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| “ | -as a slave to Chaos? Nothing you say can tempt me from the path of honor- or prevent me from avenging my battle brothers. | „ |
| ~ Titus rejecting Nemeroth's offer to join the forces of Chaos. |
Lieutenant Demetrian Titus, formerly known as Nullus, is the titular main protagonist and player character of the 2009 grimdark science fantasy third-person shooter hack and slash video game Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine, its 2024 sequel Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II, and the Warhammer 40,000 episode of the animated series Secret Level.
He is a Firstborn Space Marine of the Ultramarines Chapter, who fought to save planet Graia from an invasion by an Ork WAAAGH!, and then fought against the subsequent Chaos invasion led by Chaos Lord Nemeroth. Titus served as captain of the Ultramarines 2nd Company until late M41, before being demoted to lieutenant and becoming a Primaris Space Marine. Despite being relatively young by Adeptus Astartes standards at the start of Space Marine, he is a decorated veteran of many campaigns, and his heroic exploits have gained him a reputation as one of the greatest heroes of the Ultramarines.
Titus is voiced by Mark Strong in Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine and Clive Standen in Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II and episode "And They Shall Know No Fear" of the 2024 anthology Secret Level, while Ben Plessala voiced the young Titus in the episode.
Biography[]
Past[]
A young Titus as an Ultramarines aspirant
In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war. Demetrian Titus was born around 175 years before the end of the 41st millennium, on the agri-world of Tarentus- a world in the realm of Ultramar, home of the noble Ultramarines, who were hailed as the greatest Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes, the strongest defenders of the Imperium of Man. Titus was recruited as an Ultramarines aspirant in his youth, his training overseen by Ultramarine Metaurus. At this point, Titus was known to have a troubled past, described by Metaurus to have been full of pain and rage, and would return from his aspirant trials bloody and battered- but with an unbreakable determination that knew no fear, leading to Metaurus approving Titus' ascension to Neophyte and later Astartes. Regardless of his past temperament, he excelled in his training, overcame many opponents, and suffered many wounds as he rose the ranks of the Ultramarines, serving in the Ultramarines 2nd Company after roughly 50 years, where he helped defend Ultramar from Tyranid invasions. While he followed the rules and guidance of the Codex Astartes, the sacred tome of strategy, organization, and moral behavior of a Space Marine Chapter, Titus believed that the most important part of the Codex was its spirit, not its letter, and how one chose to uphold its values.
Early in his service, Titus befriended fellow Ultramarine and veteran sergeant Sidonus. At some point in Titus' service, he was part of an Ultramarines squad who engaged a Chaos Sorcerer, a powerful psyker corrupted by the Ruinous Powers. Titus' whole squad was killed by the Sorcerer's Warp-infused attacks, but Titus somehow survived direct blasts of Warp energy, single-handedly killing the Chaos Sorcerer despite suffering grievous injuries. To the shock of Ultramarine Apothecaries, Titus survived his injuries and recovered. Many in the Chapter questioned how Titus could have survived the direct touch of the Warp, something Titus himself could not explain, but he remained in Ultramarine service regardless. At another point in time, the Ultramarines 2nd Company was deployed to Beta-Arcturus against an invading force of Eldar Aspect Warriors from Craftworld Biel-Tan, where the company's captain, Trajan, slew the Eldar's Autarch commander. However, Leandros, a young and by-the-book battle-brother of the company, was captured by the fleeing surviving Aspect Warriors, prompting Trajan to lead Titus and the rest of the company in pursuit of the xenos. However, the Aspect Warriors managed to reach a larger force of Eldar, which ambushed and killed Trajan. Now as the highest-ranking officer, Titus took charge of the operation and led the company in successfully driving out the alien threat, rescuing Leandros and reclaiming Trajan's body.
Titus' bravery and leadership skills in the campaign on Beta-Arcturus were noticed by Marneus Calgar, Chapter Master of the Ultramarines, who had Titus promoted to 2nd Company Captain to replace Trajan. Calgar then served with Titus on Talassar, where he confided to Titus that rules should never make a prisoner of intelligence. Sidonus, who had remained Titus' closest friend and confidant, was made his second-in-command, with Leandros joining Titus' command squad and looking up to both Titus and Sidonus. Titus was soon widely regarded as a model of humility and martial prowess by First Company Captain Severus Agemman and Calgar himself, and befriended Ultramarines Chief Librarian Varro Tigurius. By late M41, Titus had served for almost 150 years, with Leandros and Sidonus at his side in every battle, leading the Ultarmarines 2nd Company to victory after victory against all manners of horrific threats. During his service, he had also befriended Magos Galeo, a Tech-Priest who operated as the 2nd Company quartermaster under Titus' command.
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine[]
Titus preparing to jump out of the Thunderhawk
In late M41, planet Graia, an important Forge World of the Imperium, was invaded by an Ork WAAAGH!, a war on apocalyptic scale. Over a million Orks landed on Graia and quickly overwhelmed the planet's defenses, intent on capturing Imperial weaponry being developed on the planet, including a powerful Warlord-class Titan. As the planet was deemed to valuable to risk losing with an Exterminatus, and due to reinforcements taking too long to arrive, with the 203rd regiment of Cadian Shock Troops already deployed to Graia being unable to retake it, the Ultramarines 2nd Company were deployed to Graia to secure the Titan manufactorum before the Orks could get it. Captain Titus, who had served as 2nd Company Captain for 10 years with his battle-brothers Sidonus and Leandros, led the drop onto Graia, flying into the planet's atmosphere aboard a Thunderhawk gunship. However, the gunship began taking heavy damage from anti-air emplacements aboard an Ork Kill Kroozer in the atmosphere, which had been destroying any support or escort vessels that entered Graia. Seeing this, Titus ordered the pilot to get to safety, ordered his companions to equip jump packs, and opened the gunship deployment doors, planning on boarding and disabling the Kill Kroozer. Sidonus questioned Titus' plan for a moment, but decided to follow it, although Leandros voiced his displeasure, citing the Codex Astartes. In response, Titus merely told Leandros to try to keep up, before diving out of the gunship with his jump pack, brandishing a bolt pistol and combat knife.
As Titus flew through the atmosphere, weaving through explosions and dogfights between Imperial and Ork forces, he found himself separated from Leandros and Sidonus, who had jumped after him. Regardless, Titus located the Kill Kroozer and landed on it, quickly slaughtering the Orks aboard it, fighting his way towards the Kroozer's anti-air turret. Once he reached it, a massive cyborg Ork lumbered out of the bridge of the vessel, yelling at the Space Marine to get off his ship. The Ork was none other than Warboss Grimskull, the leader of the Ork WAAAGH!. Seeing him, Titus quickly grabbed the base of the turret, and using his immense strength, forcefully rotated the still-firing turret to make it shoot the vessel itself, forcing Grimskull to flee from view. The turret ended up bringing the Kill Kroozer down, making it crash into a ruined city on the surface. However, Titus survived, punching his way out of the wreckage before setting out to find his companions. He quickly found Leandros, the two killing more Orks that attacked them as they trudged through the ruined, Ork-held Industrial Zone 82. Leandros once again attempted to cite the Codex Astartes as the reason for his dislike of Titus' jump pack plan, but Titus simply asked why Leandros followed the Codex so strictly, telling Leandros that there were benefits in thinking for oneself.
Titus meeting Lieutenant Mira
After brutally slaying all Orks they came across, with Titus picking up more weapons, including a proper bolter and chainsword, the Ultramarines encountered still-living Imperial guardsmen, members of the 203rd Cadian regiment. Titus, seeing the Cadians under assault from especially powerful Orks, helped the guardsmen destroy the Ork attackers. With the area temporarily secure, the Cadians thanked Titus for his help, in awe of being in the presence of the mighty Ultramarines, and Titus soon found Sidonus, helping the veteran sergeant fight through a small onslought of Orks near a ruined monument, reuniting the command squad. Sidonus noted that the Orks hadn't dismantled the nearby planetary defense gun, but were instead using it, which was not their usual behavior. Titus realized that Grimskull had not only survived the Kill Kroozer crash, but was also much more tactically-minded than the average Ork. Titus and his companions then met with 2nd Lieutenant Mira, the only surviving officer of the 203rd Cadian, who informed them that the Orks had captured a planetary defense cannon known as the Goliath, which they had been using to destroy any support crafts of the Imperial Guard, preventing more Cadian forces currently in orbit from landing.
Titus assured Mira that he would disable the Goliath, and accompanied by Mira and other guardsmen, Titus, Sidonus, and Leandros fought their way through the Ork hordes, finally breaching the domed structure housing the Goliath. As the Ultramarines entered, Mira and her forces stayed outside to continue holding the line, with Mira's hope in repelling the Ork invasion restored by the Ultramarines' presence. Titus soon retrieved a Melta-bomb within the structure, and after killing the Orks that infested the building, he had the bomb planted on a shell that was being loaded into the Goliath, which would make the gun explode once the shell was fired. However, some Orks got ahold of the shell on a higher level of the structure and removed it from the sequence, forcing Titus to kill those Orks and defend his companions from more incoming Orks as they returned the shell to the firing sequence. Once the shell was loaded, it was quickly fired, but exploded within the barrel of the Goliath, blasting the weapon apart. With that, Valkyrie gunships of the Cadian Shock Troops began landing in orbit, bringing much-needed support to the 203rd Cadian.
With the gun emplacement down, Titus led his companions towards Manufactorum Ajakis, where a Warlord-class Titan was being held, as his orders to stop the Orks from capturing the Titan remained in effect. To reach the manufactorum, they found an Ork vehicle loaded onto a cargo railway system, meant to ram through the gates of Manufactorum Ajakis. Titus and his companions boarded the vehicle and quickly killed the Orks aboard, with Titus picking up a plasma cannon emplacement and used it to shoot down an Ork dropship that engaged them, before forcing the train to crash. Once they disembarked from the wreckage, Titus soon came across a Servo-skull that was scanning corpses of guardsmen, seeking a living subject to deliver its message to. Once it found the Ultramarines, the Servo-skull relayed a message from Inquisitor Drogan, an Ordo Xenos Inquisitor on Graia, who had sent a desperate distress call when the Orks first invaded. The message spoke of the Orks closing in on the Titan manufactorum, prompting Titus to double the pace to reach it. At the manufactorum, the Ultramarines met up with another surviving 203rd soldier, Corporal Antioch, who helped the Ultramarines gain entry into the complex.
Titus grabs the unshielded Power Source
Inside, Titus and his companions were relieved to see the complex still free of Orks, and soon met with Inquisitor Drogan. Drogan told the Ultramarines of the facility's power source, a novel device of incredible power that could not be allowed to fall into Ork hands. As such, Drogan led Titus and his companions deeper into the facility, where Orks broke in through the pipes and attacked them. Regardless, Titus and his companions pressed forward, killing the Orks until they reached the chamber of the power source, where Titus descended alone to retrieve it, finding that the power source appeared to be a strange, hand-sized cylinder wreathed in mysterious energy. However, Grimskull himself broke into the chamber, fixated on the power source as a "shiny thing," and disabled a Servitor that Titus tried to activate to disengage the power source from its mount. Drogan warned that the power source was unstable and could blow, ordering Titus to manually insert it into its containment unit, still held in the Servitor's arms. Titus quickly killed several Orks that jumped into the chamber after him, and after dodging blasts from Grimskull, Titus grabbed the unshielded power source, which unleashed a powerful, Warp-based explosion, although Titus managed to force the power source into its container as the blast engulfed the area.
