Chapter 1
To Battle, We Join.
Valorous Sector, Planet Valorous. Year 999 M41.
The day was quiet on Valorous Prime, the temperature was finally breaking out of the winter season and in towards spring. Here was peace, thought Sister Abagail of the Order of Fiery Cloak of the Sisters of Battle and she hated it.
"It bores me here; I am an instrument of purification and faith. I should be bringing the light of the Emperor to the galaxy with flame and bolter, not standing around guarding a useless old preacher who can't even get up the strength to perform sermons half the time." Abagail cursed outwardly thought quickly. Her sisters were approaching her, bolters in hands. Sister Megara and Sister Ariel looked as thought they had words to say and the weren't kind one either.
"Sister Megara, Sister Ariel what news do you bring to me on this blessed day." Abagail trying to mask her earlier actions.
"We have received orders from the Canoness that the local orks are going to try and make a push towards the chapel. " Megara said, the scar on her left cheek twitched as she mentioned the orks as they where the ones to give it to begin with. Orks had always been a problem in the sector as with most sectors, but a manageable one with proper purging actions.
"And we are going to give them the Emperor's wrath with holy bolt and fire, Sister?" Abagail was practically giddily at the thought of finally being able to give fury to her faith once again.
"In a way, yes." Ariel said as she towards Megara as she did the same.
"What do you mean ' in a way?"
"While the majority of our order fights the Greenskins, our squad is to link up with PDF troops headed our way and reinforce the Deacons headquarters in case the forces at the front break and the orks get through."
Abagail slumped as she heard that once again, she would be forced to guard the old Deacon while her sisters gave the Justice of the Emperor to his enemies. She gripped her bolter and returned to her post upon the wall. PDF or Planetarily Defence Force were a planets local militia-like forces that acted as the first and sometimes only bulwark against xenos and chaos invaders.
"This is unfair, we are the Daughters of the Emperor, it should be us going out to the front lines not some troops that wouldn't know the barrel of a bolter from its backplate." Abagail complained to her sisters, they agreed with her that this was unfair to the Sisters, but the planetary governor had wanted the Sisters as a last line of defence seeing as they were a more elite fighting force and to have them be lost completely to an Ork attack would leave the PDF troops demoralized and weakened to a greater attack at some other time. "PDF troopers are cheep but a Daughter of the Emperor, now there's an asset worth keeping in reserve." The Canoness would say to them from time to time.
"When are the PDF troops to arrive at?"
"Within the hour, Sister Abagail." Sister Megara said as she and Sister Ariel left Abagail to her post. Abagail looked onwards, she had been with the sisterhood her whole life yet for all her bravado she had never seen true combat, the closest thing she had acquired to get to combat was her training and the occasional riot in the complex amongst the followers of the deacon.
"I shouldn't let this get to me, I have a job to do, and by His grace, I will see it done."
XXX
In the Warp, Battle Barge Fury of The Lion. Flagship of the Angels of Aggression chapter of the Adeptus Astartes.
Year 999. M41
Chapter Master Nathaniel seemed to be in good spirts, as much as a Space Marine could be. He and his chapter, the Angels of Aggression, had just crushed an invasion from a Tyranid splinter fleet of Hive Fleet Gorgon upon the Forge World of Artifact along side the Sktiari forces of the Adeptus Mechanicus and the forces of the Scarlet Seraphs chapter of the Adeptus Astartes. Losses were light for a Tyranid attack, less than 100 battle brother had given their lives in the defence of the forge world. But among them was the chapter's reclusiarch, Raquiel and he need a replacement. Master of the First company the Lionwing, Mikaiel, Master of the Second Company the Shadewing, Malthiel, Chief Librarian Ramiel, Head Techmarine Haniel and Chief Apothecary Samshiel were about to join him to take council to discuss who was to take Raquiel's place and, more over, who was to join the ranks in the chaplaincy. Nathaniel was about to go over the list of Sergeants and senior NCO's that looked like a fit into the role of being a Space Marine Chaplain. Unlike most chapters where promotions were gifted out by requests by superiors and named heirs, the Angels of Aggression had a council to decide such thing this left out personal bias towards certain individuals by said individual's superiors.
