The Founding of Ordo Celestia

[Kaede45]

I, Abraham Shields, Grand Patriarch of Ordo Celestia & Supreme Grandmaster of the Auric Orders, have been asked by the Grand Archivist, Balthazar Braun, with recording the events which culminated in the founding of our grand order, Ordo Celestia.

Part 1

 

To do so, we must first begin with another man. A man called Agamemnon Caustus. Born on the world of Titan some 700 years ago, young Agamemnon was initiated into the order of the Grey Knights. His skill was impressive & by his 300th birthday he had achieved the rank of grandmaster & was given his own brotherhood to lead, the Brotherhood of Lord Caustus. Though he achievements deserve some telling, ultimately they mean nothing to our tale, save that he was considered a great asset to the inquisitors or Ordo Malleus. This would be the catalyst that would bring this Grey Knight to our homeworld of Eden.

 

Eden had appeared somewhere just outside the Sol system. The Imperium wasted no time in attempting to colonize it & sent several survey teams to scout it. Though initial reports were promising, the surveyors ran into trouble when attempting to explore the world beyond the small continent upon which they had landed. Machine spirits seemed to rebel, refusing to leave the island & attempts to force their compliance were met with tragedy. The survey teams became increasingly frustrated with their inability to reach beyond the small continent that eventually they decided to perform exterminatus upon the world.

 

Needless to say, this too failed & imperial eyewitnesses claimed that the beam was intercepted by a “beautiful & terrifying creature.” When the reports reached the inquisition, they dispatched Lord Caustus & his brotherhood to investigate & deal with what they presumed was a powerful daemon. He accepted the mission, unaware of the fate our Heavenly Father had chosen for him.

 

Agamemnon & his battle-brothers made landfall at the abandoned imperial outpost & immediately set to work getting it up & running. After about a day’s work, they were approached by something they had not anticipated. A lone dreadnaught of an old pattern no longer used. It had grey armor, with gold trim & purple highlights. Its legion number was mostly faded, though some thought they could make out the number “XI” on its shoulder. It held a great silver sword in its right hand & a large golden shield in its left. It stood just outside of range & requested to meet with Agamemnon, by name. Lord Caustus leapt into his dreadknight & marched out to meet the peculiar figure.
 

“I am Aurelious the Entombed,” the dreadnaught said, “last son of Gershom & servant of the Almighty One, the Overlord of Light. Are you the one called Agamemnon Caustus, grandmaster of the Brotherhood of Lord Caustus?”

 

“I am he.” Caustus replied. “How do you know who I am?”

 

“I was informed of your coming, more than ten thousand years ago,” the dreadnaught stated, “for your arrival was foretold by the Overlord & revealed to my Primarch, Syr Gershom Moran, forgotten son of the Emperor, Neoth.”

 

Lord Caustus was confused. He had not heard of any Primarch named Gershom.

 

”What did this prophet say of me?” Agamemnon inquired suspiciously.

 

”He said,” Aurelious began, “that you would arrive as a conqueror, blindly serving the Emperor’s so-called will, but you will be bested & willingly turn from your ways to become a servant of the Almighty Christ.”

 

This infuriated Lord Caustus. Who was this dreadnaught to tell him that he would turn traitor? Rage boiled up inside of him as he listened.

 

”I see you will not be convinced by words.” said Aurelious as he raised his sword. “Perhaps we should let our actions speak then?”

 

Lord Caustus raised his dreadknight’s sword to meet the dreadnaught’s. “Indeed.” he said. “I shall show you how foolish you are to believe that I would ever even consider betraying the Imperium!”

 

The dreadnaught spoke once more. “May God’s champion prevail.”

 

The two warriors fought. Agamemnon’s blade clashed with Aurelious’s sword & shield. They were equal in skill, but Caustus’s dreadknight was cumbersome & Aurelious disabled it with a few well placed strikes. With his dreadknight down, Agamemnon sprang from the cockpit, drew his sword & charged the dreadnaught with all his might & ferocity. He was able to best Aurelious & yanked his body from the coffin, running the corpse through with his mighty sword. The Astartes coughed as Lord Caustus held him aloft.

 

”It seems you were wrong.” He mocked. “Your so-called ‘God’ has forsaken you. His champion has failed.”

 

The corpse laughed weakly. “So confident in your ignorance,” he said between coughs, “but I stated that His champion would prevail…” he weakly pointed at Lord Caustus. “…& he has…” he sputtered before he took his last breath, his arm dropping limply at his side.

 

At this time, Agamemnon had no idea what Aurelious was talking about & he opted to cut off the corpse’s head, hanging it on his belt like a trophy. Lord Caustus then ordered that his dreadknight be repaired, posthaste, which lady Hestia, the resident techpriest, attended to. Before the day was out, his dreadknight was repaired & his forces were ready & thus they marched northward, toward the land bridge that connects the island with the mainland, accompanied by the inquisitor, Nathaniel Holt & Zauriel Weiss, the Reclusiarch of the brotherhood. Together, the strike force crossed the ten-mile land bridge, a feat attempted & failed many time by the imperial survey teams, & reached the land of Eden proper. They marched into the open field with the hamlet of Moranstead before them… & a strange figure standing at the gate.

 

The figure was another Astartes, clad in silvery armor with gold trim & purple highlights. He carried a great silver sword in his right hand & a glorious golden shield. He stood there, unmoving & quite imposing.

 

He spoke. “Agamemnon Caustus!”

 

Lord Caustus shuddered. The man’s voice was loud & stern, like a father calling out to his child. Agamemnon approached the man.

 

”Who are you?” He asked.

