Chapter 35: Ultramarines

Ultramarines Index – Heralds of Reformation

Origins-

Prodigy, demigod, consul, Battle-King, Avenging Son, primarch, and Lord Warden; all
titles the Thirteenth Son of the Emperor would hold in time. But before he became
any of these, he was first a child, genetically engineered by the Master of
Mankind. This child, before he led armies across the galaxy and rebuilt a broken
empire, was interred in a gestation-capsule that was stolen away by the Ruinous
Powers. This capsule cascaded through the Empyrean, eventually landing on the
mountainous world of Macragge, in a forest not far from a major population centre.
There he was discovered by a party of nobles.

The boy was pale, eyes steely blue and hair the colour of freshly harvested wheat.
Though surrounded by guards, he looked not the part of prisoner but of a ruler, a
general without equal and someone inherently wise. He appeared to be eight or nine
but Konor Guilliman highly doubted that was his age. No mere child could carry such
authority with apparent ease.

Konor smiled at the boy from atop his war-horse, feeling relief that the dream he
had the night before had not been madness. He had dreamed of Hera's Fall in the
Valley of Laponis, and at its centre would be a boy, a child who would forever
alter life on Macragge though whether it be for good or bad, Konor was not yet
sure. While his fellow consul Gallan derided him for the dream, Konor had set out
anyway with guards and allied noblemen to see whether the dream had been true or
false, risking political fallout if he had been wrong, his enemies in the capital
would have called him age-addled and deranged.

But as the boy stood there, Konor felt relief that the dream had been proven real.
The boy nodded respectfully but did not kneel. To his right the captain of the
guard clicked his tongue in anger, about to order the boy be made to show obedience
but Konor raised his hand to thwart such archaic measures.

The boy only looked at him, unblinking, respectful, but not cowed by his authority.
The senators and other high-ranking nobles began whispering to each other but Konor
quietened them with a gesture.

"Who are you?" Konor asked, voice nearly drowned by the waterfalls.

The boy pondered the question, before responding words that would change the course
of history, "The future."

Consul Konor had found and adopted the boy, naming him Roboute, meaning 'Great
One,' believing the primarch would be pivotal in years to come, of which he would
be proven correct in time. As the next few years passed by, the primarch grew both
in mind and body, quickly outperforming and outwitting his trainers and teachers,
astounding them with his genius. Not only did the primarch excel in the military
academies that Magna Macragge Civitas was famous for, but also mastered poetry,
art, and philosophy by the age of ten, and began to contribute vast tomes filled
with insight and brilliance that are to this day taught in the war-colleges of
Ultramar.

But not all was well, for Consul Gallan, long a political rival of Konor Guilliman
was afraid and viciously jealous of the Guillimans, fearing the threat they posed
to his wealth and powerbase. Therefore, in secret, he forged a pact with the
wildmen of Illyrium to attack his country's border settlements. The Illyrians,
distrusting and jealous of their neighbour, eagerly took advantage of the offer and
attacked a half-dozen towns, razing them to the ground before withdrawing back to
their inhospitable mountainous country, confident no army could conquer them.

Consul Konor, frail with age, despatched Roboute Guilliman at the head of a massive
Macraggian army. Some scoffed at appointing the untested young man as commander of
an army of war, but Konor was insistent, reminding his detractors of his foster
son's skills in the simulated war games and having the respect of the military. As
a result, the primarch led his army to Illyrium.

For centuries the Macraggians had been unable to truly conquer and pacify the
Illyrian threat, all previous forms of occupation had proven too costly in coins
and lives to maintain. The Illyrian warrior, while universally not as well-equipped
or supplied, was a fierce opponent, savage, unforgiving and determined. Yet despite
these traits, Roboute Guilliman's army conquered and pacified Illyrium within
months, earning the respect of his former enemies. As a show of their newfound
allegiance, the Illyrians told Roboute of Gallan's treachery.

Concerned for his people and father, the primarch marched his tired army home, only
to find Magna Macragge Civitas in near-ruins. After Roboute's departure, Gallan and
a cabal of like-minded nobles launched a coup against Konor, killing him and many
of his allies, and imprisoning Tarasha Euten, Konor's Seneschal and lover as well
as effectively being Roboute's foster mother.

Roboute's forces quickly defeated the few units loyal to Consul Gallan and stormed
the Senate Chamber where Gallan stayed, knowing defeat was inevitable. It is known
the consul begged for mercy, saying Konor was killed by Gallan's troops in an
accident and were never ordered to do it, but whether or not these allegations were
true or false mattered little to Roboute, now the sole Guilliman.

The primarch dragged Gallan up into the Crown Mountains, his army and the citizens
of the city following in a show of support and to see justice done. It was there,
on a rock that dominated the waterfalls where Guilliman was discovered, that Gallan
was executed for treason, murder, and a host of other unforgivable crimes. The
place of execution forever became known as Gallan's Rock, immortalising the
greatest traitor Macragge ever knew and Guilliman gained the moniker of the
Avenging Son thereafter.

Guilliman promised to his people that things would change and indeed they did.
Magna Macragge Civitas had long been ruled by men and women chosen not by their
skill in governance or keen sense of justice but rather their wealth and high
birth. This system was torn down, rebuilt from the ground up to be a meritocracy.
The wealth Gallan and his cabal had was used to fund the city's recovery and
expansion, as well as the establishment of dozens of major institutions of the arts
and sciences, with the modernisation and expansion of the military academies also
taking place during this time. The cabal's extensive lands were taken over by the
state, gifted out to loyal officers and administrators who had proven themselves
worthy of their position and earning Guilliman's respect.

From his foundation in Magna Macragge Civitias, Guilliman rapidly expanded to

neighbouring lands, using his veteran Macraggian heavy infantry with Illyrian
auxiliaries who excelled at skirmishes. These wars earned him the honoured title of
Battle-King, the last and greatest to ever exist in the planet's history. After a
new country was conquered, its people and resources were quickly and efficiently
integrated under Guilliman's rule, becoming a vassal initially then subsequently
fellow countrymen, winning the hearts and minds of the conquered peoples by using
his natural charisma.

During Guilliman's unification of Macragge, lost technologies were rediscovered,

further fuelling research that had long been encouraged under first Konor's and
even more so under Roboute's rule. By the time Macragge had been united under the
Ultima banner of Magna Macragge Civitas, the recolonization of the Macragge System
had begun and within a few short years nearby star systems were integrated into the
newly founded Realm of Ultramar.

Ultramar expanded rapidly, encompassing nearly thirty systems with dozens more soon
to join before contact with the Imperium was made. A massive Imperial armada,
spearheaded by the Emperor's Bucephelus, arrived to the Macragge System. The Master
of Mankind beckoned Guilliman to meet Him aboard His flagship and it was there that
father met son.

They had talked for hours, alone, just he and Him in private quarters fit for a
primarch. When he had entered the room, the Romanii numeral XIII was acid-etched
into the outer door, declaring whose it belonged to.

Guilliman looked around his room, knowing there were other such chambers spread
throughout the flagship, some having been personalised over the years by those they
were intended for. His was bland, functional, and sparse of decoration yet in time
it would be modified per his wishes.

"There are others like me?" he asked, still surprised by the news.

"Yes, Roboute. Nineteen others. You are the thirteenth created and the ninth
found." The Emperor appeared mighty, tall and broad, gold plating covering His body
though head remained bare where long black hair fell past His shoulders and eyes
the colour of gold looked upon him kindly, inquisitively. Though they looked
nothing alike, Guilliman knew this was indeed his father, feeling a kinship with
him that he had never felt with Konor.

"Why create us? To fight in your wars?"

"I created you and your brothers to protect and guide humanity. While I am
powerful, I am but one where there needs to be many. All of your brethren are
generals but each of you has a unique purpose. One is my general of generals,
another my architect, and another my justicar."

"And what am I to be?"

"What do you think?" A small smile tugged at the Emperor's mouth, "What are your
strengths?"

Guilliman thought of Ultramar, of its well-ordered cities, clean water and

plentiful food, its organised and regimented spirit.

"Statecraft," he finally admitted.

The Emperor nodded knowingly as if He knew all along that was the answer. "You are
the statesman, the builder of empires."

Guilliman quickly pledged allegiance to the Master of Mankind and was immediately
awarded command of the Thirteenth Legion. The XIII, known informally as the
Warborn, were relatively unimpressive compared to many of their fellow Legions.
They did not have the accumulated glory of the XVI, nor the swordsmanship of the
III, or the lupine savagery of the VI. The only notable feature the XIII held was
near-unrivalled gene-seed purity. This allowed the Warborn to replace the heavy
losses it had suffered in prior campaigns where it had been used primarily as a
mass assault force which, though successful, saw to many thousands of legionnaire
casualties.

Guilliman sought to change this, wishing to make his Legion one of adaptability and
flexible organisation, removing the brute force doctrine the Warborn had favoured
in the Great Crusade's early decades. Within months of reforming and reorganising
his sons, the XIII was ready to return to the Crusade's frontlines and Guilliman
had a campaign in mind that would cement the new era to come for his newly styled
Ultramarines.

