Eight of them sat there, each with retainers standing beside their chairs, around a giant table. They sat around the curved end of the blood droplet shaped table; their positions dictated by the age of their Chapters-the older the chapter, the further up the sides of the table they sat.
The table itself was magnificent. Easily in excess of twenty metres long down the centre, from the droplets tip, to the arc opposite. It was golden and polished around the edges, with the middle taken up by a huge blood red crystal, similar to the markings present on most of the Chapter symbols. Each place was furnished with only a gold wine goblet, encrusted with small blood rubies around the rim and the base, and a grand dark wooden chair, again gold featured in patterns along it.
The only thing which dwarfed the table was the room it was situated in. Seemingly carved out of stone, the hall was grand, featuring all of the Space Marine gothic architecture found on all Fortress Monasteries, chapels and on the Adeptus Astartes spacecraft, along with the dark, shadowy enclaves, which the light of the torches, or the candles hanging above the table could not reach. The only thing that stood out where the statue like Blood Angel Marines positioned around the cavernous walls, all stood perfectly still, bolt gun clutched two handed and in contact with their breastplates. Indeed they would have passed off as statues had it not been for the changing of the guards that occurred whilst the guests-all Chapter Masters from various Chapters-where waiting for their host.
Their wait ended shortly as the two grand doors at the end of the room, closest to the tip of the table, swung open and out of the light came three figures-all seven feet tall, with two of them seemingly flanking the middle one.
"PRESENT ARMS!" echoed a voice as they walked in. The source of the order couldn't be pin-pointed with the echoes, but it was obeyed and all of the guards immediately changed posture to one of backs straight, feet together and each shouldering their boltguns.
The doors closed as the figures came closer, allowing the other Masters to see their host, some for the first time, as they stood from their seats.
The figure in the middle was stern looking, with long, straight black hair flowing down the front of his long red robe, which bore no other detail than his Chapter's emblem-the Winged Blood Droplet. All knew who he was, even though his age didn't show, but then again, their common gene-seeds meant none of the Chapters that the collected leaders came from ever had soldiers who looked their age.
He was Dante, commander of the Blood Angels Chapter for the last 1,100 years.
He rose a hand "Please, be seated my brothers"
They all sat, except for Dante and his escort. To one side of him stood a regular looking Blood Angel, whose scarred face had shown he had seen his fair share of combat. His armour seemed the normal blood red colour of the Blood Angels Chapter; with a gold coloured helmet depicting his was a member of the Chapter's First Company, yet there were subtle differences-his backpack has a cape attached and his insignia on his right shoulder pad didn't depict the skull motif of the First Company, it showed a piece of, what seemed to be cloth, with a blood drop on it.
To the other side of Dante stood a man. A man infamous to all present. His armour was black, with read highlighted- clear marking of the Death Company- but from his waist down flowed a crimson robe, reaching to the floor. His shoulder pads were a sculptured skull on one side and the Chapter emblem crafted onto the other. His face seemed different-slimmer and more defined than a normal Space Marine would look after they'd undergone Insanguination-the process to turn a basic human into a super-human Blood Angel. He possessed sharper, more predominant fangs and had dark, almost soulless eyes. He had wires connected between his temples and the huge collar which surrounded his head with his shoulder length, curly blonde hair was pushed back behind these wires.
He was Chief Librarian Mephiston, Lord of Death.
Dante turned towards the Blood Angel veteran simply saying "Cleutin"
To which the veteran simply nodded and bellowed "GUARDS! AT EASE!" which allowed the room's guards to return to their original position.
"Fellow Masters" Commander Dante began "You must be wondering why I requested your audiences here today. Some of you may have an idea of what it may involve, but others may not. I know for all of you it is the first time you have been on Baal, or even in another Chapter's headquarters, but there is a reason. For when I look around this table, I see brother Space Marines to whom the words Sanguinius and Black Rage mean something to"
At the sound of the Primarch's name, they all made some sort of gesture, paying respects to the Winged Angel.
"This is because we all can trace our Chapter's roots to the Great Crusade and the Blood Angels Legion. You all know this and accept it or else you would not be present. For some of you, when my invitation arrived, I imagine it was a shock, for others it may have been common knowledge, but you all accept this lineage and what comes with it. My brothers from the Blood Ravens and the Angels of Fire, I would not have known about your ancestry had it not been for the research I have been undertaking over the past two hundred years, but my research has been was not just about history, it was about the flaw that runs through our blood"
"I talk about the Black Rage and all that follows. Indeed, it is not to be feared as it makes us stronger, not weaker, but in my life as Chapter Master alone, I have seen many brothers, comrades and friends be consumed by the Rage and become less than human. They have become so monstrous and frenzied I have had to have them locked away in the Tower of Armaro for their safety. I have often thought a bullet would have a more just end, but there may still be hope."
His face showed sorrow and pain as he spoke. But then it morphed into a look of uncompromising determination.
"That is why we are here!" He announced, his voice echoing throughout the room "It is time to end the misery of our brothers and restore our Chapters to the glory we had when our father commanded the legion. That is why you are here. We all share this fate, so we must all conquer it. Individually, we have had no success, but united, there is hope."