Drogan tells Titus and his squadmates of the Psychic Scourge
Titus survived the blast, emerging in the sewers under the facility, and clipped the power source to his belt. He managed to get in contact with his companions, finding that Drogan was sure that Titus couldn't have survived, and Titus then fought his way out of the sewers, cutting through multitudes of Orks. He finally merged from the sewers, power source still secured, and reunited with Sidonus and Leandros, the three meeting with Drogan again. Drogan still believed that there was no way for Titus to have survived the blast, and revealed that the power source was actually Warp energy, something that Leandros exclaimed was heresy. Drogan insisted that his work was sanctioned by the Inquisition, and that the power source could power a weapon known as the Psychic Scourge, a weapon capable of destroying the Orks. When questioned by Sidonus, Drogan explained that the weapon had never been test fired, and was capable of destroying the planet if things went wrong, saying that he needed proper sanction to use it. However, another Ork Rok, the asteroid-like invasion crafts that Orks used, crashed through a nearby building, with Titus noting that the increasing Ork forces should be sanction enough. With that, Drogan led the Ultramarines to the location of the Psychic Scourge, in the Kalkys facility. First, Titus split off from his companions to keep the Orks off their backs, single-handedly tearing through multiple Ork hordes, and soon met with Lieutenant Mira again in Bastion Primus, where Titus' companions had already arrived at, allowing Mira to use Valkyrie gunships to ferry Titus and his companions to Kalkys, with Titus keeping Ork forces off his Valkyrie while his companions boarded a separate gunship. However, the Valkyrie still went down when an Ork flew into its engine, forcing Titus to crash-land on an Ork-held bridge. Titus quickly cleared the bridge of Orks before being picked up by Lieutenant Mira's own Valkyrie, and flown to meet with his companions, who had already landed at Kalkys.
Once they landed, Titus, Sidonus, and Leandros followed Drogan towards the facility, blasting through Orks and entering the building, where they were forced to destroy and disable the facility's security systems, which were set to shoot every living being, including them. Titus, Leandros, and Sidonus then had to fight off several Orks who broke into the facility, ensuring the weapon's power source was secure, before manually inserting the power source and traveling to the top of the towering facility, just as Grimskull caught up with them and breached the top of the facility. However, the Ultramarines still managed to fire the Psychic Scourge, which sent out a blast of Warp energy that struck an Orbital Spire specifically meant to channel the energy into a psychic blast that would destroy all the Orks. However, to Titus' dismay, the weapon did not work, as the Orks rose after the initial shockwave passed. However, before the two sides could fight again, Warp rifts opened up behind the Orks, revealing Bloodletter Daemons that quickly tore the Orks apart, even overwhelming Grimskull and sending him plummeting off the top level.
Titus being restrained by Nemeroth's sorcery
Then, another Warp rift opened, and from the rift came Nemeroth, a grotesque Chaos Lord and Sorcerer clad in powerful Chaos Terminator Armor. Nemeroth promptly restrained the Ultramarines with his Warp powers, and Drogan then entered the room, nonchalantly approaching Nemeroth. Titus tried to call out for Drogan to stay back, but then, to Titus' horror, Drogan knelt before Nemeroth and said that his part of the plan had been completed. As it turns out, Titus and his companions had been talking to a corpse all along, as the real Drogan had been killed by a Daemon just after sending his distress signal, with the Daemon using Drogan's body as a host ever since, rewiring the Psychic Scourge to open Warp rifts and using the Ultramarines as unwitting pawns.
Nemeroth then recalled the Daemon within Drogan's body, and noted that Titus had an abnormally strong resilience to the Warp, doubling the energies used in restraining Titus. However, before Nemeroth could try to kill the Ultramarines, Grimskull climbed back onto the top floor, declaring he wasn't so easy to kill, before attacking Nemeroth and tackling him off the tower once more, the two falling to the lower levels and freeing the Ultramarines, also leaving the Warp power source behind. Once freed, they began descending the tower, discovering platoons of Chaos Cultists and Chaos Marines of the Chosen of Nemeroth warband teleporting into the structure. After killing the Chaos soldiers, Titus and his companions got outside, seeing the massive Warp storm forming over the Orbital Spire, which could grow large enough to bring an entire Chaos Fleet through, something that would surely doom the planet.
Titus blasts Grimskull's head off with his plasma pistol
Titus, who had retrieved the Warp power source, once again held onto it as the Ultramarines made their way to Manufactorum Ajakis, with Titus planning to use the Titan within to destroy the Orbital Spire by supercharging its weaponry with the power source, even while Leandros became increasingly unnerved by Titus' ability to withstand so much raw Warp energy, a sign of Chaos corruption. Regardless, the three pressed on, reuniting with Lieutenant Mira and helping the 203rd Cadian fight through Chaos Marines and cultists. However, Grimskull and his WAAAGH! Orks remained active, and kept hunting down Titus to get the power source. As such, Titus separated from his companions and engaged Grimskull in an outpost on the way to Manufactorum Ajakis, where Titus slew all of Grimskull's guards, before being pulled into an empty room with Grimskull. There, he battled Grimskull directly, critically wounding the warboss after a fierce battle. Grimskull, crippled before the Ultramarine, defiantly shouted that he wasn't finished with Titus, but Titus responded that he was finished with Grimskull, before blasting Grimskull's head apart with a plasma pistol. With Grimskull dead, the WAAAGH! fell into disarray, Orks scattering and being easily picked off by the 203rd Cadian. However, the threat from the Warp was still active, so Titus rejoined his companions and took the rail system back to Manufactorum Ajakis, where the Titan, known as Invictus, was being crewed and loaded.
At Manufactorum Ajakis, Titus and his companions fought their way through Chaos forces, reaching Invictus. There, Titus released the Titan's mooring clamps, boarded Invictus, and personally fended off Chaos forces who tried to stop the Titan's launch, before loading the power source into the Titan. With the power boost, Invictus unleashed a powerful blast that destroyed the Orbital Spire, preventing the Warp rift above it from growing larger, but did not close it. Additionally, the pieces of the tower remained suspended in defiance of gravity due to the Warp energy, but at that moment, Imperial reinforcements arrived in the form of a Liberation Fleet, including more Ultramarines and Space Marines of the Blood Ravens Chapter, all moving in to assault the Orbital Spire and clear it of heretics. Titus requested an evacuation ship, giving the power source to Sidonus and telling him to get it back to the Ultramarines homeworld of Macragge, where they could figure out how to neutralize it.
Titus vows to avenge Sidonus
Sidonus made for an extraction point while Leandros and Titus held off incoming Chaos forces, but when Titus and Leandros met up with Sidonus at the extraction point, Sidonus was ambushed by Nemeroth, who killed Sidonus and took the power source. Enraged, Titus ran to attack Nemeroth, only for him and Leandros to be restrained once more by Nemeroth's Warp energy. Nemeroth declared that he would use the power source to fuel his ascension to a Daemon Prince, again noting Titus' Warp resilience. Nemeroth then teleported away, but not before mockingly asking if Titus would soon join the ranks of Chaos. Both Titus and Leandros are left distraught over Sidonus' death, but Titus urges Leandros not to give in to grief, ordering him to keep Sidonus' body safe, while the two are met with Lieutenant Mira. After Titus explained what happened, Mira asked what Titus' plan was now, and Titus resolved to attack Nemeroth before he can become a Daemon Prince, when Nemeroth would be most vulnerable, vowing to kill Nemeroth for his crimes. Leandros was still wary of Titus' inexplicable ability to resist the Warp energies, worried that Nemeroth would use it to his advantage, but Titus assured him that he would never give into the Ruinous Powers, with Mira encouraging Titus to use his resistance to get close enough to Nemeroth for a killing blow. With that, Titus set out for the bridge leading to the Orbital Spire, calling in a transport to take him to the top of the Orbital Spire, ordering Leandros to stay behind with Sidonus' body until the Apothecaries arrived.
Titus battling Nemeroth as they fall
On the bridge, Titus was joined by Blood Ravens and Ultramarines alike, blasting their way through Chaos Marines and other Chaos Cultists, before boarding a Thunderhawk and equipping a jump pack, getting dropped off on the floating debris of the tower's upper levels and ascending to the top of the tower, slaying any Chaos Marine or Cultist who dared to stand in his way, fighting with incredible fury that felled even the Bloodletter Daemons that attacked him. Titus soon reached the top of the spire, where Nemeroth was using the power source to fuel himself, starting to transform into a Daemon Prince. Seeing Titus, Nemeroth said that Titus' Warp resilience was a sign that he was destined to join Chaos, offering Titus the chance to bring the Ultramarines into the ranks of Chaos and use their power to conquer the universe, but Titus refused, declaring that his only mission was to destroy the traitors to the Imperium. With that, Nemeroth sent hordes of Chaos Marines, Chaos Cultists, and Bloodletters at Titus, only for Titus to slaughter them all, just as Nemeroth partially transformed into a Daemon Prince, his visage becoming more bestial as his armor became more organic. However, Titus charged at the Chaos Lord, tackling Nemeroth off the side of the spire, the two falling through the atmosphere. Nemeroth attempted to blast Titus with Warp blasts, but Titus dodged and latched onto Nemeroth, furiously beating Nemeroth with his fists and dodging Nemeroth's punches, using his full skill and fury to engage Nemeroth in physical combat. Finally, Titus drew his chainsword and used it to nearly sever one of Nemeroth's arms, disabling its ability to fire Warp blasts, before grabbing Nemeroth by the head, and with a final burst of Astartes fury, Titus crushed Nemeroth's head, killing him. Nemeroth's body disintegrated as it melted back into the Warp, the power source falling from his unholy armor. Titus caught the power source in midair, hearing Nemeroth's voice once again ask if he would be joining Chaos, but Titus instead pulled the power source apart, dispelling the Warp energy and neutralizing the device. With that, Titus was caught in midair by an incoming Ultramarines Thunderhawk, and returned to the ground.
