"My Lord, a Thunderhawk is inbound from the Indomitable."
The cruiser's Captain watched the symbol bloom upon the slowly recovering auspex screen, then turned to face the monolithic figure who had just entered the bridge.
The stark deep blue of the Mark VIII 'Errant' pattern power armour, accented by scattered specks of white and streaked with fresh blood, lent a heavy, somber atmosphere to the scene.
While the helms of the Adeptus Astartes were diverse, the insignia representing individual honour were always distinct. The Laurel Invictarii helm was one such symbol of distinction, signifying the wearer's exceptional merits and combat achievements. It was differentiated from other helms by a three-dimensional golden wreath of laurel leaves adorning the crest.
A muffled, authoritative voice emanated from beneath the crowned helm. This Ultramarine was clearly a warrior of considerable renown; the rare Mark VIII Astartes Power Armour paired with the Laurel Invictarii exuded an unmistakable aura of command.
"Open the hangar bay and prepare for their landing."
The Ultramarine betrayed no impatience concerning the security protocols; necessary checks were vital. In this strange and terrifying universe, no amount of caution was excessive.
Yet, what puzzled him was the nature of the security force.
"A Thunderhawk? Hmm. It seems another Chapter is nearby. This sector must be relatively secure, then."
He murmured the low observation, then turned to the Captain.
"What Chapter insignia is on the Thunderhawk?"
Identifying the arrivals was crucial. Not all Chapters were amicable, and each possessed unique characteristics. Any interaction required knowing how to avoid violating the others' taboos.
The Ultramarine waited for several seconds on the bridge without a reply from the Captain, and glanced with faint irritation toward the magnified image on the viewscreen.
The Chapter iconography he saw there was enough to make even an honour-laden, battle-hardened veteran frown.
"The Dark Angels?"
No Chapter in the Imperium would deny the fighting capability of the Dark Angels. But equally, few were keen to deal with the Emperor's First Legion. The reason was simple: the internal culture of the Dark Angels differed too greatly from that of other Chapters.
More than once, other Astartes Chapters had witnessed the Dark Angels appear in the midst of chaotic planetary war zones, only to see them neither aid their fellow battle-brothers nor engage the enemy directly. They would appear in a flurry and vanish just as quickly, as if the entire conflict were irrelevant, their eyes fixed only upon their own mysterious objectives.
This aloof behaviour caused many Chapters to regard them with suspicion and resentment.
The Imperium was originally served by twenty Legions, but two were utterly expunged—their Primarchs, Legions, and all records completely erased for reasons unknown. Rumour held that the First Legion had been dispatched to carry out that very act of erasure.
The subsequent Horus Heresy, instigated by the treachery of the Warmaster Horus, Primarch of the XVI Legion, tore the Adeptus Astartes apart and nearly destroyed the nascent Imperium of Man. Nine of the remaining eighteen Legions followed their Primarchs into rebellion, turning to the embrace of the Warp and its Daemons, and becoming the greatest perennial threat to the Imperium.
This history made the already idiosyncratic First Legion seem even more isolated.
The First Legion had fought beside the Emperor for the longest time and maintained the deepest loyalty to Him. They executed the Emperor's will with rigid discipline, safeguarding the Imperium in their own unique fashion.
For the Dark Angels, only absolute loyalty existed. To question loyalty was to prove absolute disloyalty.
"Repent! For tomorrow you die!"
This was one of the Dark Angels' mottos. It served not only to threaten the foes of the Imperium but also to menace any who harboured doubts about loyalty, including their own morally compromised 'Fallen Angels.'
For the Ultramarine standing here, the prospect of their arrival brought a surge of aversion.
Warriors hailing from the Five Hundred Worlds of Ultramar placed immense value on the bonds of brotherhood. Particularly since the return of their Primarch, Roboute Guilliman, his presence had intensified the importance of that kinship among his sons.
Owing to millennia of conflict and various gene-seed flaws, the number of Ultramarines across the galaxy had swelled dramatically. Not even Archmagos Cawl had been able to change this fact; of all the Primarchs' gene-seeds, that of the XIII Legion's Lord Guilliman was the most stable. The Five Hundred Worlds of Ultramar, furthermore, had remained the most stable sector for tens of thousands of years, consistently supplying the Imperium with vast numbers of Space Marines for the unending war.
In fact, many Chapters that had been virtually annihilated in battle, lacking their own gene-seed, were reformed using Guilliman's stock.
This had led to the Ultramarines genuinely becoming a Chapter of "brothers everywhere." And this sense of widespread fraternity occasionally instilled a certain arrogance in many Ultramarines Astartes when interacting with Chapters of different gene-seeds.
Yet now, the Chapter about to arrive was arguably the most arrogant and secretive in the entire Imperium: the Dark Angels.
Though a grim idiom circulated among the Chapters of the galaxy—'The First Legion Has No Secrets'—no one truly believed it.
Especially not when a Chapter was embroiled in a desperate fight against the Necrons, Drukhari, or a tide of Orks or Tyranids, and required immediate reinforcement. If an entire company of Dark Angels happened to pass through the vicinity, one need not bother with a distress call. They would undoubtedly be pursuing some objective of their own, likely ignoring the distressed Chapter's vox traffic, perhaps even issuing a cold warning to complete the mission unassisted.
What mission could possibly supersede a desperate battlefield, surging xenos hordes, rampant greenskins, and the relentless advance of traitors?
No one knew.
It seemed the Dark Angels viewed themselves as the Imperium's sole, true guardians. And this sheer arrogance was intolerable to most other Chapters.
The only exception was perhaps the Imperial Fists, the Emperor's Praetorians, the final bastion of Terra and the guardians of the Imperium's core. Even the Dark Angels had to grudgingly acknowledge their achievements and glory.
Although the Imperial Fists Legion was nearly destroyed during the Heresy, their survivors managed to reform and slowly began the painstaking process of rebuilding. The Black Templars were one of their successor Chapters, which was why Thien had dared to chastise the arrogance of the Dark Angels when they boarded the Indomitable.
Soon after, the Dark Angels' Thunderhawk gunship smoothly landed within the cruiser's hangar.
As the ramp lowered, the two Dark Angels were greeted by the very Ultramarine who had been on the bridge, now accompanied by a full squad. Seeing the decoration on his helm, even the Dark Angels were momentarily taken aback.
"An Invictarii?"