Mephiston stood motionless, the skulls on his collar let out some steam, as he psychically instructed the librarium's scribe-servitors to enter the room. The doors opened and two grey skinned half-man, half-machine creatures walked in, making only sounds as their mechanisms activated, each holding onto a handle of a huge wooden box, which was very ornate in design. The top was off and in it laid a long sheet of parchment, with writing on it and spaces at the bottom, one for each of the Masters present. They made there way towards the Lord of the Blood Angels first
"My brothers, I propose a pact, a Blood Pact." Dante explained "A sacred alliance between the few of us who share the gene-seed of the our Winged Forefather, that agrees to use our pooled resources to finally find a cure for our unfortunate brothers who can no longer lead the valiant life of a Space Marine, but instead one of a caged animal"
The servitors placed the box to the right of Dante, on the table, before walking to a corner and returning to stand-by mode. The other Masters looked shocked, some taking between themselves, before one stood up, the Master of the Angels Encarmine
"Brother Dante, how is it you expect to pool our resources, when we are spread all over the galaxy fighting in the Emperor's name?"
"Brother Angelus, I propose that we all supply units, as many as we can and wish to provide without jeopardising the effectiveness of our Chapters. With these units I suggest that we create questing parties, each about a company or so big, and give them the task of following evidence, possible leads and rumours, just as the tech-priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus search for STCs. I also expect them to remain true to their vows and protect and aid the Emperor's people and their fellow marines, but the future of our Chapters and their Chapter brothers must be their priority."
Master Angelus sat down and contemplated on what had been said
"Upon accepting this duty and signing this document" a hand motioned towards the parchment to his side "You hereby agree to supply men and equipment how ever many possible, every fifty years to a crusade. Also you agree to share all research you possess on the matter and your Chapters will also be invited every fifty years to visit Baal for, what is to be known as the Ceremony of Fate, where we shall feast and celebrate our fallen brothers."
Taking the quill, Dante signed on the line titled Ruling Lord of Baal
"As Lord of the Blood Angels I have signed this document. I represent the body of our Primarch, but alone, a body is nothing but a shell. Each of us represents a part of our lord, Sanguinius"
He turned to the Master of the Angels Vermillion.
"Brother-Commander Vilitetes, your Chapter trains its recruits by placing them in the same squads as fully-fledged marines and your chapter has never turned down a request for aid from a fellow Chapter. You represent the kinship that Sanguinius shared with his fellow Primarchs, marines and the humans he protected. Do you agree to this alliance?"
The seven foot Commander stood, wearing full power armour and walked to Dante. Then turning in front of the host, he signed the document before replying with a hand on Dante's shoulder and saying
"We are brothers you and I, and until the end that is how we will remain"
He sat back in his chair.
Dante gestured to the next Master on the parchment list
"Commander Darien, the Angels Sanguine have are the embodiment of the same selflessness Sanguinius showed when he attacked the traitor Horus, despite having the knowledge that it would be his demise, so that the Emperor could put an end to the Heresy. The same selflessness your Chapter shows, always fighting battles when the odds are against you, and yet always coming away victorious."
Darien signed with the words "It would disgrace our Primarch if we did not sign such an agreement"
The masters of the Angels Encarmine (according to Dante, the embodiment of their Primarch's amazing psychic abilities, as their Chapter is almost as generically psychic as their Jovian brothers, the Grey Knights), the Blood Drinkers (the loyalty Sanguinius showed to the Emperor, as they are a strict, Codex chapter), the Angels of Fire (vengeance that the Primarch showed in his youth when he single-handedly protected his family), Blood Ravens (determination shown when their Primarch defended the Imperial Gate with his legion alone) and the Eagles of Baal-the youngest of the successor chapters, formed when Dante took command of the Blood Angels 1,100 years previous, who show the duty Sanguinius felt to Humanity.
Finally came to the last Chapter-the Fleshtearers, a Chapter so affected by the Black Rage that it has reduced their once great Chapter to two-fifths of its original size.
"Brother Commander Seth. I know of your Chapter's plight and unusually high rate of marines succumbed by the Black Rage, to expect you to sign this would be foolish and you refusing to agree with not be seen as a selfish, dishonourable or traitorous act, but I will ask anyway, for your Chapters ferociousness and determination would surely be of great use to this cause"
Commander Seth stood, in full armour, still stained from previous battles, and walked towards Dante, speaking as he walked
"Brother Commander, just because my Chapter is smaller than any if yours, that doesn't mean it is not capable and does not recognise it's own brothers, and indeed it's own, flaw. I will die in battle Dante, and when I do I want to die in the glory of battle, fighting along side my brothers, both from my Chapter and from any of our collective Chapters. But more importantly than that, I want to die knowing my Chapter has a future. You have the allegiance of the Fleshtearers Dante, as you all have always had, but now more than ever"
He signed the document as the ninth and final signature and then let out a battle cry they all knew, and to which they all replied-
"By the Blood of Sanguinius!"