Titus telling Lieutenant Mira that he has to go with Inquisitor Thrax
On the ground, as the Liberation Fleet cleared out remaining hostile forces, Titus emerged from the Thunderhawk, immediately met by Lieutenant Mira. Titus then fell to his knees from both exhaustion and his injuries, and Mira noted that Ultramarines were human after all, with Titus confirming that they could be very human. However, as Titus stood, Leandros approached with a newly-arrived Inquisitor, named Thrax, who was accompanied by a squad of Black Templar Space Marines. As it turns out, Leandros had reported Titus to the Inquisition on suspicion of heresy due to Titus' Warp resilience, and Thrax questioned if Titus had turned to Chaos. Angered, Titus exclaimed that he was no heretic, pointing out how he killed Nemeroth, but Thrax was undeterred, telling Titus that if Titus did not comply with the investigation, the Ultramarines 2nd Company, Lieutenant Mira, and 203rd Cadian would be suspected of heresy as well and dealt with accordingly. Mira tried to pull Titus away and insist that he doesn't comply, but Titus pointed out that if he resisted, Mira and her allies would be destroyed, and the Ultramarines would be forever disgraced. As such, he agreed to go with Thrax, but when Leandros tried to cite the Codex Astartes again, Titus clarified that while the Codex was a set of rules to mold them as Ultramarines, the true test of a Space Marine was how they chose to live by the values of the Codex, a test that Leandros had failed. With that, Titus entered Thrax' transport, being taken away for investigation of heresy.
Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun[]
Several years after the invasion of Graia, it was revealed that a fragment of Drogan's power source had survived Titus destroying it, and had been found by some rogue tech-priests. The tech-priests used the fragment to restart Drogan's heretical experiments on xenos, leading to yet another Warp rift to open over the planet, and the Black Legion of Chaos invaded Graia under the command of Chaos Sorcerer Tulumus Samael. While Titus himself remained in the custody of the Inquisition, thus not seen in-game, Titus was referenced a few times by Inquisitor Seibel and Ultramarines 1st Company Sternguard Veteran Malum Caedo. Caedo was deployed to deal with the new incursion, and already familiar with the heroism and sacrifices made by Titus and his allies, Caedo swore to finish what the captain had started. Caedo would ultimately succeed in killing Samael and once again saving Graia.
Deathwatch service[]
Thrax, as it turns out, held an extreme grudge against Astartes, seeing them as a liability to the Imperium and never trusting them, especially after the Badab War, an uprising instigated by the renegade Astral Claws Chapter. Thrax kept Titus imprisoned for years, torturing and psychically interrogating Titus in an attempt to find what the truth of Titus' Warp resilience was, keeping Titus in stasis between interrogations. However, Thrax then led an operation against the traitorous Grey Slayers Chapter, where he was possessed by a Daemon and in turn killed by the Daemon-hunting Grey Knights Chapter. In the wake of Thrax's death, Titus and other imprisoned Astartes in Thrax's custody, still in stasis, were transferred to the Inquisition's Deathwatch, the militant wing of the alien-hunting Ordo Xenos, made up of veteran Astartes of many different Chapters. After being awoken, Titus was brought before Deathwatch Chaplains in Watcher Keep, who found him free of Chaos taint or disloyalty. However, when Titus asked about the Ultramarines, the Deathwatch revealed that there were no records of Titus ever serving the Chapter. Overcome with shock and grief that he had apparently been considered a disgrace and censured by his own battle-brothers, Titus joined Deathwatch as a Blackshield, an Astartes in self-imposed exile, all heraldry purged from his power armor. Additionally, Titus took on the name Nullus for his Deathwatch service, and began to lose faith in the once-unbreakable brotherhood of Space Marines.
Titus as Nullus in Deathwatch service
As Nullus, Titus served alongside the Astartes of Deathwatch for years, craving no glory but to serve until death. He faced Tyranids during his missions, including slaying a Neurothrope, and faced Necrons in other missions. At this point in time, the Ultramarine's Primarch, Roboute Guilliman, had been resurrected on Macragge during the 13th Black Crusade of Chaos, and now served as Lord Commander of the Imperium. He led the Indomitus Crusade against the various enemies of humanity, as the galaxy had literally been split in two by the opening of the Great Rift, a Warp Storm formed in the wake of the 13th Black Crusade. However, this crusade left many worlds weakened after committing large numbers of soldiers to the war effort, leaving them more vulnerable to invasion. During this time, the 4th Tyrannic War raged over the Imperium, where swarms of Tyranids, ravenous extragalactic aliens that threatened to consume all life in the Milky Way, invaded the already-beleaguered strongholds of humanity. Assigned to Kill Team Kasaeran during the 4th Tyrannic War, Titus was eventually deployed to the Recidious System to reinforce Cadian Shock Troops regiments against invading forces of Tyranid Hive Fleet Leviathan, specifically tasked with deploying an atmospheric virus to weaken and kill as many Tyranids as possible. However, when arriving on planet Kadaku, Titus' team was forced to crash-land by swarms of winged Tyranid bioforms, and on the ground, the other Deathwatch Astartes were separated and quickly slaughtered by a Tyranid Carnifex and its supporting swarms. Titus managed to launch the virus bomb alone and faced the Carnifex head-on, fighting valiantly with only a bolt pistol but being grievously wounded by the monstrous alien.
Titus impaled by a Carnifex
Bleeding out impaled on its claws, Titus accepted his impending death, glad to have given his life in service of the Emperor. Then, the Ultramarines 1st Company arrived on the planet to reinforce other Deathwatch forces, bringing none other than Captain Agemman and Chief Librarian Tigurius, the latter of whom sensed Titus' dying soul when arriving from the Warp. The Ultramarines quickly slew the Carnifex and retrieved Titus, saving his life by converting him into a Primaris Marine, a genetically upgraded Astartes secretly developed over the last 10,000 years under orders from Guilliman himself. As it turns out, Calgar and Agemman had been furiously trying for years to get Titus back while he was in Thrax's custody, only to be turned away each time, their petitions lost to the impossibly complex Imperial bureaucracy or outright ignored. They did not censor Titus' name and service due to thinking him a traitor, but because the Chapter was deeply ashamed of their disastrous failure to reclaim one of their best marines from the Inquisition. In truth, Titus was still deeply respected by many veteran Ultramarines, and as such, Titus was reinstated to the Ultramarines 2nd Company. However, he was no longer captain of the company- in his absence, command was given to fellow 2nd Company Ultramarine Cato Sicarius, and when Cato disappeared following the opening of the Great Rift, command was given to his longtime battle-brother Sevastus Acheran. By this point in time, Titus' Astartes service had totaled over 200 years.
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II[]
Titus reinstated to the Ultramarines as a Primaris
Two days after Titus' ascension to a Primaris Marine, he awoke aboard the battle barge Resilient with Ultramarines Chaplain Quintus by his side, who informed him of the upgrade to his gene-seed. Titus tried to leave, insisting that he had to return to the Watch Fortress and that his place was with the Deathwatch, but Quintus informed him that his penance had been served- the Inquisition found no sign of Chaos corruption in him, and he is an Ultramarine once more. Quintus then told Titus to find true redemption before the judgement of his brothers, and thus sent Titus to receive his new Mark X Tacticus Power Armor. Quintus presided over the armor being bestowed upon Titus, re-swearing induction oaths to the Chapter, before Titus was informed that his Deathwatch service remained on record, but not his status as a Blackshield, Quintus warning him against revealing it.
Gadriel irked by Titus being given command of his squad
With that, Titus was assigned to the 2nd Company under command of Captain Acheran, who was initially skeptical of reinstating Titus into the Ultramarines, if only because Titus' time as a Blackshield and the circumstances of his incarceration could raise rumors and distrust among the Space Marines at a time when cohesion was paramount. Regardless, Acheran welcomed Titus into his company as a lieutenant, which Titus had no qualms about, although he did start coming into tensions with 2nd Company Sergeant Gadriel- who was immediately placed under Titus' command by Acheran. While Gadriel was also skeptical of this, having not been in the Chapter long enough to have known of Titus' heroic status before his Blackshield service, Gadriel's second-in-command Brother Chairon was more accepting, as were the other members of the 2nd Company. Titus was promptly redeployed to Kadaku with his new squad, now with the goal of securing powerful orbital defense guns to cover the evacuation of the planet, which was considered lost but still had assets too valuable to leave behind. Specifically, Kadaku housed a critical piece of Project Aurora, which is what Titus' Deathwatch squad had been initially deployed to protect, an enigmatic Mechanicus project that was heavily classified.
Titus with his new squad meeting with the Cadian 8th
Back on the ground with his new squad, Titus was tasked with reactivating orbital cannons vital to the world's evacuation. They were aided by the 8th Cadian regiment that had been deployed to the planet, led by Major Sarkaana, and ultimately, Titus was able to clear the orbital cannons of Tyranids. With the guns active again, the Tyranid Hive Ships blockading the skies were shot down, allowing evacuations to proceed. Titus then returned to the Resilient, where Acheran tasked him with evacuating Archmagos Nozick Beta-12, the chief engineer of Project Aurora. However, Nozick refused to leave without his data on Project Aurora, which was held in his overrun research facility. Titus and his squad set out to resupply for the deployment, Titus also suggesting to detonate promethium wells in a valley near Nozick's facility to slow the Tyranid advance, being granted three extra Astartes by Acheran to get the job done. Titus' presence was then requested by Magos Galeo, who still served as the company's quartermaster aboard the Resilience. Titus met the Tech-Priest in the ship's armory, Galeo glad to see his old friend again, and insisting that they knew each other well enough to forgo formalities with titles. Titus noted that the wargear selection appeared different, although the weapons and configuration were familiar, and Galeo informed him that the weapon selection was simply tailored to the expected conditions of the mission. After Titus got his wargear assembled, and ensured Galeo that he had no complaints with his new Primaris body, Titus set out for the Thunderhawk. Once on the landing pad, Titus was met with Chaplain Quintus, who urged Titus to stick to his orders and wished him the benevolence of Guilliman- while also noting that he would watch Titus closely.
Titus falls in pain from exposure to the mysterious object
Titus and his squad then deployed to Kadaku, sending the auxiliary squad provided to detonate the promethium. While the auxiliary squad managed to complete their task and greatly cut down the incoming hordes, Titus and his squad fought their way through seemingly endless Tyranid bioforms- including a lone, invisible Lictor- until they reached the facility, transferring the data back to Nozick and the Imperial forces, which finally made Nozick leave. However, the Thunderhawk gunship that Nozick boarded abruptly went down before the eyes of Titus and his squad, crashing and killing all aboard. Titus raced to the crash site with Chairon and Gadriel, finding Chaos imagery carved and painted all over the site, along with a mysterious object sealed in a case inside the Thunderhawk. Other Ultramarines reported to the crash to retrieve the object, which Nozick had been personally escorting off the planet- but its proximity to Titus triggered a reaction that made him collapse. Titus insisted he was fine when Chairon asked, blaming his symptoms on the effects of the recent Rubicon surgery, and managed to stand as a new Thunderhawk arrived to retrieve the object under Tech-Priest supervision. Titus boarded the gunship with his squad, but the object was loaded in with him, and its continued presence made Titus black out in his seat.
When Titus regained consciousness, he was back aboard the Resilient, recovered from whatever malaise had struck him, although his squadmates were concerned for his fitness to serve in Chaos-intense battlefields, and Gadriel wondered if something about Titus was being hidden from them. Titus then reported back to Acheran, informing him of Nozick's death and the Chaos involvement, but demanded to know what the object was, as it radiated strange energy yet was left completely untouched by whatever Chaos worshippers took down the gunship. Acheran replied that the knowledge was classified even to him, only that it was part of the heavily classified Project Aurora, but the object was unusable without Nozick- or Nozick's apprentice, Morias Leuze, the only other person qualified to manage Aurora. Leuze's whereabouts were unknown, only that he was somewhere on the Hive World Avarax, which was also under Tyranid assault, so Acheran ordered Titus to find Leuze so Project Aurora could continue. Suspicious of the project's nature but bound to his duty, Titus complied and was given a clearance key by Acheran in order to bypass all security clearances in a facility whose cogitator could give them Leuze's location.