Great Crusade-

Where many Legions took in Initiates from specific sources on Terra such as
geographic regions or conquered human empires, the XIII took this a step further
and recruited across the width and breadth of the Throneworld, choosing from the
sub-equatorial maglev clans of Panpocro, the war families of the Saragon Enclave,
the proud Midafrik Hive Oligarchy, and finally the anthropophagic tribes of the
Caucasus Wastes. Varied in culture and origin, the only similarity uniting them was
the proficiency for war as these lands were some of the last to be brought under
the Emperor's rule, having denied Unification for years with ferocious skill,
having never truly surrendered or negotiated a peace settlement as so many others
had but rather brought to heel as their peoples neared extinction, their resistance
broken by lack of numbers.

The after-action reports of Emperor-sworn forces that fought these warrior-cultures

spoke of their resilience and skill in snatching victory from the jaws of defeat,
and it was this that made them promising recruits for the nascent Legiones
Astartes. It has been hypothesised that another reason for the recruitment of these
populations was to fully rid Terra of rebellious elements, recruiting the youth
into the Space Marine Legions whilst simultaneously becoming the death-knell of
those who long defied the Emperor so tenaciously. Whatever the truth of the
matters, by the time the Emperor had forged the Imperium with Mars under the Treaty
of Olympus Mons, the Thirteenth Legion was eight thousand strong and ready to fight
in the final battles of the Unification Wars against the various threats that
infested the Sol System. Among the dozens of battles fought, most notable were the
First Pacification of Luna, securing the gene-cults and their mysteries for the
later expansion of the Legions, and the Sedna Scourge which saw the vile xenos of
the false planet become naught but ash under the ceramite boot of the Emperor's
Angels of Death.

The Great Crusade's initial campaigns were aimed at resource-rich or densely

populated sectors, wishing to acquire both for the Crusade. Many worlds of
Segmentum Solar voluntarily joined the Imperium, yet some resisted under the false
belief of their own superiority, and even more were under the thrall of xenos or
the tyrannical. One by one they were defeated, conquered, or liberated: all brought
to compliance. Discovery of Horus Lupercal on Cthonia in those early years allowed
Imperial expansion to double but also thinned out the Legions who had not yet
reached the imposing size they later would. The Warborn, now numbering over thirty
thousand legionnaires, fought together in a massive Expeditionary Fleet, the 12th,
that conquered vast amounts of territory to be incorporated into the Imperium.

This included the Osiris Cluster. The Cluster had originally been brought to
compliance with ease, its populations almost universally accepting the Imperial
Truth and joining the Emperor's Domain bloodlessly. However, shortly after
compliance a mass rebellion broke out against Imperial authority. The populace
seemed to be taken over by a madness of the mind, a madness that spread to the
garrisoning Army regiments and Administratum officials left to govern the Cluster.
The XIII, their honour stained by the rebellion, quickly returned to bring the
Emperor's judgment to the treacherous and restore Imperial order.

Arriving to the Cluster's capital, Septus XII, Legion Master Gren Vosotho predicted
a swift campaign. The rebels lacked any real void navy and their principal
armaments were looted from Army depots, nothing that could seriously contend with
Astartes. The XIII deployed to planet's surface, largely around the primary hive
city of Cassabet. The moment the legionnaires landed, their drop-zones became
flooded with dead-eyed rebels, ranging from local PDF to young children, attacking
and battering the legionnaires endlessly. As could be expected from poorly armed
mortals attacking the transhuman warriors few legionnaires were killed, most dying
by mining det-charges repurposed for suicide bombers. Still the tide of the enemy
was never ending, causing the legionnaires to mag-lock their empty bolters and
unsheathe sword, axe and shield.

The rebels, those unwashed and deluded masses, perished under his sword and shield,
their blood hissing on his sword's power field. Legion Master Gren Vosotho parried
a feeble swing from a large mortal swinging a sharpened iron stake, then caved in
the rebel's chest with his shield and continued further in the hive city, leaving
the man to die. Like all the others before him, the rebel did not cry out in pain,
merely gurgled blood. An enemy who feared neither death nor pain was not something
Vosotho had faced in humans before. Legionnaires were made to not know fear but as
Vosotho killed more and more of the enemy and heard no screaming or pleas of mercy
he admitted to himself that it was unsettling.

This was not what he imagined. When word of the rebellion reached him, Vosotho
assumed it had been ambitious, greedy individuals who threw the sector into open
sedition, but upon arrival the Osiris populace seemed controlled, like a puppet on
unseen strings. There was more going on here than met the eye and he intended to
find out what it was.

"Forward!" the Legion Master bellowed over the vox, cutting through a haggle of
teens with the same dead-eyed look that all on the planet had. "Forward for the
glory of the Thirteenth and the Emperor!"

For hours the Astartes fought, slowly approaching the hive centre. It was then,
just as Legion Master Vosotho arrived to the Governor's Spire, that five xenos
warships emerged from the system star's corona. They were immense goliaths of
little understood construction, dwarfing even battle-barges. Hour-glass in design,
with their outer structures endlessly rotating and turning, they approached the far
larger Imperial fleet. Vosotho, informed of the arrival of the aliens, ordered a
tactical withdrawal back to the fleet as a precaution, realising the trap.

Though few in number the xenos warships proved terrifying in battle, crippling and
destroying Imperial vessels with contemptuous ease, cutting through the 12th
Expeditionary Fleet like a vibro-knife through butter. Vosotho, having returned to
the fleet, knew that if the XIII stayed they would be exterminated. He ordered the
bulk of the fleet to retreat and took command of the sacrificial rear guard,
passing Legion command to the next ranking officer, Marius Gage. Vosotho and the
rear guard died heroically, able to destroy one of the xenos warships and damaged
another, while the rest of the 12th Expeditionary Fleet withdrew to Imperial-held
space.

Due to the heavy losses suffered in the failed attempt at supressing the Osiris
Rebellion and the lack of sufficiently powerful Imperial forces nearby, the Emperor
ordered a quarantine of the Osiris Cluster until a retribution fleet could be
assembled. The xenos were coined the name Osirian Psybirds by the Administratum,
and all survivors of the conflict were thoroughly debriefed. Morale low, bloodied
and ashamed at their failure, the XIII edged towards despair, having lost over six
thousand Space Marines in the failed suppression. Fortunately for these dispirited
warriors, news soon reached them that their gene-sire had been found.

Guilliman, after uniting with his sons and reading their war-annals, knew that for
his sons' morale and confidence to recover, they must defeat the Psybirds and
retake Osiris. As the primarch accustomed himself with Imperial technology and
tactics, and the Legion began to adopt their primarch's philosophy and adopt his
adaptable military doctrine wholeheartedly, the Thirteenth Legion deployed to just
outside the Osiris Quarantine Zone.

Roboute Guilliman looked out over the hololithic projector that detailed his fleet
assets forming up around the Mandeville point that would lead the XIII back to the
Osiris Cluster. It was strange, he thought, to see where he was now. He had long
concluded that he had been created, not born in the conventional sense, and
therefore knew his creator was out somewhere amongst the stars. But not even his
most fantastical theoreticals could have readily prepared him for the Emperor and
the Imperium. Already tens of thousands of worlds and ever growing, the size alone
was enough to cause even Guilliman to pause. He knew the role destined for him in
his father's Imperium after the Crusade had been won and humanity's Manifest
Destiny secured. Let the others conquer or lead armies across the vastness of space
but Guilliman would be the one to hold it all together.

He had yet to meet any of his brothers, though had read extensively of them and
talked to the Emperor about them. He had a feeling he would like most of them,
particularly Horus, Dorn and Manus. Their ways of war and philosophies intrigued
Guilliman. He would have to run simulations with them and discuss matters in person
to get a better feel for their personalities.

"Lord," came Marius Gage's voice from behind. Guilliman tilted his head slightly to
show he was listening. The Ultramarines' First Master continued, "The fleet is
ready for warp translation, lord. We await your order."

Guilliman was clad in the Armour of Reason, advanced power armour gifted to him by
his father. A pearl white cloak fell from his shoulder, bearing a golden Ultima in
its centre. He turned, hearing gasps from several of his sons. They had not become
accustomed to his presence, not yet, perhaps not ever. They fell to their knees in
supplication but he gestured for them to rise. They adored him and Guilliman would
earn that adoration and mould it into deep respect for he was not a god but a being
to guide Mankind forevermore.

The XIII had suffered greatly in recent years, their suffering having peaked during
the failed suppression of Osiris. The shame would be shed, the honour returned and
in the glory to come he would cement his rule over the XIII and become the father
they needed to rebuild and reform them that would best serve the Imperium.

"We have suffered gravely here, mistakes were made" Guilliman told his three
Chapter Masters and their assembled captains. "But mistakes are inevitable in life.
They are something to be learned from. And we have learned, my sons. The Legion
once left this Cluster in defeat but it shall now enter and seize victory. For the
Emperor."

