Mephiston - Notable Campaigns: Cleansing of the Sin of Damnation (589.M41) - A Space Hulk codenamed Sin of Damnation dropped out of the Warp, dangerously close to the Blood Angels' homeworld of Baal. Strike Force Raphael moved to intercept the Hulk, the young Lexicanium Calistarius deploying alongside squads of 1st Company Terminators via Boarding Torpedoes. A vicious battle erupted throughout kilometres of tangled corridors, chambers and ducts as the Blood Angels battled furiously against the Hulk's Genestealer infestation. Finally, despite heavy casualties and much bloody hardship, the Sin of Damnation was cleansed and its secrets plundered in the Imperium's name.The Hives of Hollonan (992.M41) - Chief Librarian Mephiston leads strike force Sanguinatus to exterminate a Genestealer Cult on the Hive World of Hollonan. Though the infestation is swiftly cleansed, a mighty tendril of Hive Fleet Kraken descended upon the Hive World. Mephiston, recognising that his force is outmatched, sent a distress call into the void before digging in for the inevitable assault. The Tyranid invasion is not long in coming, Hollonan's skies darkening with Mycetic Spores. The days that follow are horrific, long Terran hours dragging by as wave after wave of Tyranid warrior-beasts hurl themselves at the Imperial defences. Only Mephiston's leadership holds the defenders together as they are driven steadily back into Hollonan's sprawling underhive. Finally, during the desperate defence of the Chapel of the Emperor's Repose, Mephiston single-handedly holds off a mighty Tyranid swarm. He slays the Hive Tyrant at the attackers' heart, before being felled by a rampaging Trygon. However, Mephiston's fall only serves to drive the surviving Blood Angels and Planetary Defence Force troops to new heights of fury. So it is that, as fresh companies of Blood Angels and Angels Vermillion plunge through the tainted skies, the last of the defenders still live to be rescued. The Space Marines are not alone, for a force of Aeldari from Craftworld Ulthwé fight at their side. However, these enigmatic xenos allies remain just long enough to see the splinter fleet eradicated and Mephiston pulled broken but unbowed from the wreckage, before they vanish once more.The Shield of Baal (998.M41) - News reaches Baal that the Cryptan Shield, intended to hold back the might of Hive Fleet Leviathan, has collapsed. Already Commander Dante has put plans in motion to defend the Blood Angels' homeworld, strike forces fighting hit-and-run battles with Leviathan's smaller splinter fleets throughout the Red Scar. Meanwhile, the defences of Baal and her moons have been bolstered like never before; indomitable fortresses rise above the sweltering sands, and the might of the Blood Angels' Successor Chapters gather from across the galaxy. Yet still it may not be enough, for the Tyranids were seemingly without number, and Hive Fleet Leviathan learned the weaknesses of its prey at an exponential rate. Knowing that the consumption of the Cryptus System would open the floodgates for an unstoppable Tyranid invasion of Baal, Commander Dante takes action. At the head of a mighty strike force that comprised the 1st and 2nd Companies of the Blood Angels, Brother Corbulo, Captain Karlaen, Chief Librarian Mephiston and the bulk of Gabriel Seth's Flesh Tearers, Dante struck out for the Cryptus System. The Blood Angels successfully delayed the Hive Fleet in the Cryptan System at the cost of much of the system's destruction, but this action only postponed the final reckoning between the Blood Angels and the Tyranids of the Leviathan that would come at the Devastation of Baal only solar months later.Blood Angels Civil War (999.M41) - Upon the world of Cybele, one of the most dire events in the Blood Angels' long history came to pass in the form of Brother Arkio, who possessed the sacred relic known as the Spear of Telesto, and proclaimed himself to be the reincarnation of Sanguinius. Fealty was given to the so-called "Reborn Angel" by many within the ranks of the Blood Angels' 6th Company. Unknown to the Blood Angels, an Ordo Hereticus Inquisitor named Remius Stele, a secret servant of the Ruinous Powers, manipulated the situation to cause a schism within the Chapter. After Gallio and Vode were both killed by Arkio's loyalists, Mephiston decided that he, not Dante, should deal with Arkio. He reasoned that since he was a psyker, he could better detect the taint of Chaos upon Arkio and his followers. Mephiston arrived on the Blood Angels' Shrine World of Sabien to judge Arkio, and turned the powers of his formidable witch-sight upon him. He saw the carefully hidden seed of Chaos that Stele had planted inside Arkio and denounced the "Reborn Angel" as false and Inquisitor Stele as a Heretic. Mephiston then challenged Arkio to a duel but before it began, Arkio's biological brother Sergeant Rafen, a fellow Blood Angel, arrived and offered to challenge him instead. Rafen was one of the few Blood Angels of the 6th Company who had doubted the veracity of Arkio's supposed resurrection, keeping faith with the Emperor and their Primarch, and formally denounced his brother as a false reincarnation. Mephiston looked into Rafen's mind and saw that he had