the role by circumstance. His hope is to grow into the role, both politically and strategically, but as yet he feels the bite of his own inexperience compared to more seasoned Imperial commanders.

Origins

Born into a wealthy family determined to gain the prestige of raising another successful recruit for the Ultramarines, Drusus never had much say in his future. Even his forename Tiberius was chosen by his parents in the hopes that its grandiosity might catch the recruiters' attention. In reality it was the money and resources put into his training and education that got the job done. That, and the terror young Drusus felt knowing that the trials would kill him if he didn't best them. Understanding that he couldn't appeal to his parents to avoid the trials only deepened his fear, as did the fear of being a disappointment.

Following his recruitment Drusus found his fellow initiates came from all walks of life, and most of them had succeeded despite not having any of the privileges Drusus had enjoyed. That he had needed such boons just to rival his fellows was formatively humbling.

Indoctrination purged Drusus of his fear, but not his doubt. It was this doubt, this awareness of his shortcomings, that left him with a lifelong thirst for learning.

Early Career

Over decades of service, Drusus proved a perfectly able Ultramarine. In time, he was elevated to the first company. Serving as a brother in Aelius Justarian's squad, Drusus was occasionally seconded to other units in the chapter to serve as a stand-in sergeant, or to improve the skills of less experienced marines.

Service with the Cobalt Scions

When volunteers were requested to help found the Cobalt Scions, Drusus was an enthusiastic proponent, keen to apply his flexible take on the Codex Astartes to a new chapter unencumbered by tradition. Squad Justarian submitted themselves to the apothecaries for the primaris transformation. The idea was simple: each of the ten brothers would lead one of the ten companies, with Justarian serving as chapter master. A small group of marines who knew each other, who had unsimulated experience they could impart to their newly awakened vat-trained brothers.

The tragedy of Squad Justarian's passage across the Rubicon Primaris is covered in the primary history, as is the grief of Drusus and the other three survivors. What is important here is that Drusus' adaptability and genial nature were what saw his three brothers eventually agree that he should be the one to lead them following the death of their beloved sergeant.

Drusus had certainly been willing to lead a company, but hadn't been expected to lead the whole chapter. He didn't feel any more entitled to be in charge than his three remaining brothers, and certainly no more of an expert. As an Ultramarine veteran his role had been to provide answers, but they were answers to simple martial matters, not founding, training and administering a full chapter of warriors. Drusus soon concluded that by necessity his style of leadership would be collegiate, and tempered by an advanced awareness of his own ignorance. During the long voyage from Macragge to Mars, and thereafter throughout the Indomitus Crusade and to Thonis itself, Drusus assembled the pedagogi, a cabal of teachers in everything from grand strategy to civic governance. It wouldn't make them seriously effective leaders, but it would hopefully reduce the time it would take to achieve acceptable standards.

Through the Scions' time in the Indomitus Crusade, Drusus' aptitude for naval and strategic matters slowly improved. Whenever the Scions worked with other Imperial formations he would seek to identify the most able commanders among them, and do what he could to learn from them. Joint operations were something he actively sought out, keen to cement the Scions' reputation for aiding those who needed it, and to help build a collaborative culture within the chapter, rather than the isolationist approach of the Dark Angels and their like.

While the crusade offered valuable strategic experience, however, it did nothing for his political skill. Upon arrival in Thonis, the initial challenges faced by Drusus made him politically indecisive, and his doubt at his own suitability grew. In time, the input of the pedagogi and quiet meetings with local Thonician leaders enabled him to at least keep the situation under control. At no point did he even consider the idea that the Cobalt Scions would rule Thonis by consent. Coming from Macragge, he had expected the local populace to simply be in awe of the Astartes.

This turned out not to be the case.

Powerful old houses did not wish to cede their agency, but Drusus could not accept the need to treat the nobles' desires for profit with equal importance to the strategic needs of the chapter, and thus the safety of the wider region. He might have been deferential and collaborative among his brothers, but to the nobles of Thonicia he was an unwelcome tyrant.

Drusus' strategy, ultimately, was to pit the nobles against each other, while working to improve the conditions of the broader populace. Thus, while the nobles of the newly-formed senate remained troublesome, they lacked the popular support needed to attempt a rebellion.

The implementation of this strategy took time. Drusus spent several years in Thonicia, leaving his brothers to do the true job of a space marine while he ensured they had a home to return to.

After three years of work, and with a good number of new recruits well into their training, Drusus decided he'd finally done enough that it was safe to get out into the field and regain his martial edge. Attempting to embody the Scions' doctrine of flexibility, Drusus regularly changes his weaponry according to the threat he faces. His left hand, however, always bears a boltstorm gauntlet: a nod to the icon of the chapter itself, the blue fist, honouring the Gauntlets of Ultramar. In this way, Drusus hopes to be the figurehead every chapter needs. Privately, though, whenever he meets an Astartes captain from another chapter, or even a seasoned human admiral, he knows they had to work harder to reach their rank than he did. One day, he hopes, he will have truly earned the iron halo affixed to his armour.