The XIII entered the Cluster, supplemented by Army and Mechanicum forces, but
spearheaded by legionnaires. Just inside the Quarantine Zone they found a single
derelict vessel, empty of life but with cryptic warnings and pleas for help
covering its interiors, written in blood. Guilliman led his sons and allies deeper
into the Cluster. Within days they found two of the hour glass xenos vessels. Where
before in the Battle of Septus XII the Imperium was unprepared for the
technological superiority of the xenos and their nearly indestructible ships, the
12th Expeditionary Fleet was now prepared. New tactics had been adopted, lessons
learned, and now a primarch led them and nothing could impede their imminent
victory.

Highly coordinated, crisscrossing lanes of weapons fire tore into the two ships.
Guilliman orchestrated their destruction and the losses suffered were minimal, only
a half-dozen warships. For the next several months the XIII scoured the Osiris
Cluster, reclaiming it system by system, noting that most worlds were bereft of
life, their populations having massacred each other in the months since the
Quarantine was put into place. The few worlds that held life were purged in a storm
of fire, bolter, and blade to ensure whatever control the Psybirds held over the
populace would not spread. Few of the xenos warships were discovered, and all were
destroyed upon discovery, and despite the losses suffered it was clear the Imperium
was winning.

In the course of retaking Osiris, Guilliman despatched scout ships to attempt to

find the Psybird homeworld. Most of these were lost, destroyed by the xenos, and
the few survivors reported occasional xenos fleet movements or nothing at all. It
wasn't until the final weeks of the war that a scout ship, the Light of Terra,
entered a star system via random warp jumping and discovered a world densely
populated with Psybirds, with heavy industry in the planet's high orbit and
asteroid belt. The crew concluded that this was the homeworld of the Psybirds. The
Light of Terra quickly reported this to Guilliman who ordered the deployment of the
entire Ultramarines Legion to the system. The legionnaires, confident in their
primogenitor and in the campaign waged so far, were eager to avenge their dead
brothers.

With their orbital defences crippled, the Ultramarine fleet launched Life-Eater
Virus-tipped warheads into the planet's atmosphere followed by lance batteries to
ignite the gaseous fumes, incinerating all life on the planet. Following the
extermination of the hated xenos, Guilliman oversaw the repopulation of the Cluster
with Imperial citizens and after its successful recolonization, departed to
continue the Great Crusade.

Under Guilliman the Ultramarines brought more worlds to compliance than all others
barring the Sixteenth Legion. The worlds conquered by the XIII were not simply
forgotten after the campaign as several Legions did, but rather rebuilt and re-
educated to welcome the Imperium's protective embrace. While some Legions, such as
the Space Wolves and Death Guard, considered the reconstruction of conquered worlds
to be beneath them, the Ultramarines deemed it and governance to be as important as
combat. To secure the compliant populations' loyalty, new and improved defence
systems were created, industry and infrastructure rebuilt and expanded, and just
laws put in place to ensure the world remained stable, productive and loyal.

Though all primarchs participated in some form of empire-building during the Great
Crusade, it was Guilliman who established the most extensive and productive, his
Realm of Ultramar reaching five hundred worlds prior to the Heresy. The Realm of
Ultramar did not grow to its pre-Heresy peak without contention from others, some
primarchs, others Administratum officials, notably Malcador the Sigillite.

The Regent of Terra was ever cautious of over-ambitious individuals and primarchs
were no exception. The Ultramar Method of governance conflicted sharply with
several aspects of Malcador's Administratum and the two hotly debated for decades
until the Council of Akre. While the other primarchs and the Emperor debated the
garrisoning of legionnaires on troublesome worlds to prevent the Imperium from
collapsing in on itself, Guilliman and Malcador held lengthy discussions for weeks
at the Emperor's behest. The two Imperial leaders resolved their issues after
lengthy discussions, the two forming a compromise that eased Ultramar-Administratum
relations and saw to an increasing efficiency within the burgeoning Imperial
bureaucracy.

Guilliman was widely liked and admired among his brothers, having close relations
with several, many being dubbed the Dauntless Few, while having the respect of most
of the others. The only two that Guilliman held poor relations with was Lorgar
Aurelian of the Word Bearers and Alpharius of the Alpha Legion.
Lorgar's enmity originated from the public shaming of him, his Legion, and their
religious belief that the Emperor was a god on the Shrine World of Khur. It was
there where the Battle-King of Macragge destroyed Khur's Perfect City of Monarchia
and in its ashes the Urizen and his sons were reprimanded and humiliated by the
object of their devotion. Afterwards, Guilliman attempted to approach his
Colchisian brother and explain his actions, to clarify it wasn't personal but these
fell on deaf ears and Lorgar quickly left Khur, refusing to talk amicably with his
Macraggian brother. As a result of this, Guilliman had inadvertently contributed to
the fall of Lorgar and earned the Urizen's enmity.

While the fallout between the XIII and the XVII developed as a result of orders,
the relationship between the XIII and the XX came about as a difference in military
doctrine. When the Last Primarch was discovered in the latter half of the Crusade's
second century, he struck up a strong friendship with Horus and fought alongside
the future Warmaster for several years. When Alpharius eventually left his
secondment to Horus, he underwent several operations that Guilliman deemed too
risky and overcomplicated. The Thirteenth Primarch believed Alpharius was wasting
his legionnaires away due to layers of secrecy and seemingly contradicting orders
and a too fluid command structure. Guilliman, in an attempt to help his less
experienced brother, wrote an extensive memorandum that made suggestions on how the
Twentieth Legion should modify its tactics and deployments.

Though Guilliman meant well, his criticisms were poorly received by the Last
Primarch who felt insulted and needlessly critiqued and doubled down on his
preferred methods in spite of his brothers' opposition. Guilliman's disagreements
with Alpharius came to a head after the Tesstra Prime Compliance in which the XX
allowed the defenders weeks to fortify their positions. Though the world inevitably
surrendered after the Alpha Legion launched its crippling strike, casualties were
higher as a result of Alpharius' approach and the campaign was deemed inefficient
by many primarchs. Though many admired the skill such highly coordinated subterfuge
and misdirection required to carry out correctly, those same admirers admit that
the XX and its strategies were complex for complexity's sake. These criticisms
soured any potential friendship between Alpharius and Guilliman, which would have
serious consequences years later.

As the Imperium expanded, it encountered many grave threats to its survival,

forcing massive military campaigns to eliminate these threats before they
threatened Mankind with extermination. The Rangdan Xenocides was the first major
extinction-level threat while the Ullanor Crusade was a second one in the making.
The Ork empire centred on Ullanor had spent centuries forming and growing in
strength and Imperial analysts predicted in another ten years it would have
attacked the Imperium and seriously mauled the Emperor's Realm. The Master of
Mankind decided to go on the offensive first. He called for six of his sons to join
Him for the campaign and all six answered the call, bringing forth the full
strength of their Legions.

The Emperor crafted a daring plan in conjunction with Horus and His other sons.
Though it held many dangers, if successful it would have destroyed the Ullanor
empire in a matter of weeks rather than the years it was projected to take. The
World Eaters and Ultramarines assaulted the Ullanor Cluster's outer worlds, while
the White Scars launched deep raids to draw Ork reserves, allowing the Emperor to
lead the Luna Wolves, Blood Angels and Imperial Fists onto the empire's capital
world. Angron's and Guilliman's Legions were to tie down the bulk of the Ork hordes
and to do so effectively the two Legions attacked two score worlds in tandem.
Though others may have called it over-ambitious and exceedingly risky it was deemed
well worth the risk as it prevented millions of Orks from reinforcing their capital
world. Angron and Guilliman coordination and cooperation with each other were
already well known throughout the Great Crusade, the respect they held for each
other obvious to any casual observer, and this camaraderie between the two
primarchs and their sons allowed the campaign in the outer worlds to be waged with
skill rarely matched.

Most worlds were assaulted with combined Ultramarine-World Eater fleets, adding
their strengths together to overcome their weaknesses. World Eater Assault Marines
used their renowned discipline and martial might to tear the heart out of the xenos
forces while the Ultramarines used their greater numbers and integrated warfare
tactics to overwhelm and disperse the greenskin hordes, allowing the Army regiments
to cut down the survivors in interlaced kill zones. Though only days passed, all
two score worlds had been captured and tens of millions of the greenskin xenos had
been slaughtered. Guilliman and Angron were planning to expand their original
mission by assaulting another thirty worlds when word reached them that the killing
strike had been delivered on Ullanor, Warboss Urlakk Urg killed by Horus Lupercal,
leaving the Ork Waaagh! broken and scattered.

At the following Triumph celebration, the Emperor revealed His intentions to return
to Terra and elevated Horus Lupercal to Warmaster. While some, like Jaghatai Khan,
Lion El'Jonson and Angron were angered at this, Roboute Guilliman was pleased and
glad for his Cthonian brother, publicly swearing his support for the new Warmaster
before Horus and their father.