As the Resilient set course for Avarax, Titus met with Magos Galeo again, who was also concerned over Titus' condition, especially if they were the result of an error made during the Rubicon surgery. Galeo thus ran a diagnostic of Titus' vitals while the ship was in flight, as the Apothecaries were occupied. However, Galeo was unable to find the source of Titus' collapse, only that his vitals were below peak yet still well within combat tolerances. Titus tried to ask the Magos if he knew anything about Nozick's research, but Galeo did not.
Upon reaching Avarax's orbit, Titus deployed to the upper spires of the hive city Fervastium with Gadriel and Chairon, the city where Leuze was supposedly located. The hive had already been invaded by Tyranids, so Titus and his squad had to fight through more xenos swarms on their way to the Mechanicus facility that held the cogitator with Leuze's location, as it was used by Leuze for his contributions to Project Aurora. After taking a vulnerable cargo elevator into the facility and clearing hall after hall of the alien menace, the Ultramarines entered a room that was abruptly broken into by a ravenous Carnifex. However, now with a fully-stocked arsenal and two battle brothers by his side, Titus was able to kill this Carnifex, comparing the victory to his previous stand against one of the xeno beasts.
Titus trying to find the shard's location
The Ultramarines then continued to fight their way through Tyranids, wondering what the project could be and noting the copious amount of dead test servitors, despising the waste of human life for yet another overambitious Mechanicus endeavor. The trio soon found the cogitator they needed, located near the facility's core, an ancient Volkite reactor resembling a ball of energy held within a giant gyroscope. They noted that the reactor was dangerous to leave on with Tyranids around, who could sabotage it to destroy the facility and deal immense damage to the hive city below, where the populace was still taking shelter. Titus resolved to shut down the reactor after using the cogitator, which he proceeded to use Acheran's clearance key on, giving him full access to all its files. Titus first asked about Leuze's location, and the cogitator transferred the coordinates to Titus. However, instead of immediately leaving to shut down the reactor and extract, Titus ordered the cogitator to give him information on Project Aurora. The data was soon displayed, including files on Aurora's components- and among them were files on Graia, Reconstruction, and Inquisitor Drogan. Titus demanded to see the file on Reconstruction, ignoring Gadriel's protests that the files were classified. To Titus' horror and rage, the file revealed that Project Aurora was a continuation of Drogan's Psychic Scourge, using the fragment of the power source that Caedo had retrieved. Titus then demanded the location of the artifact, but before the cogitator could give him that information, its display errored out and warned that the reactor was becoming unstable.
Titus trying to tell Acheran about the danger of Aurora
Sure enough, Tyranids were throwing themselves in massive waves into the Volkite reactor, their biomass being annihilated by it but still destabilizing the core. Knowing the damage that could be done if the core blew, Titus and his squad raced down to the core and fought off waves of Tyranid bioforms, all while manually disengaging the Volkite pylons that kept the core running. When the last Tyranids were killed and the final Pylon was pulled free, the core entered entropic decay and safely shut down, the energy ball dissipating as the facility activated its backup generators. With the disaster averted and the data in hand, Titus returned to the Resilient with Gadriel and Chairon, where Gadriel asked what he saw in the files. Titus only replied that he saw a record of extreme foolishness, and that further questions should be directed to Acheran. Titus then met with Acheran alongside Gadriel and Chairon, where Titus interrupted Acheran's strategizing to demand that he get the Mechanicus to cease their work on Project Aurora. Titus cited what happened on Graia as evidence of the power source fragment's danger, but Acheran refused to intervene in the project, affirming that the orders to proceed with Aurora came from the Primarch himself, and refused to hear any more of it. As such, after getting confirmation that they have the coordinates to Leuze, Acheran warned Titus that there were those who would see Titus returned to the Inquisition, ordering him to tread carefully.
Angered, Titus returned to his squad to redeploy to Avarax, where Gadriel and Chairon asked to know what Titus was hiding from them about his knowledge of the power source, although Titus refused to tell them anything more, saying that stray words had already cost him before. Gadriel took this as Titus not trusting them, but Chairon quickly defused the situation by reminding them of the Chaplain's vigilance over their cohesion.
Titus and his squad meet Varellus
With Leuze's location now known to be the Temple of Thassean, Titus and his squad deployed to the hive dome it was located in, but their Thunderhawk, the Lance of Jove, was forced to crash land after one of its engines was damaged. The vessel managed to retreat for repairs, and Titus and his squad emerged unharmed, entering the dome. They cleared out more Tyranids on their way through the ruined cityscape, assisting Cadian guardsmen wherever they could. While helping the guardsmen fend off a vicious Tyranid assault, Titus was joined by Sergeant Varellus, a fellow Ultramarine of rising glory who previously served with Chairon in the Ultramarines 9th Company. With Varellus' help, the Tyranid threat was stopped at the moment, but Varellus informed Titus that the rest of his own squad was dead, and that there was a Tyranid Neurothrope defending a bridge that led to the Temple of Thassean. The vile alien was preventing any guardsmen or Astartes from advancing, so Titus and his squad advanced to take it by surprise and slay it. They fought their way into the Neurothrope's lair, but en route, Gadriel began to voice his skepticism of Titus, criticizing Titus for acting rashly with classified intel and not telling them of what happened on Graia, but Titus ordered him to be silent, not wanting to discuss it. The three thus pressed on, catching the Neurothrope as it directed a counterattack against a Cadian push over the bridge. Despite the xeno's ability to fly and project devastating energy blasts, Titus and his squad were able to bring it down and kill it, disorienting and killing swathes of Tyranids in the surrounding area with the synaptic shock to the local hive mind from the Neurothrope's death.
Titus killing the cultists
With the bridge now mostly clear, Titus advanced across it and slew the last xeno stragglers, before being met with Varellus aboard an Impulsor hovertank, now able to cross without the Tyranids in the way. Varellus gave Titus and his squad a ride to an Administratum building connecting to the Temple of Thassean, where the four disembarked as the other Astartes in the Impulsor set out to assist Cadian platoons elsewhere. Entering the structure, the Ultramarines found a squad of Cadians standing guard inside, and Titus asked the guardsmen about the Temple of Thassean's status. The lead guardsman claimed it was evacuated, but Chairon noticed the other guardsman acting oddly tense, and hints of hidden figures running around the edges of the chamber. Varellus and Gadriel then accused the guardsmen of being deserters, with Varellus stepping forth and demanding that the lead guardsman provide proof that they were under orders to remain in the structure. The guardsmen seemed to start calling his captain, but Chairon then noticed a distinctive tattoo on the guardsman's arm- a mark of Chaos, exclaiming that it was an ambush. The false guardsman then leapt for a nearby cogitator and was immediately shot dead by Varellus, but had still managed to activate the cogitator, detonating a bomb in its pedestal that killed Varellus. Titus, Gadriel, and Chairon then quickly slaughtered the other guardsmen, who in truth were Chaos cultists disguised as Cadians. Right on cue, portals opened before the trio, revealing Tzeentch cultists, Tzaangor daemons, and Rubric Marines- immortal, animated suits of defiled power armor made from the disintegrated souls of Thousand Sons Astartes during the Horus Heresy.
Titus fought his way through the new threat, killing cultists and destroying Rubric Marines left and right until the room was clear. He then contacted Acheran to inform him of the Chaos invasion, and promptly dashed to the Temple of Thassean with Gadriel and Chairon, entering the next chamber, an auditorium, to find it warped and twisted with Chaos energy and symbols. On the auditorium's stage, suspended in the center of the room, a lone surviving Cadian futilely tried to crawl away from a Rubric Marine that emerged from a portal, the automaton killing the Cadian with its bolter. Chairon, still reeling from the sudden loss of his friend Varellus, went into a blind fury and charged onto the stage, ripping the Rubric Marine apart and screaming for more heretics to slay, ignoring Titus ordering him to stay. The statue Chairon used as a bridge to the stage then collapsed, preventing Titus and Gadriel from following.
Titus berating Chairon's recklessness
Titus provided some cover fire for Chairon as more portals opened to reveal Tzaangors and Rubric Marines, trying to get him to calm down as Chairon became increasingly enraged, Warp-fueled forcefields blocking the doorways to escape. Titus was then assaulted by other Rubric Marines manifesting in his way, but he blasted the haunted suits apart and reached a strange living altar with a levitating eye. Titus crushed the eye, killing the altar and undoing the forcefields. Chairon surged ahead on his own path, Titus and Gadriel taking another route to try to keep up with him. The three reached bridges outside leading to the Temple of Thassean, infested with more Chaos servants, Chairon tearing his way down one bridge while Titus and Gadriel fought down the other, Titus still trying to call for Chairon to come to his senses. Eventually, after killing all the daemons, cultists, and Rubric Marines in their way, Titus and Gadriel got down to Chairon's level, where Titus confronted and berated Chairon for his reckless actions endangering the mission. Chairon simply claimed that his hatred should not need explanation, and that his duty was death. However, Titus reminded him that his duty was to the Emperor, and to die only when the Emperor sees fit to end his service, not in pursuit of a bloodlusted vendetta. Before the argument could escalate further, Gadriel called Titus away, showing Titus what was on the other side of the bridge- a sealed bunker that the Chaos forces were trying to break into using another living altar as a laser drill, the bunker being Leuze's hiding spot. While Gadriel and Chairon thought the heretics' motives were made clear, to stop Aurora, Titus doubted it, noting that nothing was simple when dealing with heretics.
Titus, Gadriel, and Chairon thus fought through the Chaos hordes to reach the drilling altar, taking out more scores of heretics. On the way, Gadriel asked why Titus wanted to stop Aurora, and Titus finally revealed to them that the power source fragment is a Chaos artifact, which the Mechanicus arrogantly thought they could control. Chairon demanded to know if Titus was still going to let Leuze have it, and Titus only noted that he had his orders. The three then found the drilling altar protected by a living shell- which began to retract in their presence, but summoned more enemies to its aid. Soon, a lesser Chaos Sorcerer of the Thousand Sons manifested, trying to get Titus away from the altar. After a fierce battle full of illusions and other Chaos tricks, Titus slew the heretical psyker and destroyed the altar, stopping its attack. With the area clear, the now-repaired Lance of Jove returned to retrieve Leuze. Titus approached the bunker doors and demanded that Leuze open them, which Leuze did, thanking the Ultramarines for saving him. When he asked to speak with Nozick, Titus informed him of Nozick's death, and Leuze's new role in continuing Aurora. Leuze, while shocked, joined the Ultramarines aboard the Thunderhawk.