 

“I suppose you would not recognize me.” The man said. “We only met about a day ago.” The marine then removed his helmet & Lord Caustus was shocked at what he saw.

 

”It can’t be…” he muttered. Agamemnon reached to his belt, grabbed his latest trophy & held it up, comparing the severed head of Aurelious to the face of the marine standing before him. The Astartes was definitely younger, unblemished, having glowing blue eyes & with a long mane of golden hair, but the resemblance was definitely unmistakable. Lord Caustus could do nothing to hide the fear on his face. “…h-how? This is…” he then dropped the head & drew his sword, pointing it at the marine. “Daemon!” He shouted.

 

The Astartes did not flinch, but shook his head with disappointment. “You still cling to the lies of your order.” He said. “But I suppose I cannot fault you, for you have yet to experience humility.” With that, he assumed a fighting stance. “Come, Lord Caustus. Let us commence your next trial.”

 

Agamemnon charged Aurelious, firing several shots from his stormbolter, each shot expertly deflected by the former dreadnaught! As he got close, Agamemnon swung his sword, but as it crashed against his foe’s mighty shield it shattered! Lord Caustus quickly pointed his stormbolter in the face of Aurelious, only for him to cleave the gun from his wrist before a shot could be fired! Agamemnon then tried to punch the angelic knight, only to receive a blow to his gut so powerful that it broke his armor from the impact, knocking the wind out of him!

 

Lord Caustus fell to the ground, holding his gut. The angelic knight stood over him. “Your pride is far tougher than I expected…” he said. “But it will be broken soon.”

 

Agamemnon stumbled to his feet, giving his foe a stare of hatred & defiance. He then turned & charged into his dreadknight, activating it for combat. “I will never be broken, daemon!” He shouted. “I am a Grey Knight!”

 

With that he leveled the left plasma cannon at the marine, but before he fired, Aurelious moved, faster than anyone could see, & covered the cannon’s barrel with his shield. When it fired, the cannon exploded knocking the dreadknight back & destroying most of its arm! Lord Caustus then swung the sword in his mech’s right hand, but Aurelious parried it with his own before breaking it with his hand! Agamemnon began to spin up the gattling cannon on his right, but before he could fire a single shot, Aurelious cut off the dreadknight’s arm at the shoulder! He then cut its right leg at the knee & knocked the towering mech to the ground, before charging at Agamemnon & pulling him out of the cockpit with ease!

 

The Grey Knight stared into the Angel’s eyes, still defiant, yet his resolve was starting to break. “Strike me down!” He said angrily. Aurelious just stared at him blankly through his helmet. Agamemnon grew frustrated. “DO IT!” He screamed. But Aurelious simply tossed Lord Caustus towards his strike force, landing in front of the Inquisitor & the Reclusiarch. They went to help him up, but the Lord pushed them away, his dignity & pride having been wounded deeply. As he struggled to his feet, he shouted “What are you all waiting for? OPEN FIRE!!!”

 

With that, every Grey Knight, Stormtrooper, dreadnaught, requisitioned soldier & officer with a gun all opened fire upon the angelic being. The sounds of Bolters, lasfire, plasma & cannon fire rang out across the field, but every shot was met by the silver blade or golden shield of Aurelious as he gracefully moved at a speed incomprehensible even to the Astartes, deflecting & slicing every bit of ammunition! Shells did not explode, they were vaporized as they met his blade! No shot made its mark on the target! Even the Vindicare Assassin’s shots were stopped! Slowly, the battlefield fell silent as one by one, the soldiers stopped firing, staring in awe at the spectacle happening before them.

 

When all was finally silent, Aurelious raised his sword to the sky & it extended into a beam of light that pierced the heavens! He then wound up & swung the enormous beam from left to right across the battlefield, striking every soldier, every vehicle, every unit in the inquisitor’s retinue! Each & every soldier & vehicle was touched by the blade, their bodies began to glow. As it hit Agamemnon, he felt a sharp pain, then everything went white…

 

Agamemnon was blinded by the brilliant light. His eyes began to adjust & he saw that he was not on the field of battle anymore. He began to see that the floor he stood upon was a brilliant golden hue. It was smooth & beautiful! He then noticed pillars of a shining pearlescent white, extending from the ground to the sky! He could see stars around him, literal stars!

 

Then he saw an indescribable being with the appearance of jasper & carnelian seated upon a glorious throne with a rainbow with the appearance of an emerald around it. Yet, ‘twas not the Emperor he saw on that golden throne, but someone… greater! Above Him were several seraphim who sang, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was & is & is to come!”

 

At this, Agamemnon Caustus fell prostrate, his face on the floor, towards the Lord & he said, “Woe is me! I am lost, I am unclean & my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts!”
 

Then he felt a gentle caress on his head. As he looked up, he saw one who looked like a son of man clothed with a long robe with a golden sash around his chest. He had hair like wool, white as snow & his eyes were like flames, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace. Agamemnon looked into His face which was like the sun shining in full strength. Then He spoke with a voice like a roar of many waters, saying, “Behold, I have bled for you! Your guilt is taken away & your sin atoned for.”

 

Then the Lord spoke, saying, “Whom shall I send & who will go for us?”

 

With that, Lord Caustus replied, “Here I am, Lord! Send me!”

 

With that, he awoke on the battlefield, his forces still around him, but before them were three new people: a priestess, the Archivist, Balthazar Braun & Aaron, the former high prophet of the Sanhedrin, who asked, “Are you prepared to take the next step?”

 

Lord Caustus looked around at his forces before turning back to the prophet. “I am. Show me what I must do.”

 

End of Part 1

Part 2 Coming soon…

Edited 6 hours ago by Kaede45