Line #119 Awesome/CiaphasCain


1	Literature/CiaphasCain seems to get at least one of these per book, despite being... well, [[FakeUltimateHero himself]]. The fact that [[DirtyCoward he's bluffing]] most of the time generally only serves to polish the crown, so to speak.
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3	[[foldercontrol]]
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5	[[folder:For the Emperor]]
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7	* Cain manages to stop a riot involving Guardsmen (and women) from two different factions of an amalgamated regiment by declaring his outrage over the mess they've made and ordering a nearby trooper to go get mops. The quote is quite possibly Cain's {{Establishing Character Moment}}:
8	--> '''Cain''': "You. Get a broom. <...> This mess hall is an absolute disgrace. And no one is leaving until it’s been tidied up".
9	* He gets a minor one in the same novel; after fighting a [[DangerousDeserter renegade guardsman]] in single combat, Amberley shows up with the rest of the squad. The guardsman immediately points his hellgun at Cain, threatening to kill him if he makes a move. Cain's response? "Jurgen, kill him".
10	* Don't forget how he manages to defuse the potentially disastrous situation where the Tau ambassador has just been assassinated, by talking down the other Tau present, using their own philosophy of 'the Greater Good'. Despite not having a clue what he's talking about!
11	--> '''Kasteen''': What the frak's that supposed to mean?
12	--> '''Cain''': Warped if I know.
13
14	[[/folder]]
15
16	[[folder:Caves of Ice]]
17
18	* The local [[ObstructiveBureaucrat Adeptus Mechanicus and Administratum senior officials]] are horrified to learn that their facility is coming under martial law and attempt to bully Colonel Kasteen, the regiment's commander, into repealing the directive. When one of them makes the mistake of saying that she would "prefer the alternative," Cain dramatically drops his laspistol on the table and reveals in no uncertain terms that said alternative is execution for obstruction of the defense of the Imperium. This ends the debate fairly quickly.
19	* Major Broklaw gets one a little bit later on, during another meeting where Ciaphas isn't present.
20	-->''Proceedings'': Colonel Kasteen called the meeting to order. Then she called it to order again. Major Broklaw [[ShutUpGunshot fired his bolt pistol into the ceiling]], and the meeting came to order.
21	* That's not even counting how Cain ends up destroying the Necron army hidden underneath the refinery. He does it by flooding the tunnels with ''eight million liters'' of refined promethium and then blowing it all up, producing an explosion so powerful that it buffets the Valhallans' troopship... which is ''in orbit.''
22	* The Ork gargant that's been stomping around through the whole novel also gets a moment when it fights off more than two dozen Necron monoliths ''singlehandedly.'' Keep in mind, the gargant is a gigantic, cobbled-together, barely functional walker, taking on a horde of millions-of-years old war machines built by the single most technologically advanced species to have ever existed, and it ''wins.''
23	* The DoNotGoGentle last moments of MauveShirt troopers Hail and Simla, who each manage to kill an opponent or two even after being shot through the torso and losing an arm, respectively, are enough to make it a shame neither sticks around for more books.
24	* An anonymous Ork boy deserves mention here: stabbed in the chest and left to die by Necron infantry, he proceeds to grab the nearest one, tear its leg off, and beat the thing with said leg until it dispatches him. That sheer, unbridled defiance to the last breath epitomizes one of the few virtues the Orks possess.
25	* Cain also gets one when he and his stormtrooper escorts are attacked by [[TheDreaded Pariahs]]. Whereas the stormtroopers quickly succumb to the Necron cyborgs’ [[EmotionBomb fear aura]] and devolve into babbling wrecks crying for the Emperor as the Pariahs slaughter them all, Cain himself manages to keep it together and even fire off a few shots from his laspistol, enduring their MindRape long enough for Jurgen to get close enough to neuter it.
26
27	[[/folder]]
28
29	[[folder:The Traitor's Hand]]
30
31	* A hovercar filled with psychotic, drugged-up Slaaneshi cultists crashes into the top-floor meeting between Commissar Ciaphas Cain and various ultra-high-level officers and governors. Cain wipes the floor with ''all'' of the cultists, saving the officers almost single-handedly, and then locates and defuses the bomb hidden in the hovercar. He follows this up with an act absolutely befitting his reputation as a BadassLongcoat when he casually walks over to the drink table because TeaIsClassy.