Titus questioning Leuze on the power source
While flying back to the Resilient, Titus questioned Leuze on Aurora, noting that the power source was dangerous. Leuze brushed the concerns off, claiming the study of the fragment was his life's work, and that he had made it safe. Titus and Gadriel both called out the Mechanicus' arrogance, only for Titus to be notified to meet with Acheran. Leuze, overhearing Titus' name, expressed disbelief in hearing it, revealing that the Mechanicus thought that Titus had died on Graia from exposure to the power source. Leuze, realizing that the Titus before him was the same captain from Graia, was struck with even more disbelief, as not even an Astartes should've been able to survive that level of sheer power. Titus' only response was to remain silent as the Thunderhawk docked with the Resilient, not seeing Gadriel becoming even more suspicious of his lieutenant.
Titus and his squad meeting with Acheran following the Thousand Sons invasion
Back aboard the Resilient, Titus met with Acheran, who told him of the Chaos threat wreaking havoc on the Imperial ranks. Acheran then revealed that Aurora was almost ready and was to be fired, making Titus protest, but Acheran stopped him. Acheran understood Titus' concerns, but insisted they had no choice, so Titus asked to at least warn Marneus Calgar of the weapon's danger, but Acheran showed Titus that Avarax's astropathic relay had been surrounded by Tyranids with some sort of vox-comms deadzone around it, preventing anyone or any signals from getting in or out of the structure. However, Titus examined the map closer, and deduced that the Tyranid's Hive Tyrant was hiding around the relay in an area not fully scanned, asking for squads to kill the Tyrant, reestablish vox-comms, and accompany him into the relay. Acheran didn't want to send troops in on a hunch, but relented- although he was only able to spare six Astartes in addition to Titus' squad, having them divided into two squads to reestablish communications and slay the Tyrant.
With Acheran's approval, Titus assembled his men to set out, but was first called to meet with Chaplain Quintus alongside Gadriel and Chairon. Chairon first assumed it was due to his defiance and outburst on Avarax, willing to take the full blame, but Titus informed him that he did not report him yet. Instead, Quintus spoke to Titus about his mission, alluding to Titus' past on Graia, and asked Titus to send the right message to Calgar- for it could change the course of the war. Titus then went to the hangar to deploy back to Avarax, brushing of Gadriel when he addressed Titus showing supposedly erratic behavior, which he seemed to have a history of given the Chaplain's words. Additionally, Titus also found that Leuze had run an unsolicited analysis of Titus' vitals to try to figure out the cause of Titus' survival, the intrusion irking Titus. Leuze then departed to Project Aurora, determined to complete and fire it.
Titus revealing his Blackshield service to Gadriel and Chairon
Back on Avarax, Titus deployed on a route to the astropathic relay while the support teams went on their respective missions. However, while coming in for a landing on the Thunderhawk, Titus noticed Gadriel appearing more visibly suspicious, and upset with their seemingly mundane task, prompting Titus to ask what the sergeant was thinking. Gadriel then revealed that he had searched Titus' reinstated records, finding that Titus was once the 2nd Company Captain, but had disappeared over a century ago. Titus simply stated that his disappearance was his Deathwatch service, but Gadriel pointed out that there would be records of that, making Titus finally reveal that he was a Blackshield, to the surprise of Gadriel and Chairon. However, when questioned why he would abandon his Chapter, Titus professed that he would die for the Ultramarines colors- he was a Blackshield out of penance, having been accused of corruption. The Thunderhawk then landed in a Cadian forward command post four miles from the relay, the Ultramarines moving out, but Gadriel was left even more suspicious. Titus also warned Chairon to not jeopardize the mission by charging recklessly into Chaos forces again, threatening to send Chairon to Deathwatch service over it, with Chairon affirming that he would control himself. However, Gadriel pressed Titus on his Blackshield service, with Titus responding by rebuking Gadriel for prying with his suspicions.
Moving in alongside an advance of Cadian guardsmen, Titus and his squad slaughtered wave after wave of Tyranids, protecting as many guardsmen as they could to hold positions against a massive incoming Tyranid advance. Breaking out of a Tyranid-infested structure in sight of the relay, the squad sent to kill the Hive Tyrant contacted Titus and claimed to have crushed the xeno under a bridge, but Titus saw that the Tyranids still advanced, meaning the creature lived. He pressed on regardless, clearing more Tyranid hordes before entering a structure leading closer to the relay. Within the structure, Titus encountered Chaos cultists and Rubric Marines performing dark rituals, quickly slaying the heretics and boarding another elevator to get higher. On the way up, Chairon noted that the heretics were trying to stop them, but Titus pointed out that the appearances could be deceiving, for the Thousand Sons were notorious for their deceit and trickery, trademarks of Tzeentch, still suspecting that they were going to capture and use Aurora rather than stop it.
Titus blasting gargoyles
The elevator then arrived on a higher level, where Titus saw the Thousand Sons forces battling Tyranids, as the latter cared nothing for the difference between heretics and loyalists. Titus and his squad thus cut down both fronts of traitors and aliens, fighting into another chamber of the corrupted structure, where they faced off and destroyed Scarab Occult Terminators, Rubric Marines whose souls were sealed in Tactical Dreadnought Armor rather than standard power armor. Getting out the other side of the chamber, the Astartes saw the bridge to the astropathic relay destroyed, making Gadriel suggest to get back to the main force. Instead, Titus pointed out an open spot on the facility's walls and called down a Gamma pattern Hammerfall Bunker to his location, a drop pod that bore both an automated missile system and jump packs. Once the pod arrived, Titus and his squad attached the jump packs to their suits, where Gadriel expressed discontent with playing courier while other Ultramarines were fighting and dying on the frontlines. Titus replied that failing to send the message would result in a massacre, and the trio stepped out just as flocks of Tyranid gargoyles descended on them. While blasting the xenos apart, Gadriel demanded to know how Titus could be sure of Aurora leading to a massacre, to which Chairon responded that the heretics wouldn't be trying to stop them otherwise.
Titus tensely returning Gadriel's pistol
Still not convinced, Gadriel subtly accused Titus of deceiving them, which Titus saw through, making Titus order Gadriel to say whatever it was to Titus' face. Instead, Gadriel took off on the route Titus had previously indicated, cutting down gargoyles in his way as Titus and Chairon followed. Gadriel was soon taken out of the air by a gargoyle and dropped his bolt pistol, but as he was surrounded on a platform by several gargoyles, Titus and Chairon swooped down and killed the remaining bioforms, Titus picking up Gadriel's pistol and returning it without a word. Now on the walls of the structure, Titus and his squad fought through more Tyranid hordes to assist guardsmen mounting a desperate defense of the relay, even after dust and ash clogged up their flight packs and rendered them inoperable. Now outside the front gates of the relay, Titus and his squad made a stand against a vicious wave of xenos, even killing a Carnifex that tried to storm the gates. Soon, the guardsmen around them were killed, and Gadriel and Chairon were running out of rounds, with no end to the xenos in sight. The Astartes fought on regardless, ripping apart Tyranids with their gauntlets if they had to, but just as three Carnifexes climbed up the walls towards them, the support squads completed their tasks- the Hive Tyrant was slain, and the source of the vox-comms deadzone, revealed as a Daemonhost, was also destroyed, restoring communications and unleashing a wave of synaptic shock that made every Tyranid on the walls drop dead. With the area clear, and the Tyranids across the hive sent into disarray or killed, the Ultramarines finally entered the relay.
Titus and his squad meet Neoma
While taking an elevator up to the main level of the astropathic relay, Titus commended his squadmates for their performance in battle. However, Gadriel rejected any commendations, and instead requested to be transferred to a new squad once the mission was complete. Titus, rather than argue, replied that he would forward that request to Acheran. Upon reaching the relay's main level, Titus entered and saw the facility under strain, guardsmen stationed inside and many astropaths of the Astropathic Choir either dead or struggling against the psychic shadow cast by the Hive Fleet. Making their way through the screaming halls, the Ultramarines met with the chief astropath, Neoma, a blind astropath who hovered on a pool of water. Her attendant, Elodias, tried to tell the Astartes to leave, warning them of the danger with both the Tyranids and increasing Chaos presence threatening the minds of anyone who looks into the Warp, but Neoma psychically pushed Elodias aside and ordered Titus to come closer to give his message. Titus stepped forth, and Neoma psychically stopped him and read the message from his mind, ordering Elodias to proceed, but noted that there were no guarantees that the message would get through. Elodias reluctantly began the transmission ritual, Neoma hovering higher into the air as the astropathic choir in the room chanted louder. Titus stood by with Gadriel and Chairon as Neoma mentally beamed her message through the Warp- only for Neoma to start spasming and screaming, cutting off the message with a declaration of a traitor. Suddenly, Neoma straightened in the air and pointed at Titus, suddenly screeching that he was a heretic, repeated by the Choir. Titus didn't know what was going on, and Neoma then accused Titus of wanting to call Calgar to the system to kill him, saying that Titus betrayed the Imperium on Graia.
Titus struggling with Gadriel under Imurah's influence
Titus reached for his bolt pistol, but held himself back, denouncing Neoma's words as lies. Elodias, caught up in the shock of the events, believed Neoma and called for Titus' squadmates to arrest him- and with his suspicions already festering and boiling over, Gadriel drew his bolt pistol on Titus. Titus insisted that he was no heretic as he faced his subordinate, Neoma still declaring that Titus wanted the power source for himself. As it turns out, Neoma had been possessed by a Chaos Sorcerer in the Warp, spouting lies that preyed on Gadriel's preexisting doubts and skepticism to turn him against his lieutenant, and Gadriel was then caught in the Sorcerer's influence as Elodias yelled for Gadriel to kill Titus. Before Gadriel could pull the trigger, Titus batted his arm away and ordered him to stop, but Gadriel lunged at him and attacked Titus, the two Astartes struggling as Gadriel tried to levy his bolt pistol at Titus, the Sorcerer's influence latching further into him as Titus tried to get Gadriel off him. However, just as Gadriel forced Titus down to a knee and got his pistol to Titus' head, Chairon realized the possession at play, and killed Neoma with a shot from his own pistol.
Upon Neoma's death, the hold on Gadriel was broken, making him and Titus stop fighting in surprise. The psyker's body proceeded to disintegrate into a Warp rift, from which emerged the Sorcerer behind her possession and the Chaos invasion- Imurah, mutant Chaos Marine Sorcerer Lord of the Thousand Sons. Imurah proceeded to attack the Ultramarines, using his Warp-fueled sorcery to get an advantage over them as he taunted Titus, thanking Titus for letting him back into the material universe, claiming to have been watching Titus for a long time and waiting for the moment to face him. Titus, while firing upon Imurah, only declared that the moment would be brief. Citing the moment Titus held the power source on Graia, Imurah tried to persuade Titus to his side, offering great power as Nemeroth did, but as with Nemeroth, Titus refused. Imurah summoned various minions to his aid, but Titus and his companions killed them all and drew Imurah into a closer engagement, but not even the sorcerer's teleporting could save him from Titus' wrath. However, before the Ultramarines could deliver a killing blow, Imurah escaped through a Warp portal to parts unknown, vanishing before Titus could reach him.