"It won't be long now," Horus commented to Guilliman as they walked along the
Victory Tower's lower ramparts. The mortal guards they passed bowed as the two
demigods walked among them, drawn from the elite Solar Auxilia regiments, while the
Custodes saluted with a raised Guardian-Spear. An honour guard of both the XIII and
XVI followed behind them at a discreet distance.

"What won't be long now?" the Lord of the Five Hundred Worlds asked. Both were
clothed in rich material, long ceremonial cloaks flowing behind them, coloured in
their livery. Neither wore armour, preferring a more comfortable apparel to wear to
the Emperor's dinner that was to begin in one hour.

"The end of the Great Crusade; the completion of father's dream. Peace at last."
Horus sounded almost resigned. Guilliman eyed his brother and patted him on the
shoulder. Horus was a warrior, a general, a warlord and conqueror. The concept of
peace was something the Sixteenth wasn't used to nor even wished. Guilliman
understood that.

"Do not worry, brother. Even after the Crusade is over there will always be war.
New alien species will continuously be discovered, as will lost remnants of Mankind
who will need to be brought into the Imperial fold. Not to forget the Orks whose
numbers will ensure millennia of conflict until they are finally eradicated. Then
there is the Eldar who no matter how aggressively we try they always seem to
slither through the cracks, clinging to life long past their species' due."

The words comforted Horus, who smiled his thanks to his Macraggian brother.

"And while you make war, Malcador and I will ensure the Imperium operates smoothly,
efficiently."

"Leman calls you a pen pusher."

Guilliman laughed, "And I call him an untamed wolf." Horus shared his amusement
before becoming serious again.

"Does it bother you?" the Warmaster asked.

"Not at all," Guilliman admitted. "I am what I was created to be. You are father's
Warmaster, I am His statesman. We are both lords of war but we are also so much
more. We each have our own responsibilities in the era to come. Together we will
ensure the Imperium endures for all time."

Horus nodded appreciatively. The First Found looked up at the Victory Tower's peak
where the primarchs had stood beneath their father's dais and watched the armies of
the Imperium march victoriously in parade. That had been three days ago and the
process of redeployment was still very much in its infancy. Nearly a million
Astartes, over three hundred million Army and Skitarii troopers, and far more… it
would take weeks for everyone to be lifted off of Ullanor, or rather Mundus
Tropaeum he reminded himself. The Emperor had delegated the task to Horus who
embroiled himself in the details to make the chaotic situation one that was orderly
and quickly done. Horus had done such things hundreds of times, but still had asked
for Guilliman's help, knowing the Lord of Ultramar was exemplary in a field that
Horus merely excelled in.

The Tower's upper levels resided their brothers, all but Angron and Jaghatai, and
those few who could not make the Triumph in time. Guilliman knew Angron's jealousy
soured Horus' sense of triumph but only a little, while the Khan's private
disagreement angered Horus who hastily ordered the Warhawk to hunt down the remnant
of Urlakk Urg's Waaagh! Horus seemed to realise what he was thinking.

"I regret my words with Jaghatai. Once he has carried out my orders, I will recall
him to me. We shall fight side-by-side and renew our bonds of brotherhood in
battle. We will talk and any misunderstandings between us will be expunged."

"That is wise. You will need many supporters in the years to come. News of your
elevation will soon reach every corner of the Imperium. Most will celebrate, but,
unfortunately, not all."

Horus nodded, his gold-flecked sea-green eyes seeming heavy with responsibility but
he blinked and that weariness was gone, replaced by resolve. Lupercal gestured
towards the Tower. "Come, let us eat and talk with our brothers and father. Perhaps
we can pretend to be a normal family for an evening." Both chuckled as they made
their way upwards.

After Ullanor, Guilliman returned to Ultramar. He had not visited his Realm in
nearly two decades due to the needs of the Crusade and set about on a grand
inspection of the Five Hundred Worlds. Six times during his inspection the primarch
led his Ultramarines and Ultramar Army regiments into battle against minor xenos
species discovered in the outer systems of his Realm where they had lay hidden from
the Imperium for over a century.

Over the next few years Guilliman ruled Ultramar from Macragge, sending his Legion
on compliance actions in powerful expeditionary fleets while he remained in the
Five Hundred Worlds with the bulk of the XIII. In the months prior to the Heresy,
warp storms wracked the galaxy, delaying campaigns and interfering greatly with
communications, both conventional and astropathic. Due to Ultramar's placement on
the far side of the Eastern Fringe and the deviousness of the Fell Powers, news of
Horus Lupercal's wounding on Davin, the Night Haunter and his ilk going rogue, and
the psychic assault on Terra by Magnus the Red did not reach Guilliman. This lack
of information was concocted by Fulgrim and Lorgar, and the latter primarch
communed with the Dark Gods to ensure Ultramar remained unawares.

Thus, days before the Dropsite Massacre, the Iron Hands arrived to the Civilised
World Calth, a major muster point and principal shipyard for the XIII. There,
Ferrus Manus informed the Ultramarines of his intent to fight alongside them
against the Orks of Ghaslakh. The Ultramarines warmly welcomed their cousins,
gladdened to fight alongside the Iron Tenth once again. For days the two Legions
conducted war-games with each other to hone their skills and cooperation but it was
all a treacherous ploy.

A daemon-fuelled psychic pulse from Bellanor reached Calth, driving many psykers to
insanity and death whilst causing system-wide confusion among the Ultramarines. It
was during this initial confusion when the Iron Hands openly declared their new
allegiance by launching a massive assault on the loyalist fleet centred in Calth's
high orbit, having placed their warships in prime position to ensure dire losses on
the XIII. The opening salvo was devastating, crippling the loyalist fleet and
destroying large Imperial contingents on Calth's surface. Moments after the first
shots were fired, an Iron Hand strike cruiser poisoned Veridia's Star, causing
solar radiation to skyrocket to an unprecedented level. This radiation pummelled
into Calth's atmosphere, killing billions and even forcing armoured Space Marines
to seek shelter in the arcologies scattered throughout the planet's crust lest they
succumb to the deadly radiation. These subterranean enclaves provided some
protection and allowed loyalist units to reform and entrench themselves.

Tetrarch Stolos Amyntas, commander of all Throne-loyal forces in the system, had
conducted a brave, if fruitless defence, his forces unable to recover from the
Atrocity's first blow. The tetrarch died like a son of Guilliman, weapon in hand
while attempting to protect the innocent. He was killed by the Gorgon in personal
combat. Command eventually fell to Captain Remus Ventanus who would go on to wage
the Underground War for the next seven years against the traitors and emerge as a
Hero of the Imperium.

Days after the Calth Atrocity, the Word Bearers arrived to join the Iron Hands. The
two Traitor Legions would then wage the Shadow Crusade, a massive campaign that
would storm across Ultramar for two long bloody years, culminating in the formation
of the Ruinstorm, trapping the XIII in their domain, preventing any possible
reinforcement of Terra.

Many battles would be fought, won, and lost by the XIII during the Shadow Crusade.
It is a testament to Guilliman that Ultramar did not collapse under the assault of
two Traitor Legions, whose combined forces outnumbered him in terms of
legionnaires. The Avenging Son, having lost sixty thousand Ultramarines at Calth
alone, was careful in his Astartes deployments, cautious and forced to radically
change his methods of war, taking into account the once-taboo idea of Space Marine
fratricide that had quickly become reality.

The first months of the Crusade went poorly for the Ultramarines, their shock and
initial scattered positioning allowing the traitors to secure many worlds and
destroy several others. The Word Bearers opened up minor warp tears across dozens
of systems, allowing hordes of daemons to swarm loyalist worlds while Iron Hand
battle-automata aided their legionnaire masters in overwhelming Imperial forces.
Foul rituals and abominable intelligences, once thought to be of the half-mythical
past, now showed themselves to be terrifyingly real which saw panic escalate across
the Realm's many trillions of citizens.

In those two years, Guilliman was everywhere. From stiffening buckling sectors,
countering traitor attacks, and launching strikes into traitor-held space, the
Battle-King of Macragge implemented tactics and strategies that could trace their
origins to those of the other Legions. The spear-tip method of the Sons of Horus,
the massive armoured assaults of the Iron Hands, and the hit-and-run of the Raven
Guard were all employed, preventing the traitors from destroying the Ultramarines
and the Five Hundred Worlds.

Despite Guilliman's best efforts, the traitors' plan was working. With every world
taken, mass ritualised genocide would take place, overseen by Word Bearer Dark
Apostles. After every victory, the warp storm surrounding Ultramar thickened,
growing more turbulent and causing travel to become increasingly dangerous. As the
Crusade reached its second year of bloody existence, three vital worlds were
attacked. Iax, the Garden of Ultramar, was attacked by the Iron Hands who released
a nanite-based cellular virus bio-weapon that rapidly spread through Iax's
bountiful fields. Though eventually stopped, nearly ninety-percent of Iaxian
farmland was ruined and would take centuries to re-cultivate. This drastic
reduction of foodstuffs would see to the starvation and death of billions
throughout the Five Hundred Worlds.