32	* The Imperial vessels in orbit managed to get one later. Specifically, a lone cruiser, the flagship ''Indestructible'' (commanded by Captain Igor Yates) as well as the thousand-strong merchant fleet it was defending, facing down a ''Chaos Battleship'' and ''winning'', even though none of them had any firepower that could hope to penetrate the battleship's defenses without being obliterated in return. The cruiser, despite being out-gunned, out-ranged, and out-classed, defiantly faces down the battleship and exchanges fire with it using its few long-range weapons. The cruiser is apparently crippled by the return volley, and reverses its engines, apparently retreating. The Chaos Battleship, thinking his enemy too badly hurt to fight back, as well as sensing that a Slaaneshi Daemon Prince had been summoned at the planet, and wishing to end things quickly, moves into short-range to finish the crippled cruiser off. As it looms over the damaged cruiser, the ''Indestructible'' quits playing dead and fires a barrage of torpedoes. With that one volley, it ''cripples'' the battleship, blowing off most of its primary armament. The ponderous battleship attempts to maneuver for broadside, but fails to notice that in doing so it has lumbered into the center of the merchant fleet, and even if none individually had the strength to hurt it, [[DeathOfAThousandCuts a thousand tends to add up.]] When the ''Indestructible'' took out its engines, the battleship's fate had been sealed.
33	* Although a single chaos marine may not seem like much considering some of the things Cain has fought, the scene where he went ''mano a mano'' with a Khorne Berzerker was great. Cain not only survived long enough for Jurgen to blow a hole in its chest with his melta gun, but completely dominated the fight, deflecting the Berzerker's attacks (even redirecting one to cut into the Berzerker's ''own knee'') with contemptuous ease and taunting it while he did so, making it simply one of the ''coolest'' victories he's ever had. To top it off, he called for a cup of tea even before the corpse was cold. To get an idea of how tough Khorne Berzerkers are in the Ciaphas Cain novels, later in the book ''five'' of them slaughter their way through literally ''hundreds'' of Slaaneshi cultists.
34	** ...until they met the Slaaneshi demon the cultists were summoning, which ripped them apart. Cain and Jurgen then kicked her butt so thoroughly that one of the Tallarn soldiers who witness the battle returns home to found a fringe sect of the Imperial Cult that ''venerates Cain as a prophet of the Emperor''. To quote The Book of Cain, Chapter IV, Verse XXI:
35	--->'Then the prophet spake: saying "Frak this, for my faith is a shield proof against your blandishments."'
36	** The real quote was pretty badass too:
37	--->"Frak this! My soul's my own and I'm keeping it!"
38	*** The best part about this is that it's not listed as a heretical offshoot, or a misguided cult. This is apparently officially recognized by the Ecclisiarchy.
39	* Cain is consistently described in his novels as one of the best (if not ''THE'' best) swordsmen in the whole Segmentum. Which speaks volumes, given that it's 40K, and Cain is basically [[BadassNormal just a normal man]], if large and powerful. And it's not Cain who's saying this about him, either; it's Inquisitor Vail, whose job has likely given her the chance to see plenty of other badasses for comparison.
40	* An exchange with the aforementioned Berserker:
41	-->'''Cain:''' I thought the acolytes of Khorne were supposed to be warriors, [[IShallTauntYou not a bunch of pansies.]]
42	-->'''(a rather frustrated) Khorne Berserker:''' [[IllKillYou I'll feed you your own entrails!]]
43	-->'''Cain:''' [[NeverHeardThatOneBefore Like I've never heard that one before...]]
44	* As if one Berzerker weren't enough, Cain takes out ''another'' one (specifically one of the aforementioned five) later in the same book! Granted, said Berzerker was heavily wounded from fighting cultists, yet was still in enough fighting shape to take out several Guardsman before Cain found a slight chink in its PowerArmour and proceeded to eviscerate the bastard. Even better, he did it in front of a hated rival who had earlier tried to play down (i.e. outright deny) his first kill.
45	* Points to the novel's BigBad, Slaaneshi witch turned daemon, Emeli. Moments after manifesting she establishes herself at the top of the [[EvilerThanThou villainous pecking order]] when she paralyzes two Khornate Berzerkers, then casually tears them apart.
