Macer Varren - Sword of Truth: Leading the flight to Terra, the rag-tag fleet of Loyalists arrived in the Kuiper Belt of small planetoids on the outskirts of the Sol System. This flotilla of hodgepodge vessels was comprised of small merchant vessels led by the Daggerline which bore the heraldry of the traitorous World Eaters Legion. Stopped by Loyalist forces, the flotilla was ordered to stand down pending further investigation.Aware of the situation, Malcador the Sigillite sent a pair of his Knights-Errant, the former Death Guard Battle-Captain Nathaniel Garro and former Ultramarines Sergeant and Librarian Tylos Rubio alongside Khorarinn, a member of the Emperor's elite Legio Custodes, aboard the battleship Nolandia to ascertain the true allegiance of this so-called "Loyalist" flotilla.En route to their destination, Rubio informed Garro that he had overhead some of their ship's crew talking -- Khorarinn had already prepared tactical plans, and had issued orders that should the flotilla show the first sign of anything amiss, the barely armed fleet was to be utterly destroyed.Once they arrived, Garro insisted on making vox contact with the flotilla's de facto commander -- the former World Eaters' Captain Macer Varren. As the two warriors exchanged pleasantries, Khorarinn rudely cut their conversation off and ordered the flotilla not to break formation until he was satisfied that that they were not agents of the Arch-Traitor Horus.Khorarinn, Garro and Rubio took a shuttle to the Daggerline to meet with Varren in person, and were surprised that besides the presence of Varren's warriors, there were other Legionaries present from various Space Marine Legions, including a small contingent of Emperor's Children led by Captain Rakatio and White Scars led by Captain Hakeem.In the Custodian's personal view, he believed that Varren, Rakatio and even Garro were tainted by their association with the Traitor Legions. He did not feel this way about the White Scars, who despite their highly independent nature, had always been loyal to the throne of Terra.Though Varren vouched for them all, Khorarinn remained unsatisfied, and vowed to search every inch of the flotilla until he was firmly satisfied that there were no signs of treachery afoot. He ignored Varren's pleas for help for the Human refugees present in the flotilla, despite the fact that many were in dire need of both food and medical attention.Once back aboard the Nolandia, Rubio reported to Garro some disturbing findings. Despite the lack of use of his latent psychic abilities after many years of disuse due to faithfully following the Emperor's dictats in accordance with the Edicts of Nikaea, Rubio informed Garro that he sensed that someone aboard the Daggerline was deceiving them, though he couldn't say with any certainty who it was.This was troubling news, as Garro knew the situation balanced on a sword's edge, for Khorarrin was more than ready to shoot first and ask questions later. Debating the situation in Garro's quarters, the two Legionaries received an encrypted vox transmission from Captain Hakeem.He warned them that though Varren vouched for Captain Rakatio's loyalty, Hakeem had evidence that proved that the Emperor's Children's officer was a member of one of the secret warrior lodges that helped subvert the loyality of those Legionaries under the Warmaster Horus' command.Their conversation was interrupted by a warning klaxon -- one of the unarmed cargo haulers, the Minstral, had broken formation and attempted to flee the area. Failing to respond to vox hails, Khorarrin ordered its destruction as an object lesson to the others. Garro and Rubio were powerless to prevent the ship's destruction, and the Nolandia fired upon it, vapourising the cargo hauler, killing all hands.Disobeying Khorarrin's orders, Garro and Rubio commandeered a shuttle and returned to the Daggerline. They wished to confer with Varren in private. Rubio stayed behind to guard the shuttle whilst Garro sought out the World Eaters captain. Despite assurances of their absolute loyalty, Garro knew that, like him, they were still looked down upon due to the sins committed by their primarchs and their former Legions.Trust was now a hard commodity to come by, and Garro knew that because of the actions of Horus and his fellow conspirators, distrust and suspicion would endure forevermore for any associated with them.Once Garro confronted Varren, he tried to think of a delicate way to broach the subject of Hakeem's suspicions about Rakatio, but went ahead and asked Varren pointedly who did he trust with absolute certainty. At that moment, they were coincidentally interrupted by Rakatio himself, after Varren informed Garro that he trusted Rakatio completely.Before their conversation could proceed any further, they were interrupted by Khorarrin and a squad of armed Imperial naval ratings who teleported aboard the Daggerline. The Custodian produced evidence showing a pict-capture from a flight recorder recovered by a Mechanicum salvage team from the wreckage of the Mistral that displayed a Legionary in the purple livery of the Emperor's Children killing the crew and purposely steering the vessel away from the flotilla.Rakatio protested that he knew nothing of what had occurred, but the Custodian refused to listen to his protests and had Rakatio and his men placed under arrest. Though the impassioned Emperor's Children Captain was tempted to resist, both Garro and Varren pleaded for him to go peacefully, swearing upon their honour that Rakatio and his men would receive justice.Reluctantly, Rakatio acquiesced, and he and his warriors surrendered. Captain Hakeem and his White Scars, whom Khorarinn has already judged trustworthy, volunteered to escort the Custodian and the prisoners to the ship's brig. In the meantime, Rubio had been psychically probing the interior of the Daggerline, following the psychic spoor he sensed during his first meeting aboard the vessel.This psychic trail led him to one of the ship's private quarters, where he found a small object which possessed an inherently evil aura around it. This object was a lodge-medallion found within a White Scars officer's personal belongings. He quickly rushed back to Garro and Varren and informed them of what he had found. The medallion belonged to none other than Captain Hakeem.Garro attempted to Vox Khorarinn to warn him, but was