Titus was then contacted by Acheran, who reported Warp portals opening across the system, from which Chaos forces were pouring out and heading right for the site of Project Aurora, ordering Titus to get back to the Resilient for immediate redeployment. Chairon then revealed that he knew Neoma was possessed because as a child, he saw an invasion of the Word Bearers traitor Legion, and thus knew the mark of Chaos well. Taking the opportunity, Titus ordered Gadriel and Chairon to return to the Resilient with him, telling Gadriel that although he understood Gadriel's actions, the suspicions had to end there, which Gadriel agreed to.
Titus and his squad salute Acheran, preparing to head out
After returning to the Resilient, which immediately set course for planet Demerium, the site of Project Aurora, the three Ultramarines met with Acheran, who told them about the increasingly dire situation. Most importantly, Acheran revealed that the Thousand Sons had already captured the central Aurora facility- but instead of destroying it, commandeered it with Leuze still inside, seemingly proving Titus' theory. Acheran then explained that they were sending all available forces to Demerium but suspected little chance of success, showing Warp-based structures erected on the planet- namely a Warp beacon and an unknown pillar that was empowering the heretics- and asking for any strategy ideas, as Titus and his companions were building a reputation for unconventional tactics. Gadriel then revealed that he knows about Demerium, namely that it's an Imperial burial world and the site of an ancient battle between Ultramarines and heretics, with a battle barge laid to rest on the planet. Said battle barge, the Sword of Atreus, was too damaged to fly again but had functional engines, so Gadriel suggested reactivating the vessel and using it to ram the power structure. Titus supported the plan, and Acheran approved it, setting the offensive to launch in 90 minutes. Titus saluted Acheran, and then departed with summons from Chaplain Quintus.
Titus arrived at Quintus' chapel with Chairon and Gadriel by his side, complimenting Gadriel's inspired thinking on the way. Meeting with Quintus, the Chaplain expressed that he was troubled by the events at the astropathic relay, asking for clarification on the accusation of heresy. Titus explained that Neoma had been possessed, a possession that Quintus noted that Gadriel believed, berating Gadriel for turning on Titus. Quintus then chided the squad for costing the life of the one person who could've gotten a reinforcement call out to Calgar, declaring that he would keep a closer watch on the three and would not hesitate to put them down if they showed signs of corruption.
Titus was then dismissed to the launch bay with Gadriel and Chairon, where he met with Galeo to ask if Tacticus Armor could withstand a sub-orbital drop, finding the heavier Gravis armor too cumbersome for their mission. Galeo calculated a low survival chance due to the debris field around the planet, so Titus proposed avoiding the debris on descent, but Galeo still returned a low survival chance. Gadriel questioned the strategy, but Titus noted that it was sound- even as Chairon pointed out that it had a 38% failure rate. Regardless, Titus reminded them of the unfavorable conditions they were already under. Titus then set out to the Thunderhawk, meeting with the Ultramarine squads assigned to using the Sword of Atreus and other offensive roles, where Titus told the Astartes about the threat they would face, how the forces of Chaos would use illusions and other deceptions against them, commanding the Ultramarines to trust themselves and their brothers.
Titus reconciles with Gadriel
Loading into a Thunderhawk with a goal of setting the targeting beacon for the Sword of Atreus, Titus readied for a sub-orbital drop, an advance squad sent out before him to destroy the Warp beacon. As he and his companions equipped their jump packs, Titus asked Chairon if he'd ever pulled off the strategy before, remembering his aerial insertion on Graia. Chairon noted that he had not attempted such a strategy before, and Gadriel seemed to protest that the Codex Astartes did not support that action, reminding Titus of Leandros- before Gadriel revealed he looked forward to it. Gadriel then tried to apologize for his actions at the Astropathic Relay, but Titus told him it was not necessary, making amends with Gadriel by admitting that the suspicions were caused by Titus' own negligence in addressing Gadriel's doubts, just as he failed to answer Leandros' doubts back on Graia. Titus confided that he was honored to serve with Gadriel, and encouraged Chairon to settle his old scores with Chaos on Demerium. With that, the three leapt out of the Thunderhawk fully suited, diving through the debris and active dogfights in Demerium's low orbit, quickly getting through the atmosphere even in the harsh glare of the Warp beacon collapsing, landing on the now-corrupted surface of the planet.
Titus watching the Sword of Atreus bring down the Chaos tower
As a burial world, the surface was covered in cemeteries, mausoleums, and temples, but now the surface was shattered and twisted by the dark energies of Chaos, creating floating islands that were difficult to traverse. Titus and his squad pressed on through the corrupted environment, slaying masses of cultists, daemons, and Rubric Marines as they moved to get a clear view of the empowering pillar. Their vox-comms were corrupted with voices from the Warp, but the Ultramarines kept fighting even as Imurah telepathically taunted them, summoning more enemies and illusions before them. Titus soon reached a floating structure in clear view of the Chaos pillar, and set up a targeting beacon, which he and his squad then defended from a heretic offensive as the beacon transmitted its signal. After slaying dozens of daemons, Rubricae, and cultists, the squad sent to the Sword of Atreus locked onto the signal and activated the interred barge's engines, sending it flying right into the pillar, destroying it. With that task complete, Titus and his squad set out to find Leuze and stop Aurora.
The trail to Leuze led them further across Demerium's surface, taunted by illusions of Imurah, Titus vowing to find Imurah in the flesh soon. As the fought through the corrupted landscape, Gadriel wondered if the heretics sought the power source, but Chairon asked why kill Nozick for it, although Titus did not want to speculate- only end the threat while they had the chance. Eventually, the Ultramarines reached the ransacked Aurora site, and saw that it did not resemble a macroweapon assembly at all, but rather, an excavation site. They wondered what the truth behind Aurora was as the three fought their way towards the site entrance, requesting maps of the underground from the Resilient that were denied by the Mechanicus, even overriding Titus' security clearance. Infuriated, Titus pressed on, blasting through heretics to enter the tunnels drilled out by the Mechanicus.
Demerium revealed as a Necron Tomb World
Within the tunnels, aside from finding more heretics, the Ultramarines discovered strange ruins not of Imperial origin, Gadriel wondering if it was a cover for the Aurora project, while Chairon thought that the humanoid figures depicted in murals across the ruins were carved by Chaos worshippers- but Titus recognized them as otherwise, only noting that his battle brothers would soon see the truth. Titus then led them deeper into the ruins, slaying more scores of heretics even as Imurah telepathically tried to convince him that the Ultramarines betrayed him, and made the walkways warp before them as his own apparition taunted Titus. Gadriel and Chairon soon began suspect that Aurora was already on Demerium long before the project started, thinking it was some weapon from humanity's Dark Age of Technology- but after fighting down to the level where Leuze's signal was detected, the three saw Necron structures sprawled throughout the vast caverns, Titus having already recognized the previous murals as Necron art. Demerium was in truth a Necron Tomb World, the mechanical aliens slumbering deep under the surface for millions of years while humanity buried their own honored dead atop them, and Aurora was a Necron weapon the Mechanicus was trying to reactivate.
As Chairon and Gadriel cursed the eternal hubris of the Mechanicus, Titus and his companions were telepathically taunted by Imurah once more, the sorcerer gloating that Guilliman thought he could keep the site secret, but never accounted for the sheer scope of the Thousand Sons spy network. Titus could see fighting happening along the tomb city's central structures, the site of a giant Necron obelisk, and Imurah claimed he would shatter Aurora to spite Guilliman. Titus ordered his men to not be distracted by Imurah's prattling, and directed them towards the obelisk. On the way, moving over winding excavation corridors, Titus was then assaulted by a copy of himself conjured by Imurah, all while Imurah mocked him for still serving the Imperium after years of Inquisitorial torture. Titus managed to overpower and destroy the copy, but was then attacked by more Chaos forces, yelling at Imurah to not speak as if he knew Titus, refusing to hear any more of the heretic's lies. Imurah still tried to goad Titus to claim the power of the shard, but Titus refused again, swearing to Gadriel that he'd destroy the power source for good when he finds it. However, Imurah mimicked Gadriel's voice to suggest that Titus take the shard for himself, although the deception was undone once Titus questioned Gadriel, with both Gadriel and Chairon having said and heard nothing.
Back on the path, Titus tore his way through more and more heretics, encountering more Necron structures and unearthed technologies, including the deactivated chassis of a Canoptek Tomb Stalker that the Mechanicus had accidentally awoken sometime before. Chairon expressed disbelief at the alien tombs being right under their nose for centuries, but Titus pointed out that the tomb had been there for far longer than mere centuries, and that countless worlds had undiscovered slumbering Necrons beneath them. However, with the robotic horrors still dormant even with the invasion, Titus' focus remained on stopping Aurora and Imurah. While progressing further, Titus was then faced with an illusion of Ultramarines pledging allegiance to an apparition of Imurah, Titus and his companions destroying the spectral mockeries while Imurah telepathically argued that the Imperium had betrayed the Thousand Sons with the anti-psyker edict of Nikea, for the Emperor himself is a psyker, and argued that Titus had felt the same betrayal as the 15th Legion, yet another trick to try to get Titus to join him or break his devotion. Like the other tricks, it failed, and the illusion was undone, forcing Titus to then fight through more Thousand Sons forces.
The Ultramarines firing on Leuze
Now racing through what remained of the path, finding the Chaos corruption increasing the closer they got to the obelisk, Titus was once more contacted by Imurah, who only ominously said that he awaited Titus. With that, the Ultramarines finally reached the obelisk, where Leuze was operating a control console in front of it, protected by a Necron-tech forcefield- and had already activated part of Aurora, seemingly freezing several advancing Rubric Marines in place. The power source shard, revealed to have been held within the object that Nozick was trying to transport off Kadaku, was already in place. Having had enough of Leuze's blindness, Titus ordered Leuze to shut Aurora down. However, Leuze refused, insisting that Aurora was what they needed, even while Titus shouted that he had seen the worst of the power source's capabilities. Leuze protested that Aurora was his life's work, but Titus ordered him to shut it down again, which Leuze refused to do. With that, Titus and his companions opened fire on Leuze, but their bolts were absorbed by the shield. Leuze still insisted that his intentions were pure, just before Imurah materialized above the shield, and shot a bolt of Warp energy down at Leuze while remarking that he expected the Ultramarines to do the job for him- only for the shield, powered by Aurora, to harmlessly disperse the energy. Leuze then laughed that Imurah was powerless in Aurora's presence, and Titus attempted to shoot the sorcerer down, but Imurah's own shield blocked his shots.
As Leuze worked to fully power up Aurora, Imurah summoned a new threat to fight the Ultramarines- a Thousand Sons Helbrute, a Dreadnought meant to carry its mutilated Astartes pilot to service even in death, but twisted by Chaos into a feral berserker with flesh growing over the mechanical shell. The Helbrute fought with unbridled savagery, but the Ultramarines were able to evade it and wear it down with continuous fire. After narrowly avoiding the Helbrute's power hammer and plasma cannon, Titus crippled the bestial walker with his own firepower, and then tore the long-tortured pilot's head from his body, finally killing the abomination. At that moment, Leuze activated Aurora's full power, making the obelisk's outer shell crumble away to reveal its true form- a levitating obelisk resembling a double-ended knife, and Imurah seemingly vanished back into the Warp.