46	* Every time Cain gets an opportunity to use his Chainsword is a SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome. Every time.
47	* Several events accompanying his {{Pre Mortem One Liner}}s:
48	-->"[[AxeCrazy Blood for the Blood God!]]"
49	--> "Harriers for the cup!"
50	-->--\
51	"[[AxeCrazy Blood for the Blood God!]]" (They say that a lot)\
52	"Fine, he can have yours".
53	-->--
54	-->"[[{{Axe Crazy}} Blood for the Blood God!]]" (A LOT.)
55	-->"...Well, he's not getting mine..." (Bonus points because it's not Ciaphas who says it, but a local policeman)
56	-->--
57	-->"[[{{Axe Crazy}} Blood for the Blood God!]]" ([[OverlyLongGag Did we mention they say that a lot]]?)
58	-->"I'm getting really sick of hearing that."
59	-->--
60	-->"Impersonating an inquisitor is a capital offense."
61	-->--
62	* Praetor Kolbe's casual disposal of a Cultist interrupting a vox-conversation between him and Cain.
63	-->'Excuse me a minute...' He was interrupted by a burst of incoherent screaming which sounded like the warcry of a Khornate fanatic and which terminated abruptly in a thud of a power maul on full charge and a gurgle which sounded distinctly unhealthy. 'Well he's not getting mine... Sorry commissar, where were we?'
64	* A corrupted tech-priest uses a cargo-lifting servitor to squash the head of a Chaos Space Marine.
65	[[/folder]]
66
67	[[folder:Death or Glory]]
68
69	* Cain and his band of refugees are trapped in a valley with a massive hydroelectric dam behind them and an approaching Ork warband ahead of them. Cain's solution to this problem is to blow the dam behind them as they fall back and drown the Orks. This may not sound like much of a feat but consider that the dam had to be blown open with multiple shots from a Basilisk artillery vehicle and that the warband was a fairly sizeable chunk of the invader's forces (casualties among the orks from this action were estimated at over 7000, while Cain's force was only around 300, including civilians).
70	** Arguably, the entire plot of the novel, in which Cain goes from a survivor of an orbital battle stranded behind Ork lines to the leader of a large force of Imperial irregulars that manages to break the deadlock on the ground by striking the enemy from behind, could count as a single massive Crowning Moment of Awesome. It's no exaggeration to say that Cain's actions literally saved the entire planet in that book, especially given that his adventure culminated in him killing the gigantic ork warboss Korbul in single combat, breaking the back of the waaagh in a single blow. There is a ''reason'' Perlia named him "the Liberator," and this incident is what made him a household name across the Imperium.
71	** The fight with Korbul is also one of his greatest ever battles, largely because it's one of the few times he beats an opponent who should by all rights tear him apart in a straight-up one-to-one DuelToTheDeath. No tricks, no last-second reprieves, no Jurgen suddenly showing up to save the day with psychic-nullifying shenanigans or a melta gun (Cain even calls on Jurgen for aid and Jurgen actually ''refuses'', pointing out that if he interferes in the duel, he'll get them ''both'' killed). It's just Cain, his chainsword and his laspistol versus about half a ton of ork muscle and [[PoweredArmor mega-armour]]. And he ''wins.'' Oh, and Felicia recorded the whole fight. The Commissariat later releases the footage to the news media, making Cain even more heroic to the general public.
72	** Considering the timing, the dam incident may have inspired [[Blog/ThingsMrWelchIsNoLongerAllowedToDoInAnRPG Mr. Welch]] to try something similar. [[note]]''Death or Glory'' was published in 2006, while the list entries in question are from 2009.[[/note]]
73	---> 1683. Killing the orc horde by drowning them all at once is heroic. Killing them by drowning them [[BlackComedy one at a time]] is an alignment check.
74	* Before the fight at the dam, Cain mentions a hilariously awesome NoodleIncident where he apparently found himself facing down a daemon with nothing but a rusty bayonet and a vial of holy water. The fact that Cain is still alive implies that he somehow won this fight.
75	* His true CMOA is posthumous. Thanks to the number of times Cain has been declared MIA or KIA and the amount of time it takes the bureaucracy to sort these out, standing orders were issued to ignore any message declaring him dead. Cain is therefore the only human in the galaxy still listed on the Active Roster despite being buried with full military honours.