They where headed towards planets nearby to replenish the chapters numbers, particularly in the 10th company, the scouts. Most of the scouts now found themselves among the assault and heavy weapon companies as full fledged battle-brothers of the Adeptus Astartes. Without scouts, the chapter would be without a recon and skirmish force to use in advance of an attack leaving them exposed to surprise attacks during the middle of an assault thus the new scouts would be had found on Valorous, one of many planets the chapter used for recruiting as the Angels of Aggression were crusading chapter meaning they had no home world to call their own thus not having a constant place to call upon for recruit nor have a fortress-monastery to secure themselves in, then again nether did their parent chapter, the Dark Angels.
Most chapters of the Adeptus Astartes were founded from one of the nine legions that stayed loyal to the Emperor during the Horus Heresy. The Ultramarines, Imperial Fists, White Scars, Raven Guard, Space Wolves, Salamanders, Blood Angels, Iron Hands, and Dark Angels were these legions and were now called first founding chapters. After the Primarch of the 13th legion, the Ultramarines, Roboute Guilliman, pend the Codex Astartes, a guideline for all space marines to follow which forced the legions to separate into chapters of only 1000 marines each. With Ferrus Manus Primarch of the 10th legion the Iron Hands and Sanguinus, Primarch of the 9th legion the Blood Angels both dead. The remaining primarchs were split down the middle as to either accept the codex or refuse it except for one. Lion El'Jonson, Primarch of the 1st legion the Dark Angels.
The Lion, as he was called and his legion were on his home planet of Caliban when chaos forces destroyed it, along with the Primarch being presumed lost with it. But it wasn't the forces of the Traitor legions that destroyed Caliban but rebels from within the legion itself, now called the Fallen. With the Primarch gone and no home planet, the remaining leaders of the 1st begrudgingly agreed to the codex but behind closed doors the 1st legion is still strong with the chapter master of the Dark Angels and their successor chapters, collectively called the Unforgiven being in overall command of all the sons of the Lion except for the Angels of Aggression. Being a 5th founding chapter, the Angels of Aggression were nothing different than what most would have seen in a chapter descended of Lion El'Jonson but when the then chapter master of the Dark Angels informed them of their tragic history, the Angels didn't care. In their eyes, they were Space Marines, sons of the Lion and loyalty towards the imperium, the Emperor and mankind itself was more important than hunting down traitor Dark Angels to make sure the Inquisition and Ministerium didn't found out about it. The Supreme Grand Master of the Dark Angels at the time was furious when he hear such impudence from a successor chapter of the unforgiven but gave them a better mission, one that would work towards the benefit of all, the Angels of Aggression would be the example to the Inquisition to show that the Dark Angels and their successors were completely loyal and had no secrets to hid from them. Thus the Angels of Aggression would, in essence, play the face so it were of the Unforgiven chapters, but they would still be known about the Fallen and the true fate of Caliban.
At least the Dark Angels had the Rock, the largest piece of Caliban leftover from its destruction. It was the largest fortress any crusading chapter had, even the Imperial Fists' Phalanx couldn't approach the sheer size of it. The Angels of Aggression were forced to become a crusading chapter because of this as per the arrangement with its parent chapter so long ago but this also meant it was constantly on the attack of the defence of humanity which is what they wanted to begin with.
Nathaniel, upon entering the council chamber, could see that Samshiel and Ramiel were already there they too were going over their lists of potential replacements.
"Ah, if it isn't the chapter master, nice of you to finally join us Nathaniel. Now we just have to wait for Haniel to be dragged from his forge by Malthiel and Mikaiel." Ramiel spoke with a joke in his voice. He had always been a bit of a joker, even after three centuries of service for chapter, Primarch and Emperor.
Samshiel, on the other hand, was a Space Marine to his core, a no-nonsense type of person. As an Apothecary, Samshiel had the job of keeping and maintaining the chapter's gene-seed stores the loss of which would spell doom for the chapter.