Leuze triumphantly declared that Aurora nullified Warp energies, so Imurah could simply not materialize in realspace around it, boasting that Aurora could even seal the Great Rift, although Titus was not convinced. Leuze then inverted a tiny levitating replica of the Aurora obelisk on the control console, claiming it would spread Aurora's nullification field out to cleanse the rest of the Chaos presence on Demerium- but then, Imurah's laughter echoed through the cavern, and he rematerialized, finally revealing his hand in the events. As it turns out, Imurah had been secretly influencing Leuze's work on Aurora, the sorcerer's whisperings mistaken by Leuze for his own inspirations, and as on Graia, Imurah made Leuze unknowingly repurpose Aurora into a weapon that amplified Warp energies rather than stop them. Imurah proceeded to shut down Leuze's forcefield, and slew the Tech-Priest before Titus' eyes with a blast of Warp lightning. Imurah then shunted the controls and power source through a Warp portal even as Titus and his companions opened fire on him, before vanishing with a final spell that brought the cavern down on Titus.
Not too long after, Titus and his squadmates punched their way out of the debris and through the catacombs leading back to the surface, even while their armor was heavily marred by the collapse. Titus attempted to contact Acheran to inform him of Imurah securing the power source, but only received maniacal laughter on the vox-channels. As the three Astartes found their way out of the tunnels, Titus mentally pieced together more of Imurah's plan- Leuze was but a pawn, the scheme began with Nozick's murder, which tricked the Ultramarines into thinking Leuze was next, and the Thousand Sons attack on Leuze's bunker was yet another trick to get the Chapter to retrieve Leuze and send him right to Demerium where Imurah wanted him, driving Leuze and the other Imperials to the speedy completion and firing of Aurora, unaware that the weapon had already been hijacked.
Titus looking at the surfaced Aurora
Upon reaching the surface, Titus saw that the Aurora obelisk had risen high into the air, and its Warp energies had bathed the landscape in even more corruption that before, and a few smaller obelisks regulating it dotting the landscape. Cadian guardsmen who had been stationed near the exit site babbled madly from the Warp ambience, some trying to hold their sanity together while others succumbed and collapsed. Gadriel suggested killing the corrupted Cadians in mercy, but Titus left that decision to any Commissars who survived, simply ordering his companions to find their other battle brothers. They soon found Acheran's signal and set out in its direction, where they discovered other Cadians still of sound mind making a last stand against Thousand Sons forces. Titus did what he could to save the guardsmen in honor of their homeworld's memory, before forging onwards through more onslaughts of heretics and daemons. On the way, Gadriel asked how the situation compared to Graia, and Titus admitted that it was far worse. Then, Titus found two more Ultramarines fending off a Rubricae assault, helping his fellow Astartes overcome the threat before being directed inside a structure the Ultramarines were defending, which is where Acheran and surviving Cadian personnel, including Major Sarkaana, were taking refuge.
Inside, Titus met with Acheran, informing his captain of what happened in the tombs, and that severing Aurora's power source could undo it. However, Titus admitted that he did not know where Imurah sent the power source, so Acheran organized an assault to try to reach the Aurora obelisk on foot, as it was protected by a shield that was impenetrable to orbital bombardment yet let ground troops through. Titus and his companions then accompanied Acheran towards the frontlines, Acheran informing Titus about a second force of Ultramarines that was carrying the company standard, which had lost contact with the rest of the company. Titus vowed to retrieve the standard if the company bearing it had fallen, and then fought through a Chaos assault on a platform outside the command post, narrowly avoiding a Heldrake that incinerated a Cadian platoon. Once the platform was cleared, Titus asked about using an Exterminatus to destroy Aurora, but Acheran was hesitant to disgrace an honored burial world with such an act, although he did agree to call one in if their assault failed.
Titus holding the 2nd Company standard against the tide of Chaos
Discerning that the power source could be within or near the Aurora obelisk, Titus moved on to find the company standard, cutting through a tomb used to temporarily house long-dead Salamanders. Exiting the tomb, Titus found the second force, engaged in an intense defensive stand against a seemingly unending tide of daemons and Rubric Marines- with the 2nd Company Standard lying in the dirt. Refusing to let the banner be dishonored, Titus called for all surviving Ultramarines to assemble around the standard, and personally raised it atop a mound of shattered pillars. With Gadriel and Chairon by his side, and bolt pistol in hand, Titus fired on the Chaos forces with everything he had, even as his battle brothers slowly fell one by one. There seemed to be no end to the Thousand Sons, but the Ultramarines mowed down wave after wave of Tzaangors, cultists, and Rubric Marines that spilled forth from Warp portals before them, even as Scarab Terminators advanced with heavier firepower, Titus keeping the banner raised high. Finally, a Helbrute emerged from the rift, sure to finally break the Ultramarine defense even while Titus fired on the bestial mech. However, just before the Helbrute could fire its plasma cannon on them or close the distance, it was obliterated by a volley of missiles from above, along with vast swathes of Tzaangors around it. Surprised, Titus looked up to see multiple Thunderhawks of the Ultramarines 1st Company descending on the battlefield, and with them, standing on the deployment ramp of a Thunderhawk, was Chapter Master Marneus Calgar, firing down at Tzaangor stragglers with the Gauntlets of Ultramar. The Chapter Master then leapt from his transport with his honor guard, slaying more scores of daemons as he strode forth to meet Titus, the lieutenant saluting him with the standard still in hand. Calgar then revealed that he had in fact received Titus' astropathic message, and asked Titus to brief him on the current situation.
Assembling with Acheran, Calgar was told about the obelisks and how the central one is powering the weapon, with Gadriel pointing out to TItus that the regulator obelisks resembled giant copies of the object on the control console that Leuze inverted to fire Aurora. Titus, realizing that the device functioned on alignment of its regulators, proposed to try to invert the regular obelisks to depower the central one, assuring Calgar that he stood by Gadriel's assessment. Calgar thus agreed to the plan, and had Titus and the Ultramarines force assemble outside, where Calgar led the Ultramarines in a charge towards the central obelisk. As they advanced, a gargantuan Lord of Change, Daemon Lord of Tzeentch, manifested before Aurora, Calgar turning the firepower of the Ultramarines' tanks on the creature while Titus and his squad split off to the nearest regulator obelisk.
Gadriel inverting a regulator while Titus watches
Reaching what appeared to be its control console, Titus was unable to decipher the Necron technology, but soon saw a handheld replica of Aurora hovering over the console, just like the one Leuze had used and pulsing with Warp energy. Deducing its function, Titus prepared to invert it, but Chairon protested that it could kill him. Titus responded that they were out of options, but when he moved to grab it, Gadriel grabbed the device first and inverted it himself with great pain. At once, the regulator's energies turned green as it flipped to Warp nullification, and it fired a beam at the central Aurora obelisk, diminishing its power and making the Lord of Change shrink. Seeing that their strategy worked, Titus assigned squads Veridian and Talasa to invert two of the three remaining regulators, and informed Calgar that he and his squad would handle the last one. Titus briefed the squads over the vox, warning them that the inversion would hurt, before heading out and helping other Ultramarines fend off other Chaos attacks on their way to the targeted regulator. As they kept moving, Titus saw squad Talasa's regulator invert and make the Lord of Change shrink further, the daemon recoiling in agony as more nullification energy was fired. After some assistance from fellow Ultramarine Sergeant Ventiad and his aerial assault squad, Titus faced off against and slew another Helbrute in a courtyard, just in time for squad Veridian to invert their regulator, further weakening the Lord of Change.
Dreadnought Valtus meets Titus
Entering a tunnel in the direction of the last regulator, Titus was joined by Ultramarines Dreadnought Valtus, who slew a Helbrute before him and demanded to be led to slaughter more heretics. Titus readily obliged, guiding the honored giant to the cemetery outside, which was teeming with traitor forces. With Valtus' immense firepower, Titus easily tore a path through the heretics, about to reach the last control console when a Heldrake descended on a pillar above them. However, before the Daemon Engine could unleash its flame breath on the Ultramarines, Valtus threw a statue of the Emperor right at the Heldrake with incredible force, shattering the Chaos abomination in an instant. With the way clear, Titus and his squad ran to the last console, where Chairon volunteered to invert it. While it caused him great pain, Chairon was successful, and with all the regulators inverted, the Warp gate on the central obelisk began to close, the Lord of Change shrinking even more and becoming more vulnerable to the Ultramarines firepower. Calgar then ordered Titus and his men to the front with him for one last charge to destroy the invaders.
Titus, Chairon, and Gadriel running after Calgar into the Warp rift
Joining up with the main force, Titus cut down Tzaangors as he advanced towards the Lord of Change, seeing Imurah firing bolts of Warp lightning at the Ultramarines. Upon noticing Titus, the sorcerer commanded the Lord of Change to attack, the daemon unleashing a wave of Warp energy that blew Astartes away and slowed time, Titus and his squad taking cover behind a rock. As the wave swept over the attacking force, Calgar pushed through it, immune to the energies due to the Chaos-resilient shield of his Iron Halo, just as Imurah opened a Warp rift and vanished into it with the Lord of Change. Seeing Calgar chase Imurah through the rift, Titus and his squad ran to support the Chapter Master, following in the Warp-free trail Calgar left in his wake, the three getting through the portal moments before it closed.
Imurah taunting Titus in the Warp
Now in the Warp, Titus and his companions stood on a floating structure with frozen scenes of the battle on Demerium, but Calgar and Imurah were nowhere in sight. Determined to find Calgar, Titus moved through the Warp structures on the double, even as Imurah telepathically decreed that the Warp was his realm and tried deceiving the Ultramarines with auditory illusions of other Astartes needing aid. Moving further, Titus was blocked by an illusion of Acheran, which coldly declared that Titus had been abandoned in the Deathwatch by Calgar, but Titus saw through Imurah's ruse and pushed onwards. The Ultramarines soon reached Imurah's location, finding the sorcerer on a floating platform with the controls to Aurora, a giant version of the central obelisk looming over them. Titus and his squad immediately fired on Imurah, but Imurah deflected their shots and fired back with Warp bolts, making Titus and his companions take cover behind nearby Necron pillars. Titus demanded to know where Imurah had sent Calgar, but Imurah answered only with more mockery and declarations of his supreme power, prompting Gadriel and Chairon to fire on him again. However, Titus threw a grenade at Imurah, which Imurah deflected downwards, the blast going off near the Aurora controls and disrupting it...briefly opening a pocket dimension where Imurah had imprisoned Calgar, who was furiously fighting his way through endless hordes of Tzaangors. Imurah quickly sealed the prison before Calgar could try to jump out, but Titus then managed to get a shot past Imurah's shield, damaging the Heretic Astartes' pauldron. Enraged, Imurah obliterated the pillars and flew into close combat with the Ultramarines.
