Editing Life Bringers (section)

===A New Doctrine===

While the pacification of Tarrant earned the Twelfth Squad glory and admiration of their peers, they were unsure how to proceed from that point. Harel Meglin, their spiritual leader, was dead, and his demise created a void not so easily filled. Theophrastus Salk, late Meglin's second in command, begrudgingly stepped in to at least restore the martial spirit. Famously modest, Salk considered his leadership skills vastly inferior to those of his departed commander and initially planned to step down as soon as a better candidate for this position revealed himself. But while he was in fact hardly Meglin's inferior, the two were indeed as different as life and death. Whereas Meglin was a charismatic leader whose gallows humour did wonders to the morale, his replacement was perpetually sombre and dour, with no sense of humour to speak of. While Meglin was the team's heart, Salk was its brain, and so he began his tenure as the squad's commander with analysing the lessons of Tarrant, hoping to at least partially compensate for the loss of two valuable soldiers with new strategic insights. 

First and foremost, he was deeply impressed with the array of chemical weapons employed by Geber and his minions. The scene of two brilliantly trained, experienced Space Marines dying to something as simple as a cloud of toxic gas stayed with him for the rest of his life. He wisely deduced that if such weapons could bring down Terra's finest warriors with ease, then they would surely be even more effective against anything the technobarbarians could throw at them. With his mind firmly set on turning chemical weapons into an asset for the Twelfth Squad, Salk ordered Sachs to study the captured alchematrons and make them more suitable for usage in Space Marine assaults, while Pneuren was tasked with developing superior means of chemical and biological defence. Both achieved great success, and Salk made a decision to test his new strategy during the pacification of the Cyborgocracy of Xebek. 

Much to his pleasure, it worked out even better than he expected. Scores of cyborgs fell victim to the toxic agents unleashed upon them, and those lucky enough to survive were quickly finished off by the Twelfth Squad protected by the best chemical defence available on Terra. The Xebek operation set new standards for efficiency: the Hive was taken in record time, no enemies survived and the casualties on the Imperial side were trivial and mostly caused by the residual toxic gases inhaled by the Imperial soldiers. At first, Hektor derided the operation, considering the usage of chemical weapons a show of cowardice. However, the Emperor himself was immensely pleased by its outcome, pointing out to his son that not every enemy he would encounter during the upcoming Great Crusade would be deserving of an honourable fight. After considering his notion, Hektor reassessed the performance of the Twelfth Squad and decorated its members. 

With Salk's new strategy an astounding success, his squad continued to implement it with minor alterations throughout the Unification Wars, with largely positive results. Although Vira's recklessness almost cost him his life several times, timely help from Pneuren or Sachs typically kept him off the doorstep of the Underworld, and the Twelfth Squad received no more casualties until the end of the great conflict. Although not without hesitation, Salk finally came to terms with his role as the leader, although his social skills remained just as poor. It was often that the brilliant battle strategies drafted by Salk were explained to the squad members by his right hand man Hashimoto the Red, a much more apt speaker than his commander. Deeply unhappy about this situation, Salk secretly took rhetoric lessons between combat assignment; but, as with most things concerning him, they were only secret in his own mind. His men knew full well about the lessons, but their consensus was that they were completely unnecessary. They came to love and respect their sombre commander the way he was, although it certainly warmed their hearts that he was so eager to improve for them.

Another important event happened near the end of the Unification Wars. The conquest of Terra was nearing its conclusion, and the conquest of the entire Galaxy was to follow. This conflict was promising to be much harder than the Unification Wars, and the Imperial commanders were already looking for ways to prepare for a war on such an unprecedented scale. The suggestions of the members of the Sacred Band were listened to with deep attention, for their skill and experience as warriors were beyond all doubt. Edentis Pneuren, who made a name for himself as a peerless field medic during the Wars, argued before Hektor for the establishment of a school for the medically-inclined amongst Space Marines, arguing that a good field doctor could save enough lives to turn the tide of any battle. His suggestion was met with general approval, and soon enough Hektor announced the opening of Asclepeion - a medical school for Space Marines.

Every single legion sent its representatives to this school, although the greatest number of new students came from the Twelfth Legion, whose members were probably inspired by the example of Pneuren and Sachs. Adept Biologis [[Lyster Larrey]] of Mars was invited to help found Asclepeion once Mars joined Terra in a permanent union. While Pneuren displayed the best medical skills and most dedication, Sachs quickly became the adept's favourite student, for his curious scientific mind reminded Lyster of his own. It was Larrey's idea to unite the positions of field medics and geneseed caretakers due to the numerous similarities and direct overlaps between the two. He suggested the name Apothecary for the new position, and it was ultimately approved by Hektor. Pneuren and Sachs became the first full-fledged Apothecaries to graduate from Asclepeion, thus being the originators of the entire Imperial Apothecarion.