Captain Sirus of the 6th Company of the Angellis Mentors stood, armored arms crossed in the hanger bay of the Dagger of Eclipse. It had been a number of solar weeks since the botched negotiations in the Mandalore system, and the orders to regroup at this junction with the 2 other, barely up to snuff, Astartes companies under his command were beginning to finally pull through. Though the Captain still waited for confirmation of warp travel by the 210th Kriegers and 616th Tallarn Desert Raiders regiments under his jurisdiction, he could at least take solace in the fact his own brothers were at least willing to take on this Crusade. Although Sirus knew his numbers would be greatly diminished due to the lack of reinforcements from their wayward home, he knew 200 fully armed and trained Adeptus Astartes would be enough for their task, and enough to get them the fight he wanted.
In the distance, the Marine saw the hammerhead form of the 8th Company's Strike Cruiser, the Tempest of Dawn, the ship obviously running on the skeleton crew it had left the Xek Tek sector with, a measly 40 marines stationed on the ship designed to accommodate over 100. Any moment now, the Captain knew he would soon see the form of a Thunderhawk gunship make its way through the void and aboard the Tempest's sister vessel. Soon, the predicted Thunderhawk made its way through the Strike Cruiser's void shields and into the cathedral-like hanger of the ship, landing slowly and dropping the ship's massive deployment ramp.
Out of the Thunderhawk, a lone figure strode, anger boiling in his blood. Sirus could smell it, and it shocked the Marine. The figure, armored in an ornate blue and orange plate with a long, flowing cape and loincloth of crimson as deep as the anger shown on the monster of a man's face. The Marine was the 8th Company's own Captain, a man by the name of Acamar Centurious, a massive man even for a Space Marine, and a man so composed and articulate that this display of rage was almost alien to him.
"Sirus Tribune, give me one good reason why I shouldn't throw you out into the void and tell your ship crew this hanger had a void shield malfunction." The man almost yelled, his face almost red with rage.
"Why are you so angry at me, brother?" Sirus asked, dreading that he knew the response that was bound to come.
"Where do you want me to begin? You sent Battle-Brothers, not one of the many mortals given to you for this very purpose, to negotiate with a faction you damn well should have known to communicate outside of the system first. You sent fully armed and priceless warriors to discuss matters of diplomacy with people who worship war. You left a living, breathing faction leader alive despite ample chance to kill her with the forces deployed in the system. You sent the forces you deployed back here instead of having them set up a Vanguard for later operations. And worst, you waste the precocious time you have left talking to me when you have plenty of resources to commence an invasion yourself."
"You knew our mission was to gain the loyalty of these people, in order to both bolster our resources and gain potential allies in this war.
Sirus stood quiet, staring deep into the anger-fueled violet eyes of Acamer.
"Are you well, Sirus, do you need to be stripped of your rank and replaced by one of the many more qualified men under your lead?" Acamer finally added, staring back into Sirus.
"Chapter Master Orion Phatris of the Skywatch gave me full blessings to proceed with this operation. He acts through me, Acamer. Do you believe it is a smart idea to question that authority?" Sirus retorted, causing Acamer to take one large step up to the smaller in comparison Sirus, the two superhumans now face-to-face.
"Orion is not our Chapter Master, he is not our commander. Our commander is millions of light-years away, I do not care about his authority, I do not care about his will. I will question it as much as I wish." The giant of a man said before almost entirely out of nowhere another voice chimed into the conversation.
"Stop it, both of you!" the form of a new, smaller but somehow more intimating Space Marine said from the back of the Hanger bay, a large, open auto-door behind him. His armor was as black as the void around them covered in long flowing robes of blue, the helm he spoke from the shape of a martyr's skull.
"Chaplian Eridani!" Acamer almost gasped as he backed away from Sirus, both staring into the glowing red eyes of the skull-shaped helmet.
"Where is Captain Castula?" Sirus asked, almost annoyed by the sudden presence and reverence towards the quasi-religious Space Marine.
"On assignment elsewhere, I have been charged with leading the remains of 7th Company in his place," Eridani said simply, his voice deceivingly calm. "But that's not the most pressing issue clearly at hand here. If I was but a moment later, I would have walked into a brawl of fists rather than words. And I cannot allow this childish behavior to go on." The Chaplain said as he finally made the long walk over to the two bickering captains.
