In 763918.M41, the Executioners received a request for assistance from the 4th world of the Drenai system. The Chapter was operating as a whole, as they were only a few years into their century long penitent crusade. Drenai 4 had been invaded by a massive Ork Waaagh, and their planetary defense force had been annihilated. Only the planetary capital, Hive Delnoch, remained in Imperial hands, and it was facing a massive Ork siege. The entire Executioners Chapter set course for the Drenai system, but the threat was so urgent that an advance force was sent on the Chapter’s fastest ship, the Night Hag.
The Night Hag carried more than one hundred marines, chosen from throughout the Chapter for their stubborn resilience. Their task was simple: hold Hive Delnoch until the rest of the Chapter could arrive and destroy the Waaagh. Among those chosen was a full squad of ten assault terminators led by Sgt. Druss. Druss was already renowned among the Executioners for his skill with the Headsman’s Axe and his refusal to surrender in the face of overwhelming odds, traits that would secure his legacy in the coming battle.
Hive Delnoch was a well fortified city, surrounded by six massive walls bristling with weaponry and overlooking open kill zones. Even so, but the time the Night Hag arrived, the first three walls had already fallen. The Executioners manned the defenses alongside the remaining planetary defense forces, and thousands of Orks died for every meter they advanced. Despite the horrific toll taken on the invaders, two more walls were lost within the next several weeks.
The defenders were pushed back to the final wall, and it seemed like the city was lost when the final gate was destroyed by a barrage of zzap gun fire. As the Orks surged toward the gap, Druss and his terminators stepped into the breach. They repulsed attack after attack, their axes slaying every Ork within reach. After eight days, the Ork Warboss and his Meganob retinue tried to crush the tired defenders, but Druss struck down the Warboss and the nobs were forced back. The Waaagh fell into disarray as the nobs squabbled over who would take control, and when the remainder of Executioners arrived, they easily crushed the disorganized horde.
Though several members of the squad survived to see the Executioners’ victory, all but Druss himself succumbed to the horrific wounds they had suffered during 8 days of near constant battle. In fact, so severe were Druss’ wounds that the Chapter Apothecaries cannot explain his survival, attributing it simply to his refusal to die.
Since that day, Druss has been known as “the Legend” among the Executioners. However, Druss refuses to bear that honorific himself and has chosen to apply it to his entire squad. He has been slowly rebuilding the Legends since his recovery, only admitting warriors that have personally slain an enemy warlord in single combat. It now numbers five warriors, among them Decado, whose skill with twin blades slew the Red Corsair warlord Tarrik Slaughterborn, and Regnak, known as Rek for short, whose berserk fury allowed him to slay a Hive Tyrant of Hive Fleet Kraken. With such storied members, the Legends have repeatedly triumphed against overwhelming odds.