The second world was Magniat. The Word Bearers' quickly captured the world due to
overwhelming numbers and their summoned daemons, and went on to sacrifice billions
of survivors in continent-wide rituals that further churned the Ruinstorm. By the
time Ultramarine units had been redeployed to liberate Magniat, less than a quarter
of the world's original twenty-six billion were alive.

While Magniat and Iax came under assault, the bulk of the X and XVII began the
assault on the Fortress World of Armatura. When the traitors arrived to the system,
the loyalist commander, Legatus Orfeo Cassandar, sent word to Macragge, warning his
primarch of the attack and called for reinforcements but stated he could hold out
against the traitor forces arrayed against him for several months. Cassandar did
not state this as a boast but as a realistic prediction. Defending Armatura was the
Evocati, an elite formation of twenty thousand legionnaires. Aside from Astartes,
there were a billion soldiers of the Imperial Army and Ultramar Defence Auxilia
garrisoning the Fortress World, all well-equipped and highly trained. Furthermore,
there was a full Titan Legion with accompanying Skitarii regiments, in addition to
massive orbital defences supplemented by one of the largest fleets in Ultramar, all
of which had been expanded and enlarged since the outbreak of the Heresy.

Therefore the legatus felt confident his entrenched forces could resist the two
Traitor Legions, even if led by their respective primarchs, long enough for
Guilliman and an additional fifty thousand Ultramarines to arrive from Macragge.
Unfortunately for the loyalists, this confidence would prove hollow.

Lorgar revealed two of his secret weapons, but rather than based on faith and the
Immaterial, these were made of metal and christened by the blood of thousands.
These were the Abyss-class dreadnoughts Trisagion and the Blessed Lady and they
were unleashed against the orbital defences and Ultramarine void fleet. Though the
Trisagion and the Blessed Lady suffered extensive damage in their frontal assault,
they nonetheless carved a path through the Imperials, allowing the rest of the
traitors to follow and land their forces on the planet below.

For three days the Ultramarines fought valiantly, bravely, yet died all the same.
Word Bearer and Iron Hand forces simply overwhelming the loyalist legionnaires and
their allies. At battle's end, every single Throne-loyal Space Marine was dead and
the traitors reigned triumphant. Lorgar finished the ritual begun on Calth two
years prior and this cemented the Ruinstorm's stormwall, preventing any from
traversing it without the consent of the Ruinous Powers.

Their primary objective of isolating the XIII from the rest of the Imperium
attained, the Word Bearers and Iron Hands left Ultramar to rendezvous with the
Arch-Traitor. Though the primarchs were gone from Ultramar, the traitor presence
was not. Tens of thousands of legionnaires and many millions of Army soldiers had
been left behind to harass and tie down the Ultramarines, to weaken Ultramar and
its defenders for the inevitable confrontation that was to take place after
Fulgrim's elevation to Second Emperor of Mankind. Not only were there many
thousands of the X and XVII still plaguing the Five Hundred Worlds, but so too were
there contingents of varying sizes of the other Traitor Legions, all pursuing their
own objectives, all detrimental to the loyalists.

The Shadow Crusade carved deep wounds in both Guilliman's empire and his Legion.
Over half of his pre-Heresy Legion was dead or missing in action. Throughout
Ultramar, the vaunted war-colleges produced large amounts of replacement Aspirants
to become new battle-brothers. Where typically they would have trained with their
assigned unit for months, or perhaps years before a major campaign, this luxury was
forgone. Thus the inexperienced battle-brothers were sent into some of the fiercest
fighting that wracked Ultramar, many dying but those that survived, learned and
acquired skills against the insurgent, the Traitor Space Marine, and the daemonic,
skills the XIII had been forced to acquire since the rebellion had started and
would prove its worth in the years to come.

For three years Guilliman slowly exterminated pockets of traitors that riddled his
Realm, and began to fortify Ultramar to extents never seen before. Guilliman knew
that if Terra fell to the Traitor Legions then Ultramar would be the last great
redoubt of those loyal to the Emperor, and thus prepared the Five Hundred Worlds as
such. Many projects, measures and precautions were undertaken to ready Ultramar.

One of the measures taken by the Thirteenth Primarch was the activation of the
Pharos Device. An ancient xenos construct discovered decades earlier on the colony
world of Sotha, its original purpose unknown. Despite its non-active state,
Guilliman authorised many leading scientists and several of his Librarians to study
the device and attempt to activate it. For years their attempts proved fruitless,
until just after the Shadow Crusade ended when the Pharos Device was turned on.
Immediately the star systems surrounding Sotha reported less severe warp storms and
easier tides in the Empyrean. The Pharos was able to use a piercing trans-
dimensional energy to form temporary tunnels of stable and safe pathways through
the warp, allowing travel to not only become safer but far quicker than had been
the norm since the Ruinstorm's violent birth at Calth. The primarch recognised the
worth of the Pharos, and established a powerful defence fleet there and protected
by ten thousand Ultramarines.

Using the Pharos, star systems that had been cut off for months or years were
reconnected with the rest of Ultramar. Most worlds welcomed the reestablishment of
contact, yet some worlds resisted, having been corrupted by cultist cells seeded on
these worlds by the traitors or tainted by the horrors they saw in the night sky
when the Ruinstorm's baleful light coloured their homes. To these warp-infected
worlds, only fire and blade could purge it. Hundreds of millions of their former
charges were cut down by the Ultramarines, and though it greatly saddened
Guilliman, he nonetheless ordered it without pause lest a seed of ruin was allowed
to spread.

An unexpected ally entered Ultramar during the Heresy's fifth year. Leman Russ and
the Space Wolves had entered Ultramar in what some called a cosmic fluke but others
called an Emperor-given miracle. On Macragge, Russ briefed Guilliman of the wider
war. The Avenging Son was relieved to discover Terra still stood and the Emperor
lived, allowing him to shelve the secretly proposed Imperium Secundus that many
would have called him a traitor for; one that Russ eventually discovered but
Guilliman convinced his Fenrisian brother it wasn't to usurp power or elevate
himself to emperor, but rather an emergency plan to ensure that if the Emperor
died, then Mankind would have a leader and a symbol to rally behind. Guilliman
assured his brother that he never intended to crown himself emperor, but rather
Horus, Sanguinius, or even Lion El'Jonson. Assuaged by the explanation, the two
primarchs led their sons in a campaign to cleanse the Five Hundred Worlds.

For two years the Wolf King and the Battle-King ridded Ultramar of the traitors'
presence, but both knew the real fight was inexorably nearing Terra, moving closer
every day. Guilliman searched for a way through the Ruinstorm but the gaps in the
stormwall were rare and fleeting. After much deduction and study of the Pharos
Device and its ability to carve calm tunnels in warp-space, Guilliman concluded
that the xenos artefact was the best available option to break through the
Ruinstorm.

Guilliman modified the Pharos Device, allowing it to send several transdimensional

pulses in rapid succession that burned a hole through the Ruinstorm, allowing
Guilliman and Russ to make way towards Terra with their Legions. Despite
Guilliman's ingenuity, they were too late. The Emperor had been mortally wounded
and interned onto the Golden Throne. Not even Fulgrim's death and the retreat of
the Traitor Legions only days before could ease the loss the Thirteenth Primarch
felt at his father's fate.

When the Great Scouring commenced, the Ultramarines joined their allied cousins in
purging the Imperium of traitors and reclaiming all that had been lost. Though the
traitors had lost the Heresy, they were entrenched across the galaxy and still
fielded massive armies and fleets. The formation of the Syndicate Chaotica did
little to help matters, delaying Imperial victory by several years.

Guilliman knew that if the Syndicate remained intact and coherent, then heavy
fighting would stretch on for many more years, possibly decades. The Word Bearers
used their nearly inexhaustible supply of daemons and cultists to hold down
thousands of worlds, while the Night Lords used fear and grisly examples to ensure
their occupied worlds remained pacified, and the Iron Hands produced battle-
automata in their millions, while the Alpha Legion incited mass rebellions across
Imperial worlds and plagued loyalist supply lines. The four Traitor Primarchs moved
frequently within their territories, as well as leading excursions into Imperial-
controlled space. This was done to bolster the morale of their forces as well as to
stiffen their frontlines, but also led to difficulty for Imperial intelligence to
determine where they were, thus preventing a crippling strike.

This changed during the fourth year of the Scouring when a representative of a
newly founded organisation approached Macragge's last Battle-King.

Guilliman frowned as the three silver-grey Astartes approached. They had arrived
in-system to Yutantiya only hours ago, moving almost undetectable to anchor
alongside Macragge's Honour. The flagship's advanced augur relays could barely
detect them, in spite of the close distance. He knew who they were and even agreed
with their creation, but he did not care for the secrecy that surrounded them nor
that their parent organisation was very keen on maintaining that secrecy no matter
the cost. If only Malcador had survived the war… he could have done better. But
alas, the Inquisition was now run by lesser men. Chosen by Malcador and approved by
the Emperor, perhaps, but still lesser than the deceased Regent.

