Malum Caedo

Malum Caedo is the main protagonist of the 2023 video game Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun, an indirect sequel to Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine. He is a Sternguard Veteran Space Marine of the Ultramarines Chapter, who fought to stop a renewed Daemonic invasion of planet Graia, the same world that Captain Titus and his allies had previously liberated from both an Ork and Chaos invasion.
Malum Caedo was voiced by Rahul Kohli.
==Biography==
=== Past===
In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war. Sometime by M41, Malum Caedo had joined the ranks of the Ultramarines, hailed as the greatest Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes. The Astartes, better known as Space Marines, were the strongest protectors of the Imperium of Man, the declining bulwark of humanity and its final dwindling hope in a bleak and unforgiving galaxy. After ascending to an Astartes, Malum Caedo joined the Ultramarines 1st Company, and saw many years of service, facing down the most impossible odds as he fought to protect humanity from the countless threats of Chaos and xenos alike. Eventually, Caedo was promoted to Sternguard Veteran, an esteemed and rather flexible rank specialized in ranged weaponry.
In late M41, the Imperial Forge World of Graia was invaded by an Ork WAAAGH!, which was then hijacked by a Chaos incursion led by Chaos Lord Nemeroth. Both the Orks and Nemeroth were thwarted by the valiant efforts of revered Ultramarines 2nd Company captain Titus, his command squad of Leandros and Sergeant Sidonus, the Ultramarines, the Blood Ravens Chapter, and the 203rd Cadian, with Titus personally slaying both the Ork warboss and Nemeroth himself. Nemeroth had nearly succeeded in bringing a Chaos Fleet onto the planet using a Warp-based power source used by radical Inquisitor Drogan, who had been killed and used as a Daemonhost by Nemeroth, allowing Drogan's already-heretical research to be rewired into a Warp rift generator. While Titus destroyed the power source, a fragment of it survived and was lost somewhere on Graia, where it was eventually found by rogue tech-priests who began experimenting with the weapons, revitalizing Drogan's secret experiments on xenos. Caedo, while apparently not part of the Ultramarines reinforcements sent to Graia, knew of the events of this campaign and held great respect for Titus and Sergeant Sidonus, the latter of whom had been killed in action by Nemeroth.
===Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun===
Several years later, the tech-priest's experiments caused the fragment to reopen a Warp rift above the planet, also leading to a Chaos cult uprising around the labs. The Warp rift was then utilized by Black Legion Sorcerer Tumulus Samael, who led an incursion onto Graia once more with hordes of Daemons and Black Legion Chaos Marines. As the Chaos forces arrived on the planet, Malum Caedo was summoned to Graia by Inquisitor Seibel, who had been investigating the actions of the rogue tech-priests and discovered that they were using a fragment of Drogan's power source. Aboard a station of the Graian Crown, an artificial ring of stations over the planet, Caedo and his squad were briefed on the mission by Seibel, who tasked them with retrieving the fragment and purging the heretics. Additionally, they were given Incommodus, a servo-skull originally used by Drogan, to be their guide, as the skull was among the last of Drogan's surviving assets that was not confiscated or destroyed for suspicion of Chaos taint. However, when deployed to the surface in a drop pod, the pod was severely damaged during descent and crash-landed away from the target landing zone, killing all but Caedo. Now the sole survivor of his squad, and armed with only a chainsword, Caedo set out to complete the mission alone, swearing to finish the work that Titus had started. 
Caedo soon encountered Chaos cultists as he made his way towards the overrun labs, cutting through them before finding a bolter. With his new armament, Caedo slew droves of Chaos cultists as he progressed further into the ruined settlements around the pod's landing zone. Collecting more weapons, Caedo found the settlements empty aside from the cultists, before encountering Black Legion Chaos Marines, along with Daemons of the Chaos God Tzeentch, consisting of the Changer of Ways' colorful Horrors. However, the Horrors of Tzeentch were no match for Caedo, for he slew their material forms as easily as he did the cultists and Chaos Marines, pressing ever further towards the suspected location of the power source fragment. Guided by the Servo-skull, Caedo only found more death and destruction overrun by the corruption of Chaos, and thus fought to cleanse each and every area. He eventually faced a Lord of Change, a Greater Daemon of Tzeentch, whose unmatched sorcery threatened to overpower the Ultramarine. However, Caedo's sheer brutal fighting spirit triumphed over the Daemon, destroying it before reaching a database holding directions to the labs where the rogue tech-priests had hidden the fragment. However, in the database's chamber, Caedo was met with Tumulus Samael, who had already discovered the fragment's location, mocking Caedo for being too late. Caedo engaged Samael and his forces in battle, and while Caedo slaughtered the Black Legion Chaos Marines, Samael himself escaped through a portal.
Caedo managed to find the corrupted files from the database, discovering the shard's location and informing Seibel of it. Caedo quickly gave chase to Samael using a nearby Thunderhawk gunship, arriving at a desolate desert region of Graia. There, Caedo was faced with more cultists, Daemons of Tzeentch, and various Daemons of the grotesque Chaos God Nurgle, including Nurglings, Bloat Drones, and Plague Toads. These new foes all fell under Caedo's relentless firepower as he surged through them, determined to complete his mission and save the planet. As Caedo got closer to the fragment's location, he fought his way through a Great Unclean One, a horrid Greater Daemon of Nurgle that exuded pestilence and decay, slaying the foul monstrosity after a particularly fierce battle. Caedo then once again faced off against Samael upon reaching the fragment's location deep within a vault, but Samael still got away with the fragment in his possession, gloating about the power he now possessed. Once the sorcerer had vanished, Caedo was contacted by Seibel, who was still aboard the Crown, where Samael had teleported to with a large Chaos invasion force, quickly overrunning the station in order to both use the station's weapons against the planet and to power the station's Warp-Drive with the fragment, which would enable it to enlarge the Warp rift enough to engulf both Graia and the entire sector. Seibel ordered Caedo to destroy Samael and retrieve the fragment at any cost.
Caedo rushed to the station as fast as possible, where Seibel and surviving personnel were occupied battling daemons and Chaos Marines across the station. Caedo shot his way through the station's various maintenance routes and central massive elevator to make his way to Samael's location at the top of the Crown, killing masses of Daemons and heretics alike, cutting off the enemy's usage of the macrocannons and confronting Samael one last time. Atop the station, Samael had amassed his remaining forces, and fought Caedo directly even while the Ultramarine slew all surrounding cultists and Daemons, Samael continuing to taunt Caedo throughout their battle. After a grueling fight, Caedo wore down Samael and destroyed all his supporting forces, prompting the Chaos Sorcerer to face Caedo alone. Caedo wasted no time and fought Samael with his full fury, ultimately eviscerating the sorcerer's body with his arsenal, killing him. For good measure, as Caedo stood over the bloodied, severed head of Samael, still wearing its defiled helmet, Caedo obliterated it with a few more shots from his bolter.
With the heretic dead and the station clear of threats, Caedo was immediately met with Seibel, who brought the containment device for the fragment. Taking the fragment off Samael's remains, Caedo and Seibel neutralized it by sealing it in the container, causing the Warp rift to seal itself, sparing Graia from what would've been an eternal hell. However, Seibel pointed out that enemies still lurked on the planet, from lingering Chaos cults to surviving Chaos Marines and even Daemon stragglers, meaning that Caedo's work was not yet done. However, Caedo was more than willing to do his duty to the Emperor and humanity, reloading his bolter on command as he set out to complete the purge of Chaos.
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