Editing Lord Solar Macharius (section)

==The Macharian Crusade (Novel Trilogy)==
{{Template:Spoilers}}
'''SPOILERS AHEAD'''

[[William King|William King's]] Macharian Crusade trilogy gives a much more personal look at the man from the perspective of one of the soldiers under his command (later his most trusted bodyguard), Leo Lemuel. That's him rocking the IG cap in the above picture. The series gives us a really in-depth look at Macharius's character, and what we find is not very surprising. Macharius is an incredibly driven man who wholeheartedly and with no reservations or misgivings believes in the Imperium and the Emperor. He is a tactical genius without peer, a combatant almost on par with the [[Space Wolves]], and the most inspiring motherfucker since [[Sebastian Thor]]. However, this supreme drive works against him and makes him somewhat obsessive. In the second novel, for example, some [[Dark Eldar]] stole a [[powerfist]] that Macharius thought was [[Leman Russ|Leman Russ's]] from his flagship. Even with the Space Wolves doubting (but hoping) that it was Russ's, Macharius takes ONE ship back to fight the Dark Eldar who had already beaten him (granted it was through an accidental surprise attack that not even Macharius could have seen coming). It should also be noted that during the boarding actions the Dark Eldar were undertaking on his ship, he bullet-times those fuckers up and displays his TACTICAL GENIUS in beating back the attack.

In the final book, it really comes to a head. Macharius is being hounded by the [[High Lords of Terra]] to return to Earth and accept medals and accolades and a triumph and to stop the crusade, as they were afraid he was carving out his own empire (despite not establishing anything even resembling an empire nor the basis of one...goes to show how messed up those High Lords are that the idea of the Lord Solar simply ''doing his duty'' never occurs to them). Macharius's bestest Inquisitor buddy, Drake, also reveals to him that his juvenate treatments are failing and he will die soon. On top of this, the Crusade is too tired and has gone on too long. The soldiers are worn down and the generals want a piece of the pie when Macharius is removed (one way or another). To put the cap on Macharius's shitty final days, he was defeated on the Halo world of Loki by his former protege, Richter. This is the final straw and in defiance of the High Lords and calling upon every resource at his disposal (including the Space Wolves), Macharius assaults Loki for a final time with the intention of taking Richter's head.

The battle is fierce and Lemuel loses his remaining friends to the deadly forces of [[Nurgle]]. Macharius gets close enough to Richter for Drake to blast aside his defenses, allowing Macharius to [[Captain Titus|TACKLE A TRANSCENDING DEMON PRINCE.]] Richter gets the upper hand, but Lemuel and his trusty shotgun are there to give Macharius the edge he needs to destroy Richter once and for all. After the battle, Drake summons Macharius to examine something in a side room away from everyone. There, Macharius reveals to Drake, Lemuel, and one of Drake's stormtroopers that he knows Drake was simply setting him up to be killed on Loki. Drake is accepting of this and while Macharius is smiling, triumphant once again in his Crusade, the stormtrooper shoots him in the back of the head before revealing herself as Anna, an assassin (possibly a [[Callidus]]) in Drake's employ. However, before Drake can revel in his own triumph, Anna shoots him as well, setting up a corpse as the assassin and Lemuel as the hero who was only a bit too late to save them. The series ends off with Lemuel wondering who she really worked for and what their motives were. 

So what does this mean for the old fluff? Well, firstly it means Macharius never made it to the very edge of the galaxy and thus never had the moment where no one would follow him further (though the series got close on both counts). So we lose that awesome bit of manly tears. We do, however, gain a far less ambiguous death, and one that allows Macharius to die triumphant once again. The fluff of the generals starting the Macharian Heresy isn't effected, as they were already plotting against him, so nothing in the future need change. Overall, if nothing else it is a nice look at Macharius as a man instead of just an awesome figure from Imperial history.

Also, while a total dick move, let's be fair: Drake did honestly play an important role on Loki and genuinely fought hard for the Imperium there despite his plan to murder Macharius. And Macharius had run his army so ragged they were going to cause a civil war ''and'' he was disobeying orders despite this. Perhaps one of the few examples of an Inquisitor actually doing what he genuinely had to do instead of just being a douche bag.