The three Astartes stopped before him and knelt. Two of them were captains of great
honour, their Aegis armour covered in protective runes and bearing personal
heraldry on their left shoulder-pad but it was their commander that interested him
the most.

This was Janus, Supreme Grand Master of the Grey Knights, but those were merely
titles, adopted or given. The true name of this 'Astartes' was none other than
Omegon, twin to Alpharius. When Guilliman had reached Terra, the death of Malcador
and Dorn had saddened him, the mortal crippling of the Emperor threatened him with
despair, but the discovery that there had in fact been twenty-one primarchs and one
had been twin to the arrogant and overambitious Alpharius had enraged him.
Guilliman had readied himself to kill Omegon, confident that he was still a traitor
in disguise. Only Horus and Leman had been able to stop him. Horus defended Omegon,
now only referred to as Janus, saying their brother had been a loyalist all along
and had brought sufficient proof to validate that. Not to forget the Emperor
Himself probed the Twenty-First's mind and saw no treachery or deceit. And Leman,
bombastic, savage Leman, had said he smelled no evil emanating from their brother.
After several days, Guilliman had recovered his wits and went to speak to his
brother but Janus had already departed. Though the Year of Intermission had just
begun, the Grey Knights were already being deployed across the galaxy, eliminating
threats Guilliman never desired to face.

Janus looked up and rose, the other two Knights remained kneeling. Janus walked
towards Guilliman, stopping several paces away. His brother looked around the
chamber.

"None will bother us here. No one knows you are even here aside from my First
Captain and he is not one to talk."

Janus inclined his head in thanks. Though the surviving Loyalist Primarchs knew the
true identity of the Supreme Grand Master of Titan, and possibly another score of
other individuals across the galaxy knew as well, his identity was to remain secret
from the masses for all time. Janus took off his helm, the pressurised air hissing
as it escaped, and what was revealed was a noble face, shaven head nicked with
scars made by beings that had haunted Mankind's nightmares for millennia, and deep
set eyes. He looked a lot like Horus in that way, but his resemblance to Alpharius
was exact. There could be no doubt. The only difference now laid in the golden tint
to Janus' irises. That, and there seemed to be… an aura of purity, a cleansing
presence, coming from the Grey Knight.

Without preamble, the Grey Knight began. "I found him."

"Found who?"

Janus smiled humourlessly. "Alpharius."

On the backwater world of Eskrador lay hidden a vital Alpha Legion base,
coordinating Twentieth Legion activities across dozens of sectors. It was on this
world that the Ultramarines attacked with over half their Legion, aided by the
elite Grey Knights, the Chamber Militant of the newly formed Ordo Malleus of the
Inquisition. Though the world was vital to XX operations in the Segmentum, the true
target of this attack was the Primarch of the Alpha Legion.

Guilliman knew his foe was prepared, entrenched and well-equipped, and any assault
based on Guilliman's standard doctrines and procedures would bog down. Guilliman
knew Alpharius had meticulously analysed his strategies and tactics, and so he
decided to improvise with a non-typical manoeuvre. Guilliman concluded the most
likely position Alpharius occupied, and without preamble launched a strike with his
entire First Chapter, accompanied by several hundred Grey Knights.

The Alpha Legion, despite being taken by surprise, put up heavy resistance but the
XX legionnaires were simply outnumbered and cornered. By battle's end, the Alpha
Legion was defeated and their gene-sire was killed. History marks the rare killing
of a primarch to be an honour attained by Guilliman, something Guilliman publicly
confirmed and none have had cause to doubt him.

The cavern, once riddled with cogitators, armouries, and other machinery, some
human, other xenos and even a couple that were clearly daemonic in nature, was now
filled with wreckage and corpses. The corpses of his Suzerain Invictarus littered
the ground, their gene-seed and armour waiting to be recovered. The Alpha Legion
traitors were more numerous amongst the fallen, though the steel-grey of the
Knights of Titan was seen throughout. Only two figures remained standing, Guilliman
and Janus.

Guilliman walked to Janus who stood over a corpse that at a glance appeared no
different than a lowly XX legionnaire but the warrior's helm was noticeably larger,
however slight, and his helm was cracked open allowing Guilliman to view those
aqua-green eyes that were identical to the being standing over him. The Supreme
Grand Master was cleaning his Emperor-crafted blade, wiping the blood off with a
tattered cloak taken from the floor.

The Thirteenth Primarch stood next to his smaller brother. "It is done then."

"Yes," Janus said quietly. Guilliman detected a hint of sadness in his voice and
understood that pain. Though both fought on separate sides they were once the
closest of all brothers and the painful knowledge that one had killed the other
would torment Janus for the rest of his days, of that the Lord of Ultramar was sure
of.

"It is truly him? Not a ruse or fake like the one who assaulted Pluto during the
Solar War?"

"It's him," Janus confirmed. "Though I'm sure there will be pretenders in the years
to come, but the Last Primarch is dead."

There was silence between them at the levity of those words. Alpharius was the
third primarch to die since the Emperor's dream came apart due to Fulgrim's
betrayal. The noble, stoic Dorn; the Phoenician; and now the lying manipulator
Alpharius, casualties of a war that Guilliman knew would never quite end and one
that had raged on for uncounted millennia.

"Roboute, you must take credit for this."

The words shocked Guilliman from his thoughts. "But why? You killed him; it should
be you who is credited this glory."

"Because I do not exist, brother. Alpharius is dead," Janus gestured at the Hydra
Lord's corpse lying in front of him, "and it must be attributed to another son of
the Emperor, one who remained loyal. The actions I take and those my Grey Knights
take will never be spoken of, never whispered around campfires as heroic struggles.
We live and kill and die with none the wiser. Chaos is an infection and we are the
scalpel cutting away the rotted flesh. That is what we are and will be. We do not
need the acclamation of others to know we do His work. Take this victory, Roboute,
and make it your own. The Imperium needs this victory, needs to know one of its
most beloved defenders struck down one of the vilest of traitors. Give the people
hope; give them something to remember long after we have faded away from this
existence."

Guilliman opened his mouth to respond when a cohort of Ultramarines rushed in and
Janus' demeanour changed, becoming distant and reserved.

"Congratulations on your kill, Lord Guilliman. Soon all loyal men and women of the
Imperium will hear of your victory here." Janus said aloud, his voice sounding
monotone due to the vox-grille.

Guilliman paused, knowing he could deny it, giving Janus the praise but that it
would accomplish nothing. "Thank you, Lord Janus. It was a well fought battle."

"That it was. Farewell, Lord Guilliman. The Emperor protects."

And with that, Janus of the Grey Knights was gone.

A More Firm Foundation-

In the years after the Great Scouring, the surviving Loyalist Primarchs were vital
in the Imperium's long and arduous recovery. Out of the eight surviving primarchs,
none were more instrumental than Roboute Guilliman. It fell to Guilliman,
Sanguinius and Horus as the ruling triumvirate to rebuild the Imperium and lead it
into the millennia to come. While Sanguinius became Imperial Prince and Horus
remained as Warmaster, it was Guilliman as Lord Warden who reorganised and
restructured the Imperium's vast administrative bureaucracy via the Codex
Imperialis that promoted governance based on meritocracy and centralised
efficiency. The second and more controversial work penned by Guilliman was the
Codex Astartes.

The Codex Astartes called for the dismantling of the Legiones Astartes and the
creation of smaller, more flexible and independent Space Marine Chapters. The
Legions, Guilliman explained, were too powerful that if another fell to Chaos then
it would have disastrous consequences for the recovering Imperium. Guilliman knew
he would have to convince his brothers of the Codex's value and therefore had many
contribute to it, adding their philosophies and military doctrine to it,
complementing the extensive work the Thirteenth Primarch had already written down.
Several compromises were reached, such as the enlargement of Chapters from their
initially proposed size of one thousand Space Marines per Chapter to five thousand,
among others.

Eventually the modified final draft of the Codex Astartes was presented to the High
Lords and all but one agreed to its implementation. Leman Russ heartily disagreed
with the Codex, stating it went against the Emperor's vision for His Angels of
Death. Such were the tensions raised over the matter that a second civil war
threatened to tear the Imperium apart. Russ and his supporters, though very much
the minority, were more than willing to defend their ideals. Though many agreed
with the Wolf King, few dared to risk treason over it. Eventually Russ saw reason
thanks to Horus and Guilliman and agreed to adopt the Codex Astartes.

As the Imperial Reformation continued, Guilliman, Sanguinius and Horus agreed that
one of them should remain on Terra at all times to ensure stability and that the
ambition of lesser men did not threaten the heart of the Emperor's Realm. As a
result of their responsibilities, it fell to Sanguinius to remain on Terra the most
while Horus waged wars and led crusades across the galaxy, and Guilliman travelled
the width and breadth of the Imperium to see to the proper rebuilding of the
Administratum. Despite focusing on reforming and rebuilding the Imperial
government, this did not impede on Guilliman's duties as a primarch. The Lord of
Ultramar oversaw countless campaigns waged against the xenos, rebel, and heretic.