"I was looking for this." Nathaniel said as he put down a bottle of spirts. Nether the Apothecary nor the Librarian made no indication as to their surprise of this. As soon he did the other members of the chapter council arrive in. Mikaiel, Malthiel, and Haniel took their respective seats with Mikaiel and Malthiel taking the ones next to Nathaniel respectively.
"Why are so late Mikaiel, normally you are the first to arrive here?" Nathaniel asked, knowing that Mikaiel was never one miss a deadline especially for something of this nature. He assumed that Haniel had something do to with it, as important as the job of being the chapter head Techmarine and as such its chief mechanic it did mean that he was often too caught up in his work to tend to his duties as a council member. With everyone assembled, Nathaniel addressed the room as only a chapter master of the Adeptus Astartes could.
"Brothers, we all know why we are here our Brother Raquiel was slain in our most recent engagement with the enemies of man, as such we require a new reclusiarch and more over a new chaplain. But first…" Nathaniel uncorked the bottle and pored a shot into a glass, one for each of them. "We remember the life of a brother fallen." With him, the rest of the council grabbed a glass and held up high.
"To Raquiel, may his actions ennoble us all." With that, the council members took the shot down and left the glass upside down.
"He served the Emperor to his last, may we all be so lucky." Malthiel said as he choked back the foul tasting liquid from his throat. He had never liked the chapter's ritual of downing alcohol to more battle brothers lost.
"Now with that over with, let us get to the meat of the meeting." Mikaiel told the others as he moved his Terminator armour around as to have room to move about.
Over next few hours, the six marines went over the remaining chaplains to determine who was best suited to lead the chapter in maters of faith and spiritual guidance. It was eventually declared that Chaplain Lucifer of the 6th company would be named the new Reclusiarch, as to whom would be Lucifer's replacement as a chaplain, this took much long that expected as both Mikaiel and Malthiel had wanted their candidate to take the position. The Chapter master thought that this would go on for some time more, time that they didn't have to waste, so he put his own candidate in. Veteran Sergeant Solomon of the 8th company would be chosen for this job. The rest of the council looked surprised by this, it was not often that the chapter master himself personally recommended anyone to a position so strongly and like the old Terran object know as dominos, the rest of the council soon fell in line with him.
XXX
In his quarters, Chaplain Lucifer was going over his weapons. His crozius arcanum, the symbol of his office as a chaplain rested by his side as he went over his combi-flamer. A tricky thing, combi weapons had a boltgun attached to another ranged weapon in his case a flamer. Removing the gunk leftover by the promethium stream was tiresome but needed. "A clean flamer is a heathy flamer." That's what his squad mate from the Sons of the Anvil chapter said every time he would clean out his heavy flamer during his time with the Deathwatch. Lucifer was almost done with his cleaning when there was a knocking on his door.
"Enter in." the chaplain said as the chapter master himself as well as the chief librarian came through. To say the chaplain was surprised by this would be an understatement.
"Chapter Master Nathaniel, Chief Librarian Ramiel. What brings you here to my sanctum? It can't be for spiritual purposes you can have the reclusiarch do that for you." Lucifer said as he finished cleaning off his combi-flamer.
"Actually it does, Brother-Chaplain." Nathaniel said, his hand gripping onto the Astartes shoulder. "Reclusiarch Raquiel died in the last campaign, and as such we have named you as his replacement. We know you looked up to him highly and I'd had hoped not to tell you like this." The tone in the battle brother's voice was soft and kind, not something associated with a Space Marine and to be shocked twice in one day truly stunned the marine.
"I understand and who is to replace me as a company chaplain." Was all Lucifer could say at the time.
"Brother Veteran-Sergeant Solomon of the 8th company, you need not fret, I personally vouched for him and feel he is up to the challenge. The spirts of the chapter are safe under your hands Lucifer. Do not let me, the chapter, the Primarch and The Emperor down.
"I won't sir, I won't."