already too late -- Hakeem and the rest of his treacherous White Scars ambushed the Custodian and the prisoners, cutting them down from behind with Bolter fire before they had a chance to fight back. Rakatio and his men all died during the initial attack, but Khorarinn managed to take a few of the Traitors with him before he too was slain.Garro, Rubio and Varren were now effectively trapped aboard the Daggerline. Suddenly they heard Hakeem broadcast a declaration across the flotilla's Vox-system -- he claimed that the Custodian had been killed by agents of Horus and that the White Scars would not rest until they had purged the Traitors from their midst.It was at that moment that the three Loyalist Legionaries realised that Hakeem had willingly sacrificed one of his own warriors in order to sabotage the Mistral and lay the blame at the feet of the Emperor's Children warriors, and that his Techmarine, Harouk, must have somehow altered the pict-capture in order to further incriminate Rakatio.With Hakeem's proclamation, the Human refugees began to panic and attempted to flee. Obeying Khararrin's final orders, the Nolandia began to systematically destroy each fleeing vessel. Garro, Rubio and Varren rushed to the Daggerline's Vox array in order to send a message to the Nolandia, ordering them to stand down, but found its officers had been murdered and the Vox array damaged beyond their ability to repair.The three Loyalists were soon confronted by a White Scars squad as Captain Hakeem taunted them over the ship's intercom, informing Varren that the rest of his World Eaters warriors had already been executed. Though outnumbered, they underestimated the World Eaters Captain's rage, as Varren launched himself into a berserk frenzy.Shrugging off Bolter wounds, Varren continued his berserk charge into the traitorous White Scars squad and proceeded to tear them apart in a hail of blood with his Power Sword. After the brief battle, Garro urged Varren that they must attempt to flee, but Varren refused, swearing to stalk the decks of the Daggerline until every last one of the Traitors were dead by his hand.Garro urged survival over any personal desire for vengeance. He told Varren that he must reserve it for when the time was right, and unleash it upon his former Legion and traitorous Primarch. Varren angrily retorted that Hakeem had been ahead of them every step of the way and that any means of escape off the ship would most assuredly be guarded. Rubio informed them that there was another way, and he led them deeper into the interior of the ship.The three Loyalist warriors soon arrived at the scene of the White Scars ambush where they were confronted by both Hakeem and the majority of his warriors. Garro rebuked the treacherous acts committed by the White Scars captain, but Hakeem informed them that they were in the right -- the Warmaster Horus' victory was inevitable, and that when he finally took the Terran Throne the Legiones Astartes would be elevated and take their place as the rightful masters of the galaxy.Hakeem was forced to concede, however, that his own Primarch Jaghatai Khan and the majority of the White Scars Legion, thus far, remained loyal to the Emperor. But in time, Hakeem assured them, they would come to see the error of their ways. Refusing to listen to anymore of Hakeem's lies, at Varren's word the three Loyalist Astartes charged the enemy.Rubio hurled bolts of psychic power at the Traitors while Garro and Varren were confronted by Hakeem. He engaged the pair of Loyalists with a pair of Power Swords. During their ferocious engagement, Hakeem came to gravely underestimate the World Eater's fury and the Death Guard's skill with a blade. As vicious blows were traded back and forth, Hakeem was forced to fall back after losing an eye to Varren's sword and having the blades of both of his weapons snapped by Garro's formidable master-crafted Power Sword Libertas.Enraged, Hakeem ordered his warriors to take aim and finish the Loyalists with their Bolters, but Rubio called his comrades over to him, for he had found their means of escape -- Khorarrin's personal Teleport Homer, which he had pulled from the dead Custodian's belt. As Rubio triggered its activation stud, Hakeem screamed for his warriors to open fire, but the three Loyalists disappeared as the White Scars' bolt shells passed through empty air.Once aboard the Nolandia, the three warriors stormed onto the bridge and ordered the crew to cease firing on the refugee ships. Garro then ordered the crew to re-target all weapons on the Daggerline. In the meantime Rubio was sent to immediately prepare an astropathic message to the Imperial Palace.Before giving the order to engage, Garro hesitated, and left the choice up to Varren whether or not he wished to see Hakeem and his men captured or destroyed. Before he had even finished asking, Varren gave the order to fire, and the Daggerline was utterly destroyed.Back on Luna, Garro was debriefed by Malcador. The Sigillite commended the Battle-Captain for finding and executing the Traitors. Still disturbed by recent events, Garro informed Malcador of his feelings in regards to the unnecessary, wanton slaughter inflicted upon the Human refugees under Khorarinn's orders.Malcador merely shrugged and informed Garro that although it was regrettable, it was necessary, an inevitable outcome of the rebellion currently being fought. Before he departed Garro's company, the Sigillite informed him that a single ship from the refugee fleet managed to slip past the Nolandia's defences and enter the Sol System, more than likely carrying one or more of Horus' agents directly to Terra.After Malcador took his leave, Rubio and Varren entered the chamber. Garro immediately noticed that Varren now wore the same plain, slate-grey Power Armour of a Knight-Errant of the Sigillite. Varren expressed his wish to Garro that he become one of Malcador's Knight-Errants. Garro accepted, but gave Varren a caveat, that for the time being their sole role in the current war was that of covert agents working in the shadows on behalf of the Sigillite.But he promised that one day soon, they would learn the full purpose of their mission, and face the Traitors with the full fury of their wrath. Until that day, they would act as the Sigillite's "knife in the dark," seeking out and destroying the Warmaster Horus' hidden agents within the Imperium.