For a millennia and a half, the Imperium was guided by Guilliman's genius. Shortly
after defeating the Black Crusade of Kthelmir during the mid-32nd Millennium, the
self-titled Supplicor of Chaos Undivided, panicked reports reached Guilliman of an
apocalyptic threat having invaded Ultramar: the Black Legion. Led by their infamous
master Typhon the Black, Herald of Nurgle and a Daemon Prince, the corrupted
Astartes of the Black Legion conquered a swathe of star systems on the outskirts of
Ultramar. Guilliman, realising the threat the former Death Guard posed to not only
Ultramar but the entire Ultima Segmentum, quickly diverted to save the Fifty Worlds
of Ultramar.

Thus began the Plague Wars.

The Ultramarines, aided by their Successor Chapters: the Novamarines, White

Consuls, and the Knights Cerulean, matched the Black Legion in terms of Space
Marines, and were further supplemented by the Ultramar Auxilia, billions of
Imperial Guardsmen and countless fleets of the Imperial Navy alongside substantial
Mechanicum forces. The Host of the Destroyer Hive swelled his Legion with hundreds
of millions of Traitor Guardsmen alongside innumerable Plague Zombies and daemons.

For years the Black Legion infested dozens of star systems in and around Ultramar,
poisoning worlds, turning them from productive loyal worlds into plague-ridden
wastelands where the survivors endured by worshipping the Lord of Decay. This area
of space became known as the Scourge Stars and was promptly quarantined by Imperial
forces. From this cesspit of suffering and contagion, the Plaguefather's Chosen
ravaged Ultramar, causing the deaths of billions and the sufferings of billions
more.

It would be on the world of Parmenio that the Plague Wars was decisively decided.
Originally a minor recruitment world for the Ultramarines Legion then later a major
recruitment centre for the Chapter following the consolidation of Ultramar from
five hundred worlds to fifty, Parmenio was vital to Ultramarine defences. If the
world fell, the quarantine established around the Scourge Stars would have been
breached and catastrophe would have been the result. Typhon, emboldened by years of
weathering loyalist assault and wishing to open a warp tear that would allow half
the sector to become bathed in the putrid essence of the Plague God's realm,
gathered half his Legion and attacked the world, quickly overrunning its defences
until stopped cold by the Knights Cerulean who had secretly redeployed to the
worlds days earlier..

Guilliman's counter-attack began almost immediately, crippling Typhon's fleet and

isolating the dreaded Terminus Est from its escorts. The Thirteen Primarch led a
boarding party onto the battle-barge and fought his way to Typhon. But the former
First Captain was no mere legionnaire anymore. Bolstered by the favour and powers
of Grandfather Nurgle and raised to the immortal ranks of daemonhood, Typhon,
called Typhus the Traveller by his Legion, was imbued with the power to fight a
demigod.

Guilliman attacked Typhon, and despite the Master of the Black Legion being a
Daemon Prince, the Avenging Son was beating him. That was until Typhon called forth
a Great Unclean One: Rotigus. His bodyguard slain within moments, the primarch
found himself fighting a greater daemons and a daemon prince. Few would have been
able to last more than seconds, let alone fight them to a standstill, but the
Battle-King of Macragge did so.

For hours the three fought in an intricate game of death and evaded blows. As
Rotigus' hold on the Materium loosened, Guilliman banished the daemon but in the
process was struck by Silence, Typhon's corrupted manreaper.

Guilliman could feel the poison spreading, the corruption overcoming his
physiology. His skin felt feverish hot, his armour's cooling system overloaded in
seconds. He fell to the floor, the Gauntlets deactivating. He reached for his sword
but a rusted boot clamped down on it before the primarch could reach it.

Looking up, he saw Typhon, his gaunt, diseased face of boils and sores smiling,
revealing rotted teeth and blackened gums. The manreaper, once Mortarion's foster
father's and now the favoured weapon of the Black Legion's Master, dripped foul
liquids onto the ship's deck, adding more corrosion to the filth and grime already
there. The wound dealt by the manreaper leaked blood and pus. It was on his neck,
from below the ear to just above the collar bone. Such a small cut but one
Guilliman knew that would cause his death.

"You are not my father, but your death will do. My master wishes to collect your
soul. Glory to the Master of Pestilence!"

Guilliman acted, catching Silence mid-swing, surprising Typhon with his speed and
vitality. Rising, he activated one of his Gauntlets, its energy field crackling as
he brought it back.

"Go back to the hell you crawled out of, worm." Guilliman's Gauntlet caved in
Typhon's chest, rupturing his hearts and killing him, though the primarch knew it
was only a temporary death but perhaps the decades or centuries of his banishment
to the true warp will cause the Black Legion to fracture and their threat to the
Imperium to lessen. As the body of Typhon fell to the ground, breaking apart before
his very eyes, Guilliman fell to the deck once again and the blackness of
unconscious approached him. The last he heard were Astartes boot-steps rapidly
approaching.

Guilliman was able to banish both Rotigus and Typhon, though it nearly cost him his
life. Recovered by a retrieval Ultramarine force, the primarch was interred into a
stasis-pod where it was hoped a cure for the infection ravaging his body could be
found though the Apothecaries prognosis was not positive. While his sons mourned,
they beat back the Black Legion which had begun to fracture under Typhon's various
lieutenants. Within a year the Scourge Stars had been conquered and cleansed and
the Realm of Ultramar began to recover.

In the eight and a half millennia since Guilliman's stasis-internment in the

Fortress of Hera the Ultramarines have never compromised their ideals laid out by
their primogenitor. While the Imperium around them waxed and waned several times
throughout the ages, the Ultramarines have remained a bedrock of stable governance,
firm loyalty, and supportive of progress, both cultural and technological, ever
hopeful of their gene-sire's return.

As the Dark Millennium comes to a close, and the threats arrayed against Mankind
continue to grow in number and strength, prayers for Guilliman's resurrection
reverberate throughout the Imperium, not only from the desperate mortal masses but
also from his Astartes sons amongst the many Chapters spawned from his genetic
line. Such prayers have spread across the galaxy and beyond, reaching even the
Traitor Legions in the Great Eye who denigrate such optimism from the Imperials and
cruelly laugh knowing that if Guilliman were to be brought out of stasis he would
die within minutes.

But not all laughed nor prayed. One whose soul burned bright with feral
determination left the Eye after millennia wading through its Immaterial tides, and
raced towards Macragge.

The Fortress of Hera had changed little since he was here last, so long ago. The
Space Marines were different, new generations who knew nothing but endless war, a
desperate fight against the encroaching dark.

He had seen it even then when he walked among his sons, seeing the optimism of the
Great Crusade withering as the memories of the Emperor walking amongst His people
faded with time. He had gone to the Eye to revert such things, to retrieve a Seed
from the Tree of Life. And he found it, oh how he had found it, and the pacts he
had made and the things he had done would haunt him forevermore, but alas he had
found the Tree… and saw it dying.

The Keeper of the Tree told him that the half-mythical but ever real Tree had been
dying for centuries, its cache of Seeds becoming corrupt and forced to be burned.
All that remained was one Seed, a small, half healthy looking Seed. Cutting the
corruption off had only made it smaller and less potent. It was then that he knew
he couldn't revive the Emperor and that revelation nearly broke him. To have spent
so long in the madness of the Eye, to confront and fight horrors he had never
imagined, only to fail at the end…

But then the prayers of Mankind reached the Eye of Terror. He knew the traitors
decried it, insulted the passion and feasted on the desperation inherent in the
words, but he finally knew what had to be done.
Gathering his few surviving warriors, he left the Eye and returned to real-space.
Now after months of traveling, he had arrived in orbit. Using scavenged
technologies half-forgotten or severely restricted, he had snuck into the Fortress
of Hera, bypassing the vigilant cobalt blue Space Marines, who never stood a chance
in preventing his entry. Besides he had learned from his previous attempt, and was
thus more cautious, especially since he went into the Fortress alone, leaving his
sons aboard the ship.

Hours passed before he arrived to Shrine of the Primarch within the Temple of
Correction. A detachment of the Suzerain Invictus guarded their sire still. The
Temple was empty, an exceedingly rare event but due to recent events spreading
across the Imperium, particularly the arrival of three demigods to Terra, Chapter
Master Cato Sicarius chose to suspend visitation to the Temple until stability was
restored, lest half-crazed fanatics tore open the stasis-pod in desperation for
salvation and accidentally killing the Thirteenth Son.

He understood and agreed with the principle, but he was there to open the pod
regardless.

