Raven Halmer

Raven Halmer, formerly known as the Black Death and now as the Bane of the Warmaster, is the current Chapter Master of the Night Hammers Space Marine Chapter and former member of the Luna Wolves before the latter's abduction to Chaos and conversion to the Black Legion. He is the second-oldest living loyalist Astartes besides Bjorn the Fell-Handed and has been at the helm of combat in the galaxy for over ten millennia, both as a warrior of the Imperium and as an agent of the Ruinous Powers.

The Fall of Cadia
Raven was present during the 13th Crusade against the Cadian Gate, commanding his stealth frigate ''Steel of Determination. ''As part of the Black Fleet he and his crew fought against vessels of the Imperial Navy and the Adeptus Astartes to allow Chaos forces to planetstrike. During the conflict Raven utilised his ship's stealth abilities to cloak, pop behind Imperial formations and strike at their most vunerable points. Many vessels were destroyed this way, including the Imperial Fists Battle Barge Warrior's Doom.

Raven's luck ran short in terms of naval engagements however. Being smaller than most complementary Navy vessels, Steel of Determination was unable to stand up in a full-blown engagements with other vessels. Soon after the Warrior's Doom was destroyed, the frigate was engaged by a squadron of Cobra-class destroyers. The frigate came off victorious but heavily damaged and combat-ineffective. Knowing that his ship would likely be destroyed in any further engagement, Raven ordered his second-in-command Ajax to return the ship to port while he teleported onto the approaching Phalanx, flagship of the Imperial Fists fleet. The teleport was successful and Raven started his slaughter of the loyalist Space Marines on the giant space station. After ravaging the 7th Company, Raven finally found an equal fight in a Terminator, Company Champion Alexis Lysa. The pair battled through the halls of the Phalanx, breaking through wall, pillar and reinforcement, sparks flying every time their weapons collided. Their fight eventually came to one of the voidcraft hangars where several squads of Tactical Marines were preparing to deploy onto Cadia proper. Despite the fact that Raven was now outnumbered he continued to fight Lysa and the Tactical Marines. The fight came to a conclusion after a Dreadnought intervened, damaging Raven's armour and forcing him out into space.

Raven would be suspended in space for the next several hours. After the Blackstone Fortress was flung into Cadia and the latter was destroyed, Raven was recovered by the passing ''Vengeful Spirit. ''

Meeting the Lone Wolf
"'You fight well, wolf-born. I hope you live to fight another day.' - Raven to Gin after defeating the latter."The Imperial forces after seeing Cadia rip itself apart retreated to the next defensible position, away from the Black Fleet. Therefore no-one was expecting resistance, especially on one of their own battleships. Raven didn't plan to stay on the Vengeful Spirit for long. It would be on the colossal battleship that the Black Death would meet a future member of his chapter.

Gin Aven, a Terminator and veteran of the Space Wolves Chapter, had survived boarding the Blackstone Fortress and had also managed to escape the fortress and hijack a vessel so he could land on the ''Vengeful Spirit. ''Raven went to the hangar where Gin had landed. It was empty save for the two.

Gin struck from the shadows, catching Raven off-guard. The quicker reflexes of the latter combined with tougher armour were what saved him from Gin's brutal Lightning Claw strikes. Electricity crackled between the two as Raven drew his own Lightning Claws and began a counterattack. Speed and strength were not enough to beat the Wolf, Gin able to match and counter each blow. Raven fired a plasma shot in between each strike, wearing down Gin's armour. Each blast melted through ceramite plate, reaching into sensor systems, servos and artificial muscle. This damage tolled together over time. The battle climaxed as the power source to Gin's claws was cut off along with the arms, giving Raven time to slash open Gin's helmet and stun the Wolf. Gin fell to the floor, unable to fight. Raven did not finish him off, instead withdrawing his weapons and giving his opponent a compliment for being a worthy combative challenge.

The Awakening
Raven's true mettle would be tested at the Awakening. While resting at a personal retreat on the paradise world of Varsus Prime, the Grey Knights, chamber-militant of the Ordo Malleus, planned to kill Raven and Ajax for their involvement in the 13th Black Crusade. A single Terminator Strike Team was teleported straight into the retreat, led by Justicar Anval Thrawn. Raven and Ajax went to confront the strike team, but a physic pulse emitted by the Grey Knights effectively crippled Ajax leaving Raven to confront five Terminators alone. The first brashly charged Raven; the latter sidestepped and decapitated him. At that point the Justicar and another Grey Knight paired up on Raven, the other two going for Ajax. Raven's attackers went for the flank attack. Unable to attack two at the same time, Raven used his plasma weapons to stun the second Grey Knight for a time so he could attack Thrawn uninterrupted. The justicar very quickly saw what his target's intention was and countered by coming forward and swinging with his daemonhammer. Raven ducked under the weapon, plunging one of his Lightning Claw sets into Thrawn's chestpieces. Metal sundered, flesh parted, blood started coming out of the wound.

His own two opponents distracted, Raven rushed to assist his friend.

He was too late.

