Chapter 5: Memories of Past

Maladictus oversaw the transportation of the Battle Companies in his command. They, along with helping servitors, and enginseers, brought out crates of ammunition, vehicles and weapons into the vast fields filled with more ships, troops and more. The reserve companies were being overseen by the Chief Librarian and the Grand Chaplain. 

Impulsors, scout bikes, Rhinos, Razorbacks and servo turrets that were available were being brought down from the Thunderhawks. Although there had been issues here and there along the operation, it was going smoothly as no rowdy marine in their chapter had been making problems.

Though, that was not his primary concern for now. For as long as they've been down on Baal, other space marines were looking at them with a disdainful stare. Those long and silent stares went noticed by Maladictus and the dreadnoughts. Their looks made them felt foreign. It made them feel different.

But indeed they were. They came from the Salamander's gene-seed and them, the Blood Angels. There definitely would have been something like this once they were down in Baal. Yet the feeling was something he was prepared for. Different Chapters of Blood Angels, though they all had that kind of stare.

He felt ostracized. The Chapter felt ostracized. 

"Hello, Little Lieutenant Maladictus." Phystroc greeted as he appeared, stomping from behind him. "It has been a while since we last met."

"Ah, hello, Great Phystroc. It has indeed been a long time since we have last seen each other." Maladictus smiled. He now had someone to keep him company.

"Say, where is Brother Aderius? Is he not accompanying the 1st Company? I have not seen him since reawakening." Phystroc curiously asked, his voice reeked of innocence. Maladictus' smile quickly turned to a frown which was hiding beneath his helm.

"I am sorry to tell you. But he died on Tarsis Ultra." Maladictus said with a painful voice, remembering it.

"Oh…" Phystroc simply said. Silence reigned over the two as none dared to speak out until the old dreadnought started. "This is…sad news to me, little brother. I guess, you are the Company Captain now?"

"Yes…"

"Then why are you not with the 1st Company but overseeing the movement of the battle companies?"

"The Chapter Master promoted me to being the Commander of the Battle Companies, brother."

"I see." The old dreadnought roared. "So he has seen your abilities to lead?"

"I do not possess that ability that much to be fully capable."

"Do not lie to yourself, brother."

"But I am merely speaking a fact?"

"Nonesense!"

"What makes you say that, great brother?"

"I remember Armageddon. The second war. I remembered how we fought against the Orks. It was a brutal war. Chapter Master Tu'Shan stationed us at Hades Hive, and when it was attacked, we were ordered to defend it. It was hell on that planet. Not one would find peace in it. The Old Man was a brilliant commissar though, but hell does not fear brilliance. And it was there, where Aderius would be renowned. There, on the field of dead men, marine, and Xenos, he would kill an Ork Warboss in a one-on-one fight. He was nicknamed, 'Bruteslayer' for that. But the thing was…he was not known as a skilled fighter. Not in any way imaginable. He was a sharpshooter as far as we knew. But when it came down to him and the warboss. He did what he had to."

"He never told me any of that."

"He was an awful storyteller, little brother. Do not count on him to relay you the story."

"But he did not ever tell me he had a nickname…"

"He keeps to himself. That is what I can say. He was a good soldier. And a good person."

"Yes…"

"Such a shame though. When I saw his figure atop the building with the Orkboss' head on his right hand, power sword in his left, screaming at the running orks. Above the smog and lasfire he stood. Above the orks that ran away. Many thought of it as a symbol on how he rose through the ranks and became the strongest fighter, I doubt it. But I did think he would live forever. His might. His skill. I thought I'd die first before him…"

"I thought too…but he sacrificed himself…for us during that fight."

"A nice guy, he was. Always helpful. Cheerful. Never wanted you to give up on yourself."

"Now, I can never repay him for helping me when I was just a Neophyte…"

"He would have wanted you to become better than him. Just as he did with Odarius. And he knows that you can be a better leader than him. The one thing I know that Aderius would have thought you was adapting to the environment. That was what made him what he was during Armageddon after all."

Maladictus smiled again. Talking to Phystroc was nice and calming. He was working too much to oversee the entirety of the operation, overthinking every little detail and giving himself anxiety from it. But now, thanks to Phystroc, he was now back to his calm state. Talking about his old captain gave him memories of his time being trained by him.

"Failure is a fundamental part of success, boy. You do not learn success, but you learn the failure of your own actions. Achieving success is the accumulation of learning those past failures."

That was something the old 1st Captain said to him whenever he failed in his training. He was neither disappointed nor angered at his failures. He was only disappointed whenever one never learned from their own mistakes. That trait was something that the others didn't quite have. Many chaplains went hard on them as aspirants. And even harder as Neophytes. So seeing how Aderius treated his men was something to behold. 

Then came the time where they were stuck in the warp for a hundred or more years where they fought against Hive Fleet Kronos and encountered Chaos Daemons. There, Maladictus would quickly rise through the ranks as a soldier and make his way into the first company where he would be Lieutenant to Captain Aderius.

His fond memories of the captain left him torn inside as he still would remember the events that unfolded during the Battle of Tarsis Ultra.