Two weeks.
It had been two weeks since the strike cruiser 'Righteous Fury' had encountered and subsequently destroyed a Chaos vessel, and a few minutes ago, it had moored at a shipyard above Macragge for repairs and refitting.

Marneus Augustus Calgar, Lord of Macragge, was having a look at the battle report of that encounter again. All told, a glorious victory; the enemy had been destroyed and second and seventh had only suffered minimum casualties - a typical Sicarius engagement.
There was just a single aspect that was unusual, downright peculiar:

One of second company's Space Marines, Brother Varus, had been listed 'missing in action'.
From the reports, Calgar knew that he had been on board the enemy ship as its warp drive had detonated, so how could he be 'missing' instead of 'killed'? Of course, he had asked Captain Sicarius exactly that question, but instead of giving a straight answer, he had asked to meet him in person.
So, Sicarius was now on his way to Calgar, to give a detailed report about this incident.

Calgar used the time until his arrival to refresh his knowledge about Brother Varus. He had for the most part been an average Ultramarine, always doing his duty with dedication, courage and honor. There had been, however, two incidents where Brother Varus had attracted attention:

The first had been well before he had become a 'brother'. He had been a 'neophyte' when he had had to pass the obligatory 'ork stronghold'-test. A simulation with five Ultramarines on the ground, five more on a cruiser, waiting to be summoned by drop pod, against a thoroughly fortified ork stronghold.
Now, Ultramarines were of course fantastic warriors, but the chances of winning this scenario were zero.
Literally.
It was a no-win scenario to let the neophytes fight to the end. No matter what you did, it was designed to be unwinnable.

Then came Neophyte Varus. He had asked his supervisor, Sergeant Seneca, if there were explosives onboard the cruiser. Seneca had thought he wanted to equip the second team of Ultramarines with explosives - not a bad tactic - and had answered in the affirmative.
But instead of doing so, Varus had ordered the Space Marines to leave the drop pod and stuffed it to the brim with said explosives. Then, he had launched it directly at the fortress.

It had worked. Since the fortress - like all real ork fortresses - contained lots of ammunition, it was quite an impressive display.
More impressive was the fact that Varus had won this unwinnable simulation.
Less impressive was that he had done so with disregard of the Codex Astartes, as using drop pods as guided bombs was not seen as a valid tactic. Thanks to the advocacy of Seneca, who had 'blamed' his out-of-the-box thinking to his relative inexperience and vouched for him, he was spared from being demoted to a chapter serv and put on probation.

While the Ultramarines were adamant in their fidelity to the Codex, Varus had still just been a neophyte, too young to be completely familiar with all aspects of it; he had no way of knowing that this tactic was invalid.
That had just been an excuse, of course, but Calgar had decided to run with it, especially since Chief Librarian Tigurius had suggested giving Varus another chance.

Varus had gotten a few extra lessons regarding the Codex, passed his probation without problems and the case had officially been closed.

The second incident had been much later, during his first assignment as a member of the second company. They had joined forces with the Tau to fight Chaos Space Marines. One of the Tau ethereals - obviously a young and/or stupid one - had been a little too bold and was suddenly under attack by a Chaos raptor. Brother Varus had saved his life and killed the traitor marine.

Calgar had gotten a letter of appreciation from this ethereal, in which the alien told him that he owed the Ultramarines his life and that he would repay this dept someday.

Now, Varus was 'missing'. Calgar was really interested in that story.

There was a knock on the door and one of his guards came in.

"Lord Calgar, Chief Librarian Tigurius requests an audience," he said.

Varro Tigurius wanted to talk to him? Well, Calgar expected Sicarius any minute now, but of course he would not deny his old friend that request.

"Send him in," he said.

The guard left and Tigurius entered the room and knelt down. He wore his elaborate armor and had his force staff in his hand, the same staff that was supposed to once have belonged to Malcador the Sigillite himself.

"Lord Calgar," the Librarian greeted him,
"thank you for receiving me at such a short notice."

"Anytime, Varro. Now rise, my friend, and tell me why you wanted to see me. I must ask you to make it short, though, since I'm expecting Cato any moment now."

Calgar had never been too much of a fan of protocol. He was revered, yes, but in his opinion, he was still just a Space Marine, so he tried to keep things a bit less stuffy whenever he could. Unfortunately, he did not often have an opportunity to do so.