76	* Militia sergeant Tayber manages to deliberately twist the ExactWords of an order to liberate hundreds of prisoners who Cain would rather leave behind, including Tayber's sister.
77	[[/folder]]
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79	[[folder:Duty Calls]]
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81	* When Cain and the local law enforcers are ambushed by Genestealers in the middle of a staged traffic accident, Jurgen draws first blood by shooting the first assassin in the face. Mind you, he was doing this while seated in a limousine.
82	* Zemelda Cleat, a street food vendor, goes from terrified bystander to street fighter in a matter of minutes after Cain gives her a rousing speech.
83	* "Flicker", of Amberley's retinue, gets a ''retroactive'' Crowning Moment in the same book. His backstory involves bringing down an ''entire'' criminal empire, single-handedly, [[CowboyCop against orders]], with just ''one'' murder-and-frame.
84	* Cain (unwillingly) going toe to toe with one of the abovementioned ''Tyranid hive tyrants'', armed with only his chainsword, and defending himself long enough to come out alive. While suffering from a minor but realistic concussion.
85	** There were also Genestealers. They're fairly challenging opponents even for an Astartes (just ask any Space Hulk player, they'll tell you all about it). Cain repeatedly battled them, often facing several purebreed Genestealers at once and even held his own against a Genestealer Patriarch.
86	** Your friendly neighborhood Inquisitor Amberly Veil. While she usually deals with the threats from the shadows, during a conversation she casually drops the fact that she repeatedly encountered Genestealer Patriarchs and Broodlords in single combat and killed 'em dead. Yes, she used her Artificer Power Armor to do that, but normally they call in Deathwatch kill-teams for that sort of thing.
87	* Cain gets one when he, for once, channels the spirit of a stereotypical Commissar. A Chaos worshipper unleashes sorcery upon him that fills his mind with horrible visions of the destruction of the Imperium and the Emperor himself being devoured by daemons. Through his own will and Jurgen's psychic blank status Cain manages to throw the vision off. He then roars, "Liar!" at the top of his lungs and blows the psyker's head off with his pistol and decapitates another psyker with his chainsword.
88	* The ending is a piece of brilliance: After persuading a rogue inquisitor to admit him into his lair, Cain manages to survive contact with and apparently "deactivate" a xeno ArtifactOfDoom that kills all who touch it. When Inquisitor Vail turns up, the rogue inquisitor discovers the ruse, pulls a gun on Cain and Vail, and flees with the artifact--only to be killed by it while making his escape, as the supposed "purification" was actually due to Jurgen's ability to null psychic power within a small radius.
89	** Making this even ''more'' awesome is that, prior to this, Cain spends the entire meeting bluffing his way through on secondhand knowledge and bits and pieces of information he's picked up, knowing full well that the slightest slip-up in talking to these guys about things he doesn't know about will get him killed. Later on, when he's discovered, Cain uses a brilliant combination of his people-reading skills, his own massively fabricated reputation, and his opponents' paranoia to maneuver them into place to bring them both down.
90	-->'''Cain''': One of the chief advantages of a completely unmerited reputation for unwavering integrity, I've often found, [[RefugeInAudacity is that the more outrageous the lie, the more likely it is to be believed.]]
91	** Cain also spends the novel surviving increasingly close brushes with extremely dangerous Tyranids, including a Lictor and ''two'' Hive Tyrants. And while he doesn't kill them himself, he still manages to survive in close combat against things that can slaughter nonaugmented humans with ease and are a threat even to Space Marines.
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93	[[/folder]]
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95	[[folder:Cain's Last Stand]]
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97	* In a sequel to ''Death or Glory,'' Cain is at the forefront when Perlia is invaded by a branch of the Thirteenth Black Crusade, led by UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler {{expy}} Warmaster Varan. Over the course of a couple weeks, he and his people successfully rally local militias, secure personnel, deny the enemy a game-changing asset, and ultimately break the back of the entire invasion. Not a bad turnout, all things considered.
98	* Cain is evacuating the governor from his headquarters, only for Cadet Donal to get hit right on the verge of safety in a hallway firefight. Cain knows it'd be safer to leave him, but jumps in without hesitation to save him and prolongs his life.