"This is not the way of the Angellis Mentors, to fight amongst ourselves to solve petty conflicts, insignificant conflicts. We are a Chapter of state and strategy, though our founding legion, the Imperial Fists were different, we see the salvation Guilliman and the Codex had brought upon us. We resolve conflicts with logic first, and violence second. It not only angers me to see my own brothers fight against themselves like common barbarians, but it pains me as well. That has not changed simply because we are stranded far from our home and weakened to only 200." Eridani said simply, blue robes wavering slightly as he stopped his many steps.
"But with all due respect Brother Eridani, Brother Sirus with the powers his leadership has granted him acted not only negligently, but he has jeopardized this entire operation before it has even fully begun in earnest," Acamer explained to the Chaplain, still stunned by his sudden and unannounced appearance.
"I understand, Brother Acamer. However, no trial even of one's character can be done without hearing a defense." Chaplain Eridani looked over to Sirus. "Explain your actions, Brother Sirus."
"Approximately 3 solar weeks ago, I ordered diplomatic action be taken against a minor faction within this galaxy known as the 'Mandalorians.' This faction I believed could be brought into the larger Imperium of Man due to their mostly human population, their culture of combat and brotherhood, and the long-standing rivalry they had with the witch-led forces of the Republic."
"I ordered Viper-class Scout Sloop Echo of Dawn to the Mandalore system with an on-board patrol detachment. Their orders were simple, 2 Tactical Squads were to be sent to both the largest moon of the planet and the planet itself to negotiate an alliance and eventual induction. I assumed, mostly due to the warrior culture of the Mandalorian people that they would respect warriors of a higher caliber and join our forces against the Republic and Separatist xenos empires."
"I assumed wrong, soon after making contact with the faction leader Bo-Katan Kryze 2 brother marines were killed in action. The force sent to negotiate with the faction leader Prime Minister Almec faired little better, they were forced into a confrontational stance when planetary defenses engaged the squad. They managed to kill Prime Minister Almec but were not long after cut down by his royal guards. I then ordered all surviving marines back to the Echo of Dawn and for the ship to meet me back here, as I did not wish to risk further Astartes casualties." Sirus finally finished, the Captain standing firm with his arms crossed behind his back as he finished telling what he knew was an expertly crafted half-truth, all that he said happened was true, but he knew the reasons were far from noble.
"And your reasons behind calling us here? Both our companies were told that, while you have jurisdiction under the order of the Chapter Master, you were only to call us to aid if needed. I do not see a need for our presence here." Eridani responded, clearly taking the lie as truth.
"Simple, the Mandalorians after my admittedly botched attempt at diplomatic action saw this as a declaration of war and ordered all of their people to stand firm against our attempts to take the system and its resources. While I don't have many doubts that 6th Company could take them down alone, it would be a costly war that would likely destroy many of the Adamantium mines scattered across the planet Mandalore's surface in particular. In order to make this war worthwhile, I knew we needed a force large enough to take the planet quickly and with little bloodshed."
Chaplain Eridani thought for only a moment, before replying simply with a nod of affirmation. Acamer was shocked by this, turning to the Chaplain he thought would take his side in this matter.
"Chaplain Eridani, you can't be agreeing with him on this. The Mandalorian system may be valuable, especially with it's resources, but we cannot afford to fight yet another war this early!"
"So, Acamer, what would you have us do? Allow the enemy to continue to build up strength while we continue to massacre the two major galactic factions. I do agree, the attempts at diplomacy made by Sirus were folly, much better options for that strategy were known and available to him, but as it stands Mandalore is a threat that will only grow if we ignore it." Erdani shot back to no response, Acamer simply looking into the skull-shaped helm and walking away, back towards the landed Thunderhawk behind him.
As he did so, Eridani laid an armored hand on the shoulder of Sirus. "Though your work here certainly does disappoint, I know your strategy in battle will succeed. We have fought alongside each other many times, Brother-Captain. Soon, these Mandalorians, what will be left of them, will have no other choice than to join the Imperium, and the battle we will wage will be that of legends."
Sirus nodded slowly in agreement before the Chaplain walked away, completely oblivious to the work Sirus had just done. The battle would be one of legend, he was right in that regard, but the reason he wished to fight had nothing to do with the resources of the world. He craved the fight itself, he knew the fight wasn't going to be easy, and he wanted that. He wanted the taste of the rightfully spilled blood of a worthy combatant, he wanted the skulls of those he killed, displayed as battle honors and trophies, and he wanted the exhilaration of war.
He didn't care if the whole system had to burn to get that.