Chapter 1: The Call

Inside the Battle Barge, the Burning Fire, of a certain Chapter, the Astropath received an incoming message. The Astropath incurred and listened to the message. With enough information, he called upon a servitor to transfer the message to the Chapter Master. The skull servitor flew across the command bridge, scurrying into the living quarters of their Chapter Master. The Chapter Master was facing the wall opposite the door, kneeling as he muttered words of prayer.

"Chapter Master, we have received a message." The servitor spoke. The Chapter Master stopped, his voice falling silent. The Chapter Master stood up and faced the lone servitor. His bulky armor was Salamander green. His helmet was not on him right now, revealing a bald charcoal black head and red onyx eyes glaring at it.

"What is the message about?" The Chapter Master asked.

"We have received a message from the sector of Baal. This message is for many to receive and is spread wide. They ask for help."

"The Blood Angels?"

"Yes, the Tyranid Hive Fleet Leviathan is breaking through the Cryptan Shield."

"Hm, so it will break."

"Yes, Chapter Master Dante seeks help."

"Then the Fireborn Destroyers shall answer." The Chapter Master answered. He looked behind him, where the image of the Emperor lay. His golden visage glared into his eyes and his soul. He seeks for him to help his fellow brothers in the defense of their homeworld. The Emperor wanted them to fight off the Xenos that threatened their people. "Tell, them that Chapter Master of the Fireborn Destroyers, Odarius Koal, answers."

"Yes, Chapter Master." The Servitor left the living quarters of Odarius Koal. He then looked to his helmet near his side and promptly took it and wore it as a sign of his readiness.

"Captain Maladictus, can you hear me?" Odarius used his vox caster to speak to his 1st Company Captain. At first, he could only hear vox static, but before a second or two could pass, he heard an answer.

"Yes, Captain. I hear you loud and clear. What seems to be the problem?" His captain answered with a gruff voice that would rival that of Rogal Dorn. His words were filled with wariness and anticipation.

"Ready the men, Maladictus." Odarius replied, he headed to another side of his room where a weapon was located. The weapon was merely a storm bolter and a sword made of steel, a remnant of a Terra long gone, used nearly ten thousand years ago during the betrayal of many brothers. He grasped the hilt of it with his left hand. 

"Why, sir? Are we fighting more Tyranids in the sector?" Maladictus asked curiously.

"No, not in this sector, Captain." He lifted the sword, the tip just at level with his eyes. "More Tyranids are in Baal, there, we shall fight."

"...yes, sir." Maladictus spoke with a hesitant voice. Odarius exited his living quarters, the door automatically opening as he went. Inside the Command Bridge were all of the officers, messengers, and mechanics of the ship. All of them turned to face him and made the sign of the Aquila before returning to operating the Battle Barge.

"Officer Mahrmoud." His voice blared from his helmet. It gained the attention of a certain blond-haired male with a fair skin color and a prosthetic left eye that gave off a red light. The man quickly rushed to Odarius' side and stood tall.

"What is needed, sir?" Mahrmoud asked.

"Tell the other ships to make ready for warp travel. We shall make haste to Baal Secundus." Odarius ordered with a hasty demeanor. Mahrmoud was lost in confusion as the hasty request made him stumble and quickly reiterate the Chapter Master's orders to the crew.

"Men! Ready the Gellar fields! Make haste for warp travel. Send a message to the other ships! Make haste to Baal Secundus." Mahrmoud ordered the men who readily went and did the job to their capable extent. He then turned to Odarius again and politely asked. "Sir, I must ask. Why Baal Secundus? Don't we have enough Tyranids here in the Cryptus System?"

"The Swarm Hunters will take care of them. Now, we must venture to the land of our Brothers. I fear Leviathan is coming." Odarius replied. "And I fear that this battle will dictate their fate and the fate of the Imperium."

Maladictus oversaw the whole ten companies' preparations. His eyes inside the Mark 7 Helm were spread far and wide. He watched as the Neophytes readied up the vehicles and the tech-priests muttering their prayers to the machine spirit. The Reserve companies were lining up based on their Company Number. The Battle Companies and Maladictus' 1st Company were resting near the Valkyries, their armor already worn. By his side was Hyran Pomm, the Chaplain of the 6th, his ashen black armor and skull helm imposed a psychological warfare upon the Neophytes, traitors, and, heretics.

"The Preparations are nearly complete." Hyran informed Maladictus over a private vox channel. "The companies from the other battle barges are also nearly finished."

"Good, have the tech-priests and tech marines started on the awakening?"

"Not yet." Hyran spoke before turning his head toward his brother. "Brother, are we really going to Baal?"

"That is what the Chapter Master told me over the vox channel." Maladictus turned to the skull-faced chaplain. "We are ordered to aid in the defense of Baal from the Tyranid threat."

"And who has answered the call as well?" 

"Blood Angels successor chapters. The Flesh Tearers, and more are coming." 

"This dire of a situation then."

"Yes, Commander Dante is calling his brothers home." Maladictus answered, and not long after, he received a call from the Chapter Master himself. "I have to go, Brother, there are matters I must attend to."

"Go, I'll babysit the men." The Chaplain joked as the 1st Company Captain left. "Oi! Neophytes! Quit complaining!"

Maladictus walked through the hallways of the Burning Fire. Each hallway was long and wide. The walls were filled with dust and dirt due to the amount of pipes in the ship. As long as it was, he knew most of the locations and memorized the schematics of the ship. There, just in front of the door going to the command center was the Chapter Master waiting for him. 

"Sir, you asked for my presence?" Maladictus, in the private vox channel, asked. 

"Yes." The Chapter Master's voice was filled with a grimace. 

"Anything wrong, sir?" He asked.

"No."

"Then why is your voice faint?"

"Tell me, do you know the names of every Marine we have in our Chapter Fleet?" An odd question asked by the Chapter Master. It puzzled the Captain at first, it was very odd for him to ask a question like that. 

"No, sir. I only remember some names from the Battle Companies."

"Do you remember the old 1st Captain?"

"Aderius, sir. He served with you before you and he was placed in this Chapter, hundreds of years ago."

"And you were his Lieutenant."

"Yes."

"During the battle on Tarsis, he commanded some of the assigned squads from the 1st, including you. There, he would meet his end, and you succeeded him after his death."

"...yes" He remembered what happened on Tarsis Ultra that day. He remembered his old captain, Aderius, fighting against a Norn Emissary to give time for the others. He remembered how his left chest got pierced by one of its appendages. But he did not falter, he fought the Emissary again and again until both of his hearts failed. He remembered how the Body of his captain was lost due to the overwhelming amount of Tyranids.

"He was a good man, he was my lieutenant, then my first company captain. He led his company to greatness. Unfortunately, that's where it will differ for you now."

"What?" Maladictus was confused, was he being demoted? Surely not after all he did to earn it. After all that he's been through. Right?

"Maladictus Earn, you will not be the one to lead your company to greatness. But you will lead the Battle Companies to greatness." 

He couldn't believe what he had heard from Odarius. He was promoted by Odarius to become a commanding Officer of the Battle Companies. It was a great thing to hear, but that left some of him torn.

"What about the 1st Company, sir?"

"I shall lead them once more. Just like Ichar IV. Just like the olden days."