Ajax laid on the sculpted floor, blood pouring from several wounds in his chest, limbs and head. The leader of that pair stomped Ajax a half-foot into the floor and in a flash of movement plunged a halberd into his head, killing Ajax instantly. Raven froze in place. His best friend had just been killed at the hand of seasoned warriors. Now was not the time to hold back.

With one target down, the remaining Grey Knights went to surround the heavily-armoured Terminator. Raven looked around himself, surrounded on all sides. Lightning Claws sprouted from both hands. The enemy approached closer, carrying a variety of different weapons. The first Knight lunged forward sword in hand, a second coming from behind halberd in hand. Thrawn swung heavily with the daemonhammer, shattering the floor where Raven had been a second ago. He swung madly against the approaching Grey Knights, blocking blows, slicing through armour, drawing blood. A blow from a hammer shattered Raven's right shoulder pauldron. Right after, a sword cleaved through his back, severing the power source to his Iron Halo and arm. Now on the backhand, Raven slashed out at one Grey Knight, catching him in the head and ripping off his helmet. Without head protection, that man copped a plasma blast to the head which dropped him for good. Raven turned and attempted to avoid a hammer blow, but instead got caught, his helmet caving in and disabling one of the viewing ports. Half-blind, Raven rapidly fired with his remaining plasma gun into a third, melting rapidly through his armour. The third Grey Knight fell to his knees, plasma burns pushing clean through his chest. On the final shot the plasma gun exploded, overcharged and overheated. A bright blue flame consumed the weapon, effectively removing it from that arm. Melted ceramite and charred flesh remained.

Two left to go.

Both remaining Grey Knights charged forward at the wounded target, weapons up. Raven kicked up the sword of one of the fallen to deflect the fourth's halberd. Thrawn hammered down to knock away the sword. Raven allowed this to happen so that he could advance with his remaining, unpowered, Lightning Claw set. Thrawn saw it, ducked back but not far enough. The four-bladed Claw dived deep into Thrawn's chest cavity, the region that had been previously sliced through. If the damage caused by that was not enough, Raven activating the claw's reserve weapon and shooting all four blades clean through the justicar finished the job. Thrawn collapsed backwards, four clean holes poked clean through his chest and back. Without the justicar to wield it, Raven picked up the daemonhammer. The final, uninjured Grey Knight saw that his leader was wounded and on the ground. The black-clad Terminator stared at him, clad in grey and white armour. The head of the hammer crackled in his hands.

Fifth Grey Knight struck out with his psyker powers, a surge of lightning, before advancing forward. Raven was caught by the lightning, some of it burning off the black paint on his armour. Seeing the knight move, Raven moved backwards, holding the hammer in front of him.

Redemption
Without a purpose or allies, Raven took the Steel of Determination to orbit above Nocturne, homeworld of the Salamander chapter of Space Marines. He removed his damaged armour, stored the daemonhammer. Once over the giant point of Mouth Deathfire, Raven teleported down onto the surface of the mountain without any armour or weapons.

He would spend a Terran week on the mountain, searching for something. On the eighth day,

Third Battle of Terra
Soon after the Emperor was revived by the Tree of Life, auspex scans given by the Black Templars detected the biggest Chaos fleet seen since the Horus Heresy heading straight for Terra.

Appearance
Unlike many followers of Chaos with tattooed, scarred and deformed faces, Raven possesses a scarred and rough face, the product of 10,000 years of war, with short dark brown hair sprouting from his head making him look much like any other veteran Space Marine. Raven can also be distinguished from other Astartes due to his sheer height and bulk. This appearance has given him the nickname Mini-Primarch.

Loyalist, M42-43

 * Mark VII Aquila Power Armour - When not in close-quarters environments that require the use of bulky Terminator Armour, Raven wears a set of Mark VII armour with a custom green trim and red helmet. Configured for his larger-than-normal size, the armour comes with a Lightning Claw housing on the left arm, a Bolt Pistol and a monomolecular Combat Knife.
 * Armour of the Warmaster's Bane (also known as The Black Death's Carapace) - This rare piece of Cataphracii-pattern Terminator Armour, painted the colours of the original Luna Wolves and held together by scrap pieces of ceramite, was Raven's old armour before defecting to the Imperium. It holds all the durability and toughness of normal Terminator Armour with an Iron Halo, but its sheer size limits movement. Much of the armour was destroyed during the Third Battle of Terra in Raven's battle against Abbadon, Lorgar and Pertubaro.
 * Bane of the Warmaster - A Relic Blade forged by Vulkan, Primarch of the Salamanders Chapter. This weapon was given to Raven shortly after Vulkan forgave the former for his actions against humanity, on the terms that he sought vengeance for those actions. Its carbon-black blade shimmers blue with energy, capable of cutting through the toughest of armour.
 * Storm Bolter - Raven utilises an Umbra-pattern Storm Bolter as a ranged weapon while wearing Terminator Armour.

Traitor, M31-42

 * The Black Death's Carapace - Refer to Armour of the Warmaster's Bane.
 * Blades of Redemption - Artificer-made Lightning Claws, these weapons were capable of slicing through power armour like it was paper. Both had integrated plasma weapons for ranged attack. These weapons were destroyed during the Awakening.