seen a vision of Sanguinius and that he was destined to fight Arkio. The Lord of Death allowed Rafen to take his place, and the two siblings duelled to the death. After Rafen wounded Arkio and he fled, the corrupted Inquisitor Stele ordered the Loyalist Blood Angels and the warriors of the Angel Reborn to attack Mephiston and his entourage. Eventually, Rafen emerged triumphant, impaling Arkio through the heart with the Spear of Telesto. Arkio died begging for his brother's forgiveness. After his sibling's death, the true master behind the nefarious Chaos plot revealed himself -- Malfallax, a Greater Daemon of Tzeentch. Malfallax and Inquisitor Stele had entered into a devil's bargain with Warmaster Garand of the Word Bearers Traitor Legion to turn the Blood Angels to Chaos by using Arkio as a false messiah. When Arkio was killed by his sibling Rafen, Stele attempted to summon Malfallax, intending to have the daemon possess his slave Ulan. Instead, Malfallax betrayed the Inquisitor and possessed his body, fully manifesting as a Lord of Change. Malfallax then attempted to cause the Blood Angels to succumb to the Black Rage, but was in turn banished by Rafen using the Spear of Telesto. By the time Rafen had defeated Malfallax, Mephiston's iron will had snapped, and he fell once more into the Black Rage. Rafen directed the power of the Spear of Telesto at Mephiston himself, breaking the hold of the curse upon the great Librarian for a second time. In the aftermath of this great tragedy, Arkio's remains were eventually burned upon a pyre out of respect for the fact that he had been duped into heresy through no fault of his own. The Blood Angels that willingly followed Arkio learned of the perfidy of the agent of Chaos, Inquisitor Stele, and tried to comprehend the awful realisation that they had been duped. For they had been turned into unwitting pawns in a grand scheme unleashed by the Chaos God Tzeentch to steal their very souls. The fallen Battle-Brothers were brought aboard Mephiston's warship, the Europae, stripped of their wargear and shackled in manacles. One of the Blood Angels strike teams loyal to Mephiston located the hardened steel module from the interior of the Bellus that housed the Progenoid capsules containing the genetic material of the traitorous Blood Angels who had followed Arkio. Many of the clerics aboard the Europae were of the opinion that this gene‐seed was now tainted and fit only for the fires of the fusion furnace, but Mephiston thought otherwise. The genetic material was placed in secure holding for the journey back to Baal; it would be Commander Dante alone who would decide the fate of this gene-seed. There were voices from Baal that counseled that Rafen should be executed along with the Loyalist survivors of the 6th Company. They were afraid Rafen might take the same path as his brother Arkio since they shared the same blood. The knowledge that he had been able to wield the sacred Spear of Telesto changed this opinion. Rafen's dedication and honour to the Chapter was unparalleled. Dante gave Rafen a personal audience once the Europae reached Baal. Though offered a promotion to the rank of Captain and the command of his own company, Rafen refused, choosing to earn the position on his own merits when the time was right. Rafen then made only made one request of the Lord of Death -- clemency and compassion for his Battle-Brothers of the 6th Company who had strayed and followed his sibling into heresy unwittingly. Blinded by their belief in Sanguinius, their faith had been turned against them and misused. Mephiston counseled Rafen that the rites of cleansing and purification that might be employed were quite arduous. Many of his Battle-Brothers would not survive the process. But Rafen informed Mephiston that they would endure and their faith would be twice as strong for it.Devastation of Baal (ca. 999.M41) - As the myriad sons of Sanguinius prepared to face Hive Fleet Leviathan, Mephiston experienced a terrible vision while undergoing the Long Sleep. Brought to him by an Aeldari Harlequin, he foresaw the 5th Company falling to the Black Rage during the Diamor Campaign. He also witnessed Abbadon the Despoiler's 13th Black Crusade. But the worst of his visions was to directly impact the defence of Baal. He saw the dreaded Bloodthirster Ka'Bhanda breaking through to the material realm. Gathering the most powerful Librarians from all the Chapters present at the Arx Angelicum, the conclave of Astartes psykers gathered at the Ruberica, deep within the Cruor Mountains. Using an ancient, and heretical sorcerous ritual, they opened a window directly into the realm of Khorne. Using their combined strength, Mephiston and the Librarians attempted to beat Ka'Bhanda back from the mortal realm. While the ritual was unsuccessful and Ka'Bhanda materialised regardless, they managed to bar him from the holy soil of Baal itelf. Alighting instead on Baal Primus, Ka'Bhanda entered into joyous battle with both the Tyranids and Sentor Jool's Knights of Blood. Due to the power of this ritual, Mephiston and the Librarians were trapped within the bloodstone mines. The war on Baal was finished for them, as they were forced to blast their way out after the conflict ended.