"I know, my Lord, that's why I came here. I wanted to ask your permission to attend the audience."

"Permission granted. Would you like to tell me why you are taking interest in that matter?"

"I would like to reveal that at a later time, my Lord."

Calgar smiled. That was quite typical of Varro. He knew his friend well enough, however, to know that there was probably something important going on, and that Varro wanted to be sure before telling his thoughts.
The chapter master nodded and the chief librarian walked into the shadows next to a large pillar.

Another knock at the door, and the guard came in again.

"Lord Calgar, Captain Sicarius, Sergeant Seneca and Lady Angren request an audience," he said.

Huh? Sicarius, okay, Seneca would also be valuable as he was the last one who had seen Varus, but why did he bring the Righteous Fury's navigator?

"Send them in," Calgar answered.

The door opened and the three entered the room.
Sicarius wore his richly ornamented power armor, the 'Mantle of the Suzerain ', his helmet at his hip.
Seneca also wore power armor, a lot less ornamented of course, and was actually walking on his own legs.
Lady Angren wore a long, silver, plain dress. A silver tiara covered her third eye and kept her long, white hair out of her face.

They knelt down before him and Sicarius said:

"Lord Macragge, thank you for this audience."

"Get up, Captain Sicarius, and tell me what is going on with Brother Varus," Calgar ordered.

Usually, Calgar used Sicarius' first name, but with a non-Ultramarine in the room, even if it was the navigator, he used the more formal appellation.

Sicarius and his companions rose.

"My Lord, you already know the official report. Brother Varus went missing in action during our fight on the Chaos vessel.
Now, I would like you to hear a detailed report from Sergeant Seneca, as he was the last one who saw Brother Varus."

Calgar nodded and Seneca stepped forward.

"So, the Apothecaries were able to reattach your leg?" Calgar asked with a small smile.

"Yes, my Lord. I owe my leg to Brother Varus," Seneca answered.

"Tell me what happened."

Seneca told Calgar everything, from being separated from the companies, to the fight with the daemon, to his escape.

"Really, Brother Varus acted in the best tradition of the Ultramarines. He should be mentioned in our chronicles. Unfortunately, that does not explain why he is listed 'missing' instead of 'dead'," Calgar noted.

Now Sicarius stepped forward and said:

"My Lord, that is why I brought Lady Angren to this audience. She has seen something that explains Brother Varus' current status."

Now things got interesting.

"Lady Angren, please tell me what you have seen," Calgar asked the navigator.

She stepped forward and began talking:

"My Lord, we were preparing for jumping into the Warp when I saw... something.
Well, my Lord, you must know that I am usually able to see a teleportation in the Warp. It is like a glowing tunnel linking two places in real space through the Immaterium.
I have seen such a tunnel as Brother Varus was about to teleport back to our ship, but then, there was something like a... golden bolt."

"A golden bolt? In the Immaterium?"

"Yes, my Lord. It hit the Warp tunnel and sped away."

Calgar bent a little forward.

"You don't want to tell me that Brother Varus was killed by a teleporter accident caused by a Warp anomaly, do you?" he asked.

"No, my Lord, not at all," Lady Angren said,
"I don't think he was killed, and I don't think it was a 'normal' anomaly, either."

"So, what makes you think it was a 'anomalous' anomaly?"

"It changed its course, my Lord."

"Repeat."

"The anomaly changed its course. I think it picked up Brother Varus and took him away."

Calgar leaned back again.
Well, that was some news. One of his men, abducted by an unidentified golden bolt during teleportation.

"Were you able to track it?" he asked.

"It was very fast and very difficult to follow, but I could determine its general direction. It headed south west, and upward, into the intergalactic void," the navigator told him.

Calgar was deep in thought now.
This story did not really make sense, but he knew the navigator was trustworthy. So, who would want to abduct an Ultramarine? In such a complicated way?

"My Lord," Sicarius said and interrupted Calgar's thoughts.

"Captain?"

"I would like to make a proposal."

Calgar had not really a problem imagining what Sicarius wanted.

"You want to follow the course we have and see if you find anything, don't you?"

"Yes, my Lord. We have to find out where Brother Varus was teleported to, and who is responsible for it."

Calgar smiled slightly.

"I would like to approve of your proposal, but I can't. We cannot send a ship and crew into the void to look for a single marine. I wish we could, but we are too short at numbers for this. We need everyone to fight the enemies of mankind all around us."