Titus in the illusion of Rubric Marines
In yet another fierce battle, Titus and his companions faced off against the sorcerer lord, whose powers were amplified in the Warp. In the battle, Imurah revealed the true purpose of his plan- the entire scheme, from Leuze to the invasion, was an elaborate plot to get revenge on Marneus Calgar, who had imprisoned Imurah in the Warp centuries ago, where Imurah had faced the wrath of the Changer of Ways. Now, Imurah had turned the tables by imprisoning Calgar in the same manner. Regardless, through sheer force of will and faith in the Emperor, Titus and his companions wore Imurah down, even when Imurah casted spells that briefly threw Titus into realms of darkness where copies of Imurah attacked from the shadows. Imurah then teleported away and summoned the Lord of Change, which flew to the edge of the platform and summoned cataclysmic attacks of Chaos sorcery, but was evaded by Titus, causing Imurah to return and battle the three Ultramarines again. After being worn down further, rendered far weaker and more vulnerable, Imurah summoned the Lord of Change again, but as the Daemon assaulted the Astartes, Titus managed to shoot out the monster's eyes, wounding it. At that moment, Imurah fled to the dimension where he imprisoned Calgar and dragged the three Ultramarines with him, Titus awakening standing at attention in seemingly infinite rows of Rubric Marines.
Titus finds Calgar in the Warp
Snapping out of it, Titus found Gadriel and Chairon elsewhere in the rows of Rubric Marines, most of whom were illusions. After destroying the few actual Rubricae, Titus saw the light of Calgar's bolter fire up ahead, and quickly reached the Chapter Master, helping him fend off a few more enemies. Calgar then ordered Titus to prove he wasn't another illusion by repeating what Calgar told him on Talassar, which Titus did, to Calgar's relief. Seeing a stream of energy in the distance, Titus realized that Imurah was hiding there, repowering himself with Aurora. As such, Titus and his squad followed Calgar towards the energy beam, Titus fending off various illusions and Warp apparitions as Calgar shattered images of Rubricae, now able to see Imurah suspended in the beam, which was being projected from the Aurora controls- which still had the power source shard hovering over it. As Imurah madly spouted about being infused with divine knowledge from the energy, possibly starting his ascension to Daemon Prince like Nemeroth before him, Titus reached the beam.
Titus inverting the power source fragment, destroying Aurora and Imurah
At once, Imurah summoned the wounded Lord of Change, Calgar fending it off with Gadriel and Chairon. Titus made for the console with their covering fire, nearly brought to his knees from the agonizing Warp energy around it, but was reinvigorated by Calgar's orders to rise. While Imurah gloated about the suffering of mankind being for nothing, Titus pushed to the power source and grabbed the shard. Even as the energies burned him, Titus' righteous fury burned even brighter, and he forcefully inverted the shard while crushing it in his ceramite gauntlets. With the inversion, Aurora was switched to Warp nullification, the weapon imploding on itself and disintegrating Imurah as the power source was ground to nothingness, Titus engulfed by a blinding explosion as the four Ultramarines were shunted to realspace.
Titus triumphant over Chaos once more
Back on the surface of Demerium, now cleansed of Chaos presence with the weapon gone, Titus awoke surrounded by the victorious Ultramarines. Chairon assured Titus that they won, Calgar telling Titus to rise and continue his duty, but Titus was too grievously wounded to stand. However, Chairon offered his hand, helping Titus rise, where the lieutenant saluted to cheers of victory. More Imperial forces then descended on Demerium, the rising sun shining bright on a system saved after eight days of brutal campaigns. With his mission complete, Titus returned to the Resilient with the Ultramarines. In the deployment bay, Astartes of the 1st and 2nd Companies stood at attention as Titus was personally honored by Calgar, who bestowed the Laurels of Victory upon Titus, declaring Titus to be the true measure of a son of Guilliman. Calgar then asked for Titus' forgiveness for not getting him back sooner, revealing how he had tried before, and how he saw that no evil could ever overcome Titus' devotion.
With that, Calgar informed Titus of a mission he had for Titus, one that Chaplain Quintus had recommended Titus for, which Titus readily accepted. Knowing that the mission would take him from the 2nd Company for a while, Titus exchanged his temporary farewells with Acheran and his squadmates, thanking Gadriel and Chairon for restoring his faith in brotherhood. Titus then met with Quintus just before the Sword of Calth Thunderhawk, Quintus set to accompany him on the mission. The Chaplain reflected on Titus having earned the trust of his battle-brothers, but then warned that suspicions never truly fade, vowing to watch over Titus and show no mercy if the lieutenant ever truly faltered on the path of the Emperor- before Quintus removed his helmet, revealing himself to be an older, scarred, Primaris-ascended Leandros. With that, Titus and Leandros boarded the Sword of Calth together, setting off to the new mission.
And They Shall Know No Fear[]
Titus and his Bladeguard Veteran squad depart for Zsah'Uj
At some point after his victory in the Recidious System, Titus was assigned to a four-marine squad composed of three Bladeguard Veterans from the Ultramarines 1st Company, one of whom was none other than his first mentor Metaurus. Their mission was to destroy a heretical artifact on planet Zsah'Uj, which had been overtaken by an uprising of Tzeentchian cultists. The task was expected to be a suicide mission, but Titus accepted, wearing the Laurels of Victory on his helmet as he assembled with the squad, consisting of himself, Metaurus, and Bladeguards Icaron and Levantus. Titus was specifically tasked with escorting a blind astropath to the artifact's site to protect them against the Chaos energies, the psyker held within an armored coffin that Titus was to drag over the wastelands.
Titus bashes clean through a Tauros
Landing in a canyon on the corrupted, desolate world, Titus and his companions soon found that their vox-comms and location sensors were jammed, relying solely on their sight as they began marching through the bleak rocks and ruins of a battle long past, the subtle Warp energies on the landscape making pools of blood flow upwards and reforming burned-up paper. The four were soon attacked by the cultists, who charged forth on foot and on motorcycles, although Titus and his squadmates easily shot down several with their pistols. The remaining cultists closed the distance, but the Ultramarines proved impervious to the battered and improvised weapons of the corrupted humans, easily crushing the cultists in melee. However, the cultists then brought forth a stolen Leman Russ Punisher tank, its gatling cannon unloading a torrent of bullets that forced the Bladeguards to take cover behind their shields. However, Titus instead left the astropath's coffin and charged at the tank, just as a cultist Tauros zoomed out to ram him. Titus simply bashed through the smaller vehicle without slowing down, leaping atop the tank and killing its gunner with his chainsword, before dropping a grenade down the open top hatch to disable the Punisher.
Titus and his squad slay Tzaangors in the darkness
As another marine planted a melta charge on the tank's side, Metaurus silently returned the astropath's carrier to Titus, who took up its chains without a word as the Ultramarines continued their trek, the Punisher exploding behind them. They soon drew closer to the artifact's location, blood rising from the ground as the purity seals on the Astartes' power armor burned away, but they kept moving, reaching a massive chasm leading far below. Jumping down it, Titus found the environment within dark and even more warped, dragging the astropath further into the darkness with his squad. The Ultramarines were then attacked by Tzaangors in the shadows, but slew the Daemons in moments, illuminating the chamber with the bioluminescent blue blood of their slain foes. The Astartes thus pressed deeper, soon seeing a ghostly chamber before them lined with giant bookshelves and hovering crystals, all leading to a massive doorway. Heading through the door, the Ultramarines found the Chaos artifact- a colossal statue of a Lord of Change.
With their target in sight, Titus opened the coffin, allowing the astropath to kneel before them and pray to the Emperor, channeling his psychic powers into forming a shield before the Astartes. With that, Titus and his companions raised their pistols and opened fire on the statue- which in truth, appeared to be a petrified Lord of Change, for it squawked in pain and summoned spectral claws to defend itself, all of which were dispelled against the shield. However, as the Astartes kept firing, the damage done to the statue awoke its guardian, a horrifically mutated sorcerer.
The sorcerer peers into Titus' mind
The sorcerer unfurled their body from the statue's scepter and flew down to the Ultramarines, landing behind them and casting a spell that froze the chamber in time, preventing the any more shots from hitting their mark. Titus, protected from the spell by the psyker, turned to fire on the sorcerer with his companions, but the sorcerer threw a blade between them, killing the astropath from behind. At once, the protection was undone, and Titus was frozen in time with his comrades, but the men were still able to perceive what was before them. The sorcerer proceeded to stride forth and use their psychic powers to enter the minds of Icaron and Levantus, latching on to their repressed greatest fears and killing them with it. As the two Bladeguards unfroze and fell dead, the sorcerer turned to Metaurus, using their infernal power on the sergeant, but was unable to kill him. Regardless, Metaurus was left incapacitated from the mental assault and collapsed, leaving only Titus. With that, the sorcerer flew to Titus and looked into his mind.
Titus slays the sorcerer
However, within Titus' mind, the sorcerer found no fear. Instead, Titus trudged through the recesses of his mind, his mental image appearing as a child Aspirant during the Ultramarines Trials of Exposure, dragging a chainsword through the wilderness of Macragge. The young Titus then turned to the see the invader to his mind, the mutant sorcerer hovering by in confusion over finding nothing to latch onto. Rather than flee, Titus turned to the sorcerer, stepping forth and aging his image up to a Neophyte, then Firstborn Astartes, and finally, charged forth as a fully armored Primaris Marine, grabbing the sorcerer's staff and crushing it. With that, the sorcerer was immediately expelled from Titus' mind, their real-world staff breaking in their grasp, for Titus knew no fear. At once, the sorcerer's spell on the chamber was undone, time resuming and the Astartes' previously-fired rounds striking the statue. The sorcerer tried to fly away, but Titus leapt into the air after them with his combat knife drawn, vertically bisecting the mutant heretic with a single slash, their halved body splattering to the ground. The statue then crumbled behind him, shooting a bright beam of light into the sky, which the battle-barge overhead locked onto and fired an orbital missile at, Titus dragging the wounded Metaurus back to the canyon outside as the remains of the Lord of Change and its chamber were obliterated.
Titus stands against incoming cultists
Outside, Titus laid Metaurus against a cliff face, removing his helmet and standing by as the wounded sergeant recovered. Metaurus then managed to say to Titus that their mission was complete and it was time to leave, but Titus simply told his old mentor that it was not yet done. With that, Titus put his helmet back on and turned to face an incoming horde of cultists and Tzaangors, Metaurus looking on proudly at what a soul that knew no fear was capable of.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Demetrian Titus was originally relegated to an alternate universe of the mainstream Warhammer 40,000 timeline, as the Ultramarines 2nd Company is captained by Cato Sicarius in late M41. However, as of Space Marine 2, he has been officially included in the mainstream Warhammer 40,000 timeline, with his Blackshield status and later demotion to lieutenant following the events of Space Marine serving to fit him into the proper canon. Issue 497 of the magazine White Dwarf established that the events on Graia happened before Cato Sicarius took command, and the issue's events were adapted into the opening of Space Marine 2.
External Links[]
- Titus on the Warhammer 40,000 Wiki
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