99	* While evacuating the schola, Cain and his cadets are at an impasse; they need to break for the evacuations ships, but the bad guys are pouring through a gap. If they run, they'll be shot, but more and more guys are getting through no matter how many they shoot. Who comes in but Sister Julien with her six novitiates, all clad in power armor, and they break the offense long enough for Cain and co to make it to the ships.
100	* In typical Cain fashion, being present when an allegedly safe experiment with the Darklight is being conducted results in a Chaos daemon spontaneously manifesting, and INSTANTLY healing from all damage because of the Darklight. Cain summarily clears the room and fights it personally with sword and pistol, wounding it badly even if it heals, and surviving long enough for Jurgen to show up and nullify its power. Jurgen summarily melts it in the back and Cain cuts its head off for safety. And even he would admit this is probably the tenth most interesting thing he's done that day.
101	* The climax of the book - Cain deduces that the villain Varan is using a CompellingVoice ... but that Jurgen can nullify it, and that Varan is rather overconfident about his abilities. In one stroke, Cain ends the entire Chaos invasion by calling Varan out to a [[ISurrenderSuckers surrendering ceremony]]... putting Varan into Jurgen's range. He then engages him in a one-on-one duel to the death, and despite Varan still being super-tough and strong and having some nasty claws, he wins. Even better? The whole thing was being filmed and transmitted ''live'' to the entire planet. Varan was so overconfident about victory he ended up recording his death. And the cherry on top? Cain kills him by feinting him onto the edge of the dam they're meeting on ... and delivering a PreMortemOneLiner before Sparta-kicking him to his death:
102	-->[[LiteralAssKicking "Commissar Donal sends his regards."]]
103	** The best part? [[RetiredBadAss Cain does all of this when he's ostensibly in retirement.]]
104	** And he hams it up in front of the cameras when he demands Varan's surrender.
105	** His fellow [[RetiredBadass Retired Badasses]] deserve mention, as well. Four people, from four different departments of the Imperium (Commissariat, Navy, likely Inquisitorial forces, Adeptus Sororitas), start out clandestinely conspiring to prep their students for the coming conflict... and end up basically running Perlia's defense once the [[OhCrap Thirteenth Black Crusade comes for a visit]].
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107	[[/folder]]
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109	[[folder:The Emperor's Finest]]
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111	* Jurgen gets one. Cain needs Jurgen to shoot out a giant promethium fuel tank a bunch of Orks are using while staying hidden in a space hulk... Jurgen takes three shots before he gets it. Cain is disappointed that there's no visible damage to the tank... The reason? Jurgen was aiming at AND HIT the tank's ''release valve''... at a distance where Cain didn't think it would be odd to take three shots to hit the tank as a whole.
112	** Cain's plan is to lure the orks out and [[EvilVersusEvil get them to fight some tyranids for him]], and he's briefly worried that Jurgen's attack will end up ''killing them all'' before they have a chance to. (It doesn't.)
113	** Cain gets several from the Reclaimers:
114	*** Being allowed to use an Astartes training chapel on the basis of his reputation as a OneManArmy. Cain compares this to having a senior priest open a sepulcher and offer him a saint's bones, and Amberly notes that he's just ''barely'' exaggerating.
115	*** Duelling a [[MultiArmedAndDangerous Techmarine]] and managing to score a hit on his chest armor. [[WorthyOpponent The Techmarine even says he'll keep the scratch as a reminder not to underestimate opponents.]]
116	* The local System Defense Force's idea for taking out a space hulk is to have their small ships spend months chipping away at the vessel during its slow approach until it breaks apart.
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118	[[/folder]]
119
120	[[folder:The Last Ditch]]
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122	* Cain, his allies, and the crew of a ship that has had its bridge badly damaged by a daemon (who Cain and the regiment's chaplain exorcise after a short but intense fight) manage to crash land the ship in one piece on a frozen lake. Then, when this attracts an immense horde of Orks, Cain lowers himself with a pulley rope to attack them from a vulnerable point before the retreating heroes set off explosions, which make the Orks fall through the breaking ice while Jurgen manages to navigate around the rapidly spreading cracks in the ice to safety.