Sicarius nodded, but it was easy to see that he was not really content. Well, Calger wasn't content with this situation, either. He really would have liked to start an expedition to solve this conundrum and retrieve Brother Varus, but his responsibility as chapter master told him that that was impossible.

"At the moment, we can only hope that Brother Varus is safe, and that we will find the means to start such an expedition sometime later," he added.

"I don't think anyone would expend this much effort just to kill him," Lady Angren opined,
"I think he was taken somewhere for a reason, perhaps to a remote system or base in the void."

"Full of abhorrent xenos," Sicarius said with disgust.

"Well," Seneca remarked after a little pause,
"I think he will prevail, even if he was casted into the middle of such creatures.
If they attack him, he will kill them, with his bare fists, if necessary. And he still has my chainsword.
If they should be too intimidated to attack him... well, his hate of xenos has never been too fanatical, he has always been willing to 'work' with them, or use them to his advance, when the need arose."

"Like his first assignment as a member of Second," Sicarius said, then he sighed,
"he has always been a little... 'unconventional'."

"You mean the ork stronghold test?" Seneca asked.

"Among other things."

"What 'other things'?" Calgar wanted to know.

There was no data about abnormal behavior concerning Brother Varus.

"Well, my Lord," Sicarius said,
"usually, a battle-brother wants to be promoted to sergeant and a sergeant wants to become a captain."

"And a captain wants to become chapter master. I'm familiar with this fact." Calgar interjected drily.

Sicarius took a breath.

"Well, usually they do, my Lord," he admitted,
"now, Brother Varus was a little different in that regard."

"Did he not fulfill his duties?" Calgar asked.

"Oh, he did. His performance has always been immaculate. He was probably not a champion, but certainly a reliable and competent Space Marine. That, and his ability to improvise if necessary led me to request his transfer to my company. I never regretted that."

"Then, Captain Sicarius, how was he 'different'?"

"My Lord, he did not pursuit promotion. He was content with protecting mankind as an Ultramarine."

Calgar had to stifle a laugh. Of course, Sicarius found that strange.

"An Ultramarine who is not greedy for promotion? Sounds like leadership material," he quipped.

Sicarius looked a little confused now.
Calgar loved to tease his wannabe successor a bit now and then. He did the same to Captain Agemman of first company, by the way.
Though, if he was honest, the term 'wannabe' was too derogative. Sicarius was a very competent captain, and he would most likely become his successor once Calgar died. Malicious gossip had it that Sicarius just waited for Calgar to finally die, but that did him injustice. He was glad about every mission Calgar survived; he was ambitious, but more than that, he was honorable.

"Well, my Lord, if we find him again, we can promote him to sergeant at the next opportunity. If he is still alive, that is. Since he is cut off from any kind of supplies, everything depends on his ability to kill or frighten the aliens he possibly meets into submission," Sicarius opined.

"What if those aliens are genuinely friendly?" a voice asked out of the shadows.

Varro Tigurius. He stepped into the light and waited.

"Genuinely friendly xenos? Excuse me, Chief Librarian, but is this matter not too serious for jokes?" Sicarius asked.

"What if those aliens are genuinely friendly?" Tigurius repeated,
"how do you think Brother Varus would react?"

The following silence lasted a few seconds, then Seneca cautiously opined:

"It is difficult to tell, based on such a hypothetical situation, but I don't think Brother Varus would slaughter them just because they are xenos. He would need a reason beyond that to kill them."

"I have to agree," Sicarius said slowly,
"his motivation has always been to protect mankind. If we really run with the hypothetical situation of friendly xenos, and if they furthermore can credibly prove that they are no threat to mankind..."

"Brother Varus might get along with them," Tigurius finished.

"As far as the Codex allows it," Seneca remarked,
"rather than kill them, he would probably try to use them to find a way to return to Ultramar. He might even help our hypothetical friendly xenos against other, regular xenos who are a threat to mankind, as both actions are allowed by the Codex."

"Using xenos to your benefit and joining forces against a common foe," Sicarius added.

Of course Calgar knew the corresponding entries in the Codex. Using them in such a way was... a little bold, but - in his opinion - still justifiable.

Well, that really was a strange situation the librarian had described. Now, it was time for answers.

