Artellus Numeon - The Odyssey of the Charybdis: With the miraculous recovery of their Primarch's body, the Salamanders soon went forward with their plans and departed Macragge to attempt the perilous voyage to Nocturne. Under normal circumstances, this would already have been a long and arduous voyage, but since the Ruinstorm, the immense warpstorm that was ritualistically summoned by the Word Bearers on Calth, warp-travel had proved erratic at best and deadly at worse. The Ruinstorm was not only dangerous because of the powerful warp turbulences it had brought with it, but because it occluded the light of the Astronomican, and thus, rendered Navigators practically blind, which successfully impeding all warp traffic. Macragge was the only known exception to this as it had been -- for lack of a better word -- "lit up" by the xenos artefact known as the Pharos, located beneath the largest peak on the world of Sotha. As Nocturne lacked both the light of the Pharos and that of the Astronomican, the Salamanders' quest to reach their home world was not only inherently dangerous, but would also likely prove to be fatal. It was no surprise that Roboute Guilliman appeared reluctant to let the Salamanders so easily depart Macragge and his new Imperium.However, Roboute Guilliman's position had been severely weakened by the inability of his most elite warriors both to recapture the fugitive Bartusa Narek and to relocate the corpse of his slain brother. Furthermore, Macragge and Ultramar still needed rebuilding and on a purely strategic matter, the sixy-six Salamanders would hardly make a difference. Leaderless, the Salamanders had been easily subdued, but with the emergence of Artellus Numeon as their new Legion Master, the Salamanders’ reputed stubborness would prove difficult to overcome. In a private audience with the Lord of the Ultramarines, Numeon made it clear that the Salamanders intended to leave Ultramar, with or without Guilliman's blessings. Although he would try to convince Numeon to stay on Macragge, in the end Guilliman would let the Salamanders depart unhindered.The Charybdis was a venerable vessel, a Battle Barge, and more importantly than her size and the sheer power of her formidable arsenal, the Charybdis was a survivor. Never would she be considered beautiful or majestic. War had branded her as surely and indelibly as any fire-born. Despite her aesthetic imperfections, the Charybdis did have something going for her. She was unyielding. Few ships of the XVIII Legion escaped the atrocity at Isstvan V. Her flanks were scored and dented. Burns marked most of her dorsal aspect. Gouges in her hull had been sealed and resealed, then patched with ablative armour. She was scorched and beaten, battered and bruised, but like her Legion, the Charybdis endured. Though her previous captain had also died above Istvaan V, her new bridge crew under Shipmaster Kolo Adyssian and Lieutenant Arikk Gullero, though young, were both experienced and battle-hardened. Guilliman had offered to despatch ships to escort her to the edge of Ultramar, but Numeon had refused, and so the Charybdis would begin her journey and brave the dangers of the Immaterium alone. Shortly before her departure while Artellus Numeon was still contemplating the ship that would take him back to Nocturne, the leader of the Pyre is joined by Aeonid Thiel. Like his Primarch, Thiel did not believe that Vulkan could rise again, but in Numeon he saw a worthy successor for the Lords of Drakes -- a strong leader for a broken Legion.Despite the lack of armed escorts