123	* Cain defeating a Tyranid Mawloc attacking the refugee caravan he's escorting; since Mawlocs hunt by detecting vibrations (which Cain is reminded of after seeing how it is even trying to eat a Senteniel walker, whose pilot pulls off an impressive but narrow escape by jumping the vehicle over the Mawloc), Cain cuts loose a dozen or so promethium barrels wired to explode, hoping to catch the creature in the explosion. Instead, the Mawloc [[FeedItABomb swallows the barrels]]; seconds later, they detonate inside its gullet, killing it and making Cain the hero of the hour (yet again).
124	* Sulla engages in BotheringByTheBook methods to take away a fleet of shuttles from Administratum drones who are denying them to the guard during a vital campaign.
125	* Cain and Jurgen are cut off from the line of retreat, deep underground, surrounded by 'nids, and the whole area is about to become a very active volcano. So, they mount up on motorcycles and make like an action movie through tyranid made and infested tunnels.
126
127	[[/folder]]
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129	[[folder:The Greater Good]]
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131	* Just the premise of the novel. Cain's heroic reputation has reached the point where ''xenos'' want to ask for his help! Of course, they first have to corner him, and that proves to be pretty difficult. Cain can't see why they didn't just pick up a vox.
132	** Also, from ''The Greater Good'', the [[{{Cyborg}} Cogboys]] from the Mechanicus during the final battle. Having little else to do, they arm themselves with clubs, plasma welders, ball and chain like grappling tools, home-made bolters and grenades, one of them had a '''crossbow''', and stuff of the like. The Tech Priest with the ball and chain catches a Tyranid gargoyle with it and saves Cain and several others from its fleshborer rounds. Cain returns the favor by cutting off the organism's tail (meant to gut the priest), '''guts''', and slashes its wing. At this point the Priest yells, "FINISH IT!"[[note]]Somehow adding bloodlust to his/her flat, mechanical voice[[/note]], proceeds to jump on it (crashing its other wing "like a ripe fruit"), and encouraging a host of Tech Adepts to jump it and hack it to pieces and pound it to paste. Cain quickly sets off to the where the Tyranids are the strongest ([[RunningGag to keep up appearances and look heroic]] while actually watching out for number 1) at which point several of the lightly armed, red cloaked adepts '''follow''' him to the battle ready to get back into it. BewareTheSillyOnes, indeed.
133	* Astropath Clementine Drey's HeroicSacrifice that allows the good guys to rout the Tyranid hive fleet descending on them, repeatedly broadcasting a disrupting signal from a salvaged bioship node taken from a rival fleet up until her death in a particularly violent seizure.
134
135	[[/folder]]
136
137	[[folder:Choose Your Enemies]]
138
139	* The climax has the Eldar ''drop an Avatar of Khaine from a starship right on top of a resummoned Emeli'', who by this point is considerably more powerful than she was previously from devouring souls from several fallen Eldars' soulstones. Amazingly, this only serves to weaken Emeli and distract her just enough for Cain (wielding a null staff from an Ordo Malleus inquisitor) and Jurgen to finish off by cutting her link to the soulstones.
140	** Earlier in that novel, as Cain is departing from a dropship, the Eldar launch an air raid just as the ramp begins to rise, trapping him out in the open. Jurgen then powers a Salamander scout vehicle down the rising ramp, scraping the top of his vehicle in the narrowing gap, ''catches air'' in a multi-ton military vehicle, and skids between Cain and the incoming enemy fire a second before the startled commissar could be reduced to bloody chunks. Being Jurgen, [[ButForMeItWasTuesday he does this with utter nonchalance]].
141	*** And he somehow found the time [[HyperCompetentSidekick to whip up a pot of tea]] during all the aforementioned chaos.
142
143	[[/folder]]
144
145	[[folder:Vainglorious]]
146
147	* Jurgen, while in an unarmed vehicle, fights off three Mechanicus assault walkers. Again, ''he has no weapons''. But he rams them, tricks them into firing on each other, and after they bail from the vehicle, blows up the last one with their leaky fuel tank.