The twenty Astartes in Tactical Dreadnought armour, a newer and more improved mark
than the one his sons once wore, were ever wary for threats, either physical or
daemonic. But they were not prepared for a primarch. He fell down, throwing small
discs with highly complex micro-cogitators. They stuck to the Astartes, sparks of
electricity spitting off, and all twenty stood immobile, their armour having locked
down. They stared at him in what he assumed was surprise though it was impossible
to tell since they all wore helms. He could hear their voices, stifled and diluted
by the helms, but they were calling for reinforcements so speed was of a necessity.

He knew that they never would have allowed near his brother's body, thus forcing
him to use trickery to arrive here. Too long gone, potential corruption from the
Eye were valid concerns and the time it would have taken to convince Sicarius would
have taken weeks or months, if not longer, and the Imperium needed Guilliman now.

He began to open the stasis-pod, inputting an override code that bypassed the pod's
security systems. He did so without ritual, which would have horrified many a tech-
priest, but time was short. As the pod's locks clicked open and cool, compressed
air filtered out alongside the stink of corruption from his brother's wound, he
caught Guilliman as he fell to the ground.

His brother's eyes opened and he appeared dazed, confused. Guilliman opened his
mouth to talk but he clamped his hand over his brother's face, dropping the Seed
into his mouth. Massaging his throat ensured it fell down into his primary stomach.

Guilliman struggled but he was adamant. "Trust me, brother," he whispered and
Guilliman slowly nodded. By then the footsteps of hundreds of Astartes had reached
him and within moments they surrounded him, bolters aimed and ready to fire with
but a word. Many saw the pod opened, their primogenitor on the floor, eyes closed,
and assumed the worst, fingers tightening on triggers.

Cato Sicarius, Chapter Master of the Ultramarines since the death of Calgar against
the Tyranids during the Battle for Macragge, stared at him, power sword activated.

"Why have you done this? Why kill our lord? You, who were once so close to him?"
There was such anger and confusion in the Space Marine's voice.

Before he could respond another voice spoke. "He did what was necessary, my son."
The entire temple chamber went silent. He turned around, a tired smile across his
face as he saw the wound dealt by a Nurgle-infested weapon closing, leaving nothing
but a scar. The corruption had leaked out on the floor and without a host to keep
it alive, it dried and ceased to live. The Seed had worked and Roboute Guilliman
now walked among the living once again.

As Guilliman rose, the assembled Ultramarines instinctively knelt, even those clad
in Tactical Dreadnought armour now able to move since the disruptor discs had burnt
themselves out.

Guilliman surveyed his sons for a moment, before turning to look at him. He noted
that his brother's stare lingered on his silver-streaked hair then looked at his
face, seeing the scars and signs of stress the burden of duty had put there.

"Leman," spoke the Lord of Ultramar, "thank you."

Organisation-

Long before the Codex Astartes was penned, the Ultramarines were regarded as one of
the most organised and balanced Legions in the Imperium. While some like the World
Eaters favoured Assault Companies, and the Death Guard favoured non-mechanised
infantry assaults, the XIII combined aspects of many of their cousin Legions which
allowed for highly adaptable methods of war not only from a Chapter standpoint but
also all the way down to individual squads.

After the Heresy and Scouring, Guilliman penned the Codex Imperialis to reform and
consolidate the Imperial government in the wake of the chaotic years that followed,
but more importantly to the Legiones Astartes, the Avenging Son created the Codex
Astartes that saw their massive galaxy-conquering brotherhoods divided into the
smaller and less threatening Chapters. While Guilliman had desired to make the
Chapters a thousand Astartes strong, he was convinced by Perturabo and Horus that
this was insufficient and that Chapters would be easily cut off and destroyed if
they numbered so few. Guilliman reluctantly agreed, thus seeing that the Adeptus
Astartes Chapters field five thousand battle-brothers, though some field
significantly less and other significantly more.

The modern Ultramarines Chapter of course stringently follows the Codex, fielding
ten companies of five hundred Space Marines, with the companies then broken up into
cohorts (called platoons by many Chapters, especially the Iron Warriors and their
Successors) of one hundred brothers then furthermore into squads of ten. The
Chapter prefers to deploy its companies as a whole unit, not to be easily divided
and doled out, but there have been exceptions to this rule before, most notably
during the Badab War when several cohorts of the Ultramarines Sixth Company were
deployed as the entirety of Sixth Company was unable to join due to prior
commitments.

Though the Codex was meant as a thesis on war, philosophy, and organisation, the
Ultramarines and many of their Successors and even other Codex-compliant Chapters
have long viewed Guilliman's magnum opus as a holy work and therefore any deviance
from it would be seen as lack of faith in the primarch at the very least and near-
heretical at the worst. This strict adherence to the Codex has caused some
discomfort in the Resurrected Primarch, who has begun to take steps to encourage
his sons to develop their own tactical and philosophical thoughts and that constant
reform and evolution of the Codex is necessary for it to remain relevant. Guilliman
has pointed at the Tyranid Veterans as a prime example of this.

Aside from the Chapter's battle-brothers, the Battle-King of Macragge also uses
mortal forces in great numbers. There is the Ultramar Auxilia which are effectively
Guard regiments recruited from Ultramar and on permanent station there, only
deploying outside the Realm whenever the Chapter Master or primarch command it so.
Within Ultramar itself there is the Praecental Guard, the mortal law enforcement
that ensures Imperial and Ultramar law are preserved and that peace, order and
stability reign among the populace. Rarely spoken aloud of, but nonetheless there
are the Vigil Opertii who act as the secret police who hunt down any suspected
traitors. Though not gifted with unlimited power and reach that the Inquisition
boasts, the Vigil Opertii is nonetheless a powerful organisation very loyal to the
Ultramarines and their Realm.

Tetrarchs

During the Great Crusade, the Tetrarchs of Ultramar were four legionnaires who
acted akin to Sector Governors that would come into usage during the Imperial
Reformation. These four Astartes were considered above the Legion's Chapter Masters
and answered to Guilliman and Guilliman alone. Each ruled a vitally important world
within the Five Hundred Worlds and were bulwarks of morale and fortitude during the
Shadow War.

After the Heresy saw the death of all four tetrarchs and Ultramar's voluntary
reduction to a tenth of its former size, Guilliman decided to retire the position
but since his return the Lord of Ultramar has reinstated the rank, though their
responsibilities and influence are greatly reduced, acting more akin to ceremonial
commanders and diplomats rather than their Great Crusade-version.

Combat Doctrine-

Ever since the earliest days of being ruled by the Thirteenth Son, the Ultramarines
have maintained a well-balanced and highly flexible combat doctrine, adaptable to
countless scenarios. These were codified in the Codex Astartes and have formed the
basis of the Ultramarines Chapter methods of war for ten millennia.

A noteworthy facet of Ultramarine military methodology is the concepts of

theoretical and practical which encourages each and every Ultramarine to develop
predictive preventatives and reactive strategies to fully grasp evolving military
situations so as to better adapt and overcome any obstacles the Astartes face.

Homeworld-

While Macragge is the undisputed capital of Ultramar and home of Roboute Guilliman,
it is not the single recruiting world of the Ultramarines. From across the Realm of
Ultramar the Chapter recruits its Initiates, from the Cavern World of Calth to the
Forge World of Konor the Ultima reigns supreme alongside the Imperial Aquila.

During the Great Crusade and the Fulgrimian Heresy the Realm numbered a little over
five hundred worlds but since the Imperial Reformation it was largely dismantled,
with only fifty worlds retaining the rights, responsibilities, and privileges of
being an Ultramar world.

Macragge itself is a mountainous world of breath taking beauty and biting winds.
Home of great industry, art and culture, Macragge has remained a constant beacon of
progress and civilisation in an empire drowning in the tides of war.

Beliefs-

Unlike some of their fellow Chapters, the Ultramarines and a majority of their
Successors do not view base Mankind as inherently inferior or as weak masses to be
ignored or dictatorially lorded over, rather they see Space Marines first as the
protectors of the species and then as rulers a prime example being their governance
of the Ultramar Realm and act as the standard to which any Astartes Chapter that
governs over mortals must learn from, of which many do.

Gene-seed-
The gene-seed of the Ultramarines has long been known as the purest amongst the
Adeptus Astartes, a fact of which they are immensely proud of. As a result of their
genetic stability and purity, as well as the heavy losses suffered by th Loyal
Legions suffered during the Heresy, Guilliman was able to rebuild his Legion fairly
quickly and when the Codex Astartes was put into effect the Ultramarines produced
more Successors than the other Loyalist Legions. As a result the amount of Imperial
Space Marines that bear the gene-seed of Roboute Guilliman is estimated to be
around twenty-five to thirty percent of the Adeptus Astartes in existence by M41.

Battlecry-

'We March for Macragge,' and 'For the Emperor' are the two most common battle-cries
used by the Ultramarines Chapter, both having been in use since the Great Crusade.

Author's Note: Hey, everyone! This has been long delayed and for that I apologize,
but I am proud to present to you the Ultramarines Index. Let me know what your
thoughts were. Thank you all for the support!