"Tell us, Chief Librarian, how did you get the idea of genuinely friendly xenos?" Calgar demanded,
"that's quite farfetched. According to our experience, aliens always have an inferior motive, even if they pretend to be friendly."

Tigurius made a dramatic pause to give important to his words, then he told them:

"It was some time ago. I was having a look at the aspirants and as I walked past one of them, I had a very unusual sensation."

"What kind of sensation? Could you be more exact?" Calgar asked.

"Unfortunately, not really, my Lord," Tigurius answered,
"it's difficult to put into words. First, I just sensed a strong determination. Then, I was... sort of... grazed by a wing of fate."

Poetic. And confusing.

"When did that happen? Who was this... Varus? Was that aspirant Varus?"

"That aspirant was Varus, my Lord. I decided to test him by letting him fight Sergeant Seneca. Varus' performance was average, but he showed the extreme determination I had sensed never to surrender to an enemy of mankind - even if it was just a simulated enemy."

"That is undoubtedly interesting, but how did that give you the idea of friendly xenos?"

"It was the incident that followed immediately after the fight. As Varus was taken care of, I thought I saw something."

"Something? Don't keep us in suspense, Tigurius!"

"I saw it just for the fraction of a second.
It was like a echo of the Warp, carried over through time and space. It was a shape - two shapes, to be exact, slightly darker than the surrounding air. One shape could have been a Space Marine, the other was smaller... about half the size."

"What was it?"

"I am not sure, my Lord, but I don't think it was humanoid. "

Calgar stared at him. So did the others.

"Come again?" Calgar asked.

"This second shape was not humanoid and a little less than one and a half meters tall. "

"You have not given intruder alert? You have not even told anyone?"

"I have thoroughly scanned the area, with an auspex as well as with my psionic abilities. Furthermore, I have checked every surveillance system on Macragge. No conspicuous recordings. There was nothing, and there has never been anything. It was just an echo, displaced by time and space."

Silence. That was something to think about.

"Excuse me for speaking without permission, but do you think that this creature was some kind of xeno psyker and that it was an attempt by Brother Varus to contact us?" Lady Angren asked.

"Something alike," Tigurius answered.

"Even if all of that is true, why do you think those xenos are genuinely friendly?" Sicarius wanted to know.

"Because as I looked at the shape, as short as the time was, it was as if I looked directly into the alien's eyes, and I could pick up a single emotion from this echo."

"What emotion?" Calgar asked.

"Genuine, benevolent care."

Silence, again. This time, it took much longer until it was broken.

"You really should have told me," Calgar said.

"At the time, I thought it to be nothing more than a delusion, wrought by the energies of the Warp," Tigurius told him.

"Then, what made you change your mind?"

"Last night, I remembered this incident in my dreams, and since Brother Varus went missing, I found that the pieces suddenly fit together."

Calgar took a deep breath.

"It is still a bit farfetched, don't you think? "

"I know, my Lord, but somehow I know that it is at least close to the truth."

Calgar thought about that, then he said:

"I have always done well listening to you, Tigurius. Let's assume you are right, Brother Varus has encountered genuinely friendly xenos, what do you suggest we do? We still can't just fly into the void to look for him."

"No, my Lord, we can't, at least not at the moment. But I am sure not too far in the future a time will come when we can send a small expedition, and we will be rewarded greatly."

"Second company will conduct this mission," Sicarius volunteered immediately.

"We shall see, captain, we shall see," Calgar answered.

If he was honest, ha had to admit that he wanted to conduct this expedition himself, but as a chapter master, he would not get the opportunity. He could not leave the Ultramarines for that long. Impossible.

"You will keep everything you heard strictly confidential," he ordered.

The Space Marines and the navigator nodded. Calgar continued:

"Chief Librarian, I want you to stay vigilant. If Brother Varus does indeed attempt to contact us, or this xeno psyker shows up, I want to know that immediately."

"Of course, my Lord," Tigurius confirmed.

"Return to your posts now. May the blessings of the eternal Emperor be with you."

They bowed and left the room. Calgar was alone again. He thought about everything he had heard.
Who or what was this psyker? Was that bigger shape really Brother Varus? What could have casted him out of the galaxy?
Well, Calgar had an idea concerning this last question, but it was too bold to voice.

He had not enough empirical data to form a hypothesis. He just was sure of one thing:
Having to live among xenos was at best... annoying.