148	* The fact that Cain inflicts a serious military defeat on the Necrons in this book. In previous encounters he'd been lucky to simply survive the metallic horrors, with the Imperium always being forced to retreat and lose whatever objective they were trying to defend. On Eucopia Cain finds himself facing a fully awakened Necron Overlord with an army that could easily overwhelm the forge world's defenders. Yet Cain manages to exploit the Overlord's vanity to launch a surprise assault on the Necron Tomb. With the aid of Space Marines and Skittari, Cain's plan succeeds in taking out the portal the Necrons had been using to send in reinforcements, allowing the Overlord and his now isolated forces to be defeated. Not only did this action save a valuable forge world, but it also prevented the Necrons from using its resources to complete a smaller version of the infamous World Engine, a weapon that required an entire battle fleet and the sacrifice of an entire Space Marine Chapter to destroy. In other words, Cain actually delivered a serious setback to that particular Necron dynasty, ruining their plans to reestablish their long dead empire in the sub sector. The downside is that Cain now has a Necron Overlord who specifically wants him dead for this humiliation. That is assuming he successfully reanimated after Cain shoved a krak grenade in his chest.
149
150	[[/folder]]
151
152	[[folder:Short Stories]]
153
154	* When he is faced with a Daemonhost in the short story ''The Beguiling'' we get this line:
155	-->"Cain to command. Full barrage, danger close, immediate effect. Don't argue, just do it!"
156	** Which means he ordered his (artillery) regiment to start shelling his exact position with everything they had. ''Before'' trying to escape.
157	** Not just before trying to escape. He waited until the first shells started raining around him to make sure that artillery got his position right. Only then did he order Jurgen to take off and only by a miracle did they manage to escape.
158	* "A Mug of Recaff" and "The Smallest Detail" star Jurgen alone and lets us see that he is in fact terrifyingly good at being a Guardsman even without Cain around.
159	** In the former, he singlehandedly prevents a cultist from summoning a daemon that no one else had caught during a raid.
160	** In the latter, he escapes an ambush from multiple gangers, figures out which militiaman is behind it, and arranges for the guilty parties to be delivered into the hands of the militia's military police. And never once thought of mentioning it to Cain, as the traitor quartermaster is stupefied to learn.
161	* The entire finale of the audio drama ''The Devil You Know''. Let's count the ways:
162	** Cain picks the interest of a Dark Eldar Succubus and [[MakesSenseInContext they help each other]] escape from the middle of a small tyranid swarm without really breaking a sweat.
163	** He then duels the Succubus one on one without suffering a scratch and actually impales her after a well-executed bluff.
164	*** Bluff NOTHING...he shoots himself in the head and relies on the Eldar hopefully deflecting the blow. She does. If she hadn't? Well...better than being stuck on Commoragh. (Also, he only did it without taking a scratch because a scratch would mean instant death, or worse)
165	** Then a [[FromBadToWorse lictor shows up]] and attacks Cain, who fends it off even after being exhausted by the previous duel.
166	** Finally, Jurgen and co. shows up to chase away the lictor, which instinctively finds the best escape route available and jumps into the open webway gate. Why is this awesome? Lictors lay a scent-trail behind them for other tyranids to follow, and sure enough, the entire tyranid army on the planet dutifully marches through the gate to engage the Dark Eldar forces on the other side, which took out two threats in one fell swoop (even if Cain didn't exactly plan for it.)
167	* In "The Only Good Ork," Cain convinces a lone Ork to attack a gene stealer swarm before the two of them fight. The Ork kills dozens of them and, once he and Cain begin dueling, is proficient enough to have the advantage for several seconds despite multiple las-rounds having partially torn his stomach open.
168	[[/folder]]
169
170	[[folder:Unsorted]]
171	* It turns out that Cain's tactical skill is sufficiently respected among the Reclaimers Space Marine chapter that they'll defer to him in tactical matters. Even ''Lords General'' usually have trouble getting the SuperSoldiers to accept their authority.
172	* A low-key, heartwarming moment is Cain's entire relationship with Jurgen, who's a Blank -- literally repulsive on a soul-deep level for mystic reasons. Yet Cain still finds in himself the compassion and strength to treat Jurgen well and ultimately become kind of his reason. "Just a coward without any real talent"? This one doesn't think so.
173	* The simple fact that, in spite of all the adventures he got in, all the fights he participated in, and all the enemies he accumulated, Ciaphas Cain managed to RETIRE and DIE OF OLD AGE.
174	[[/folder]]
175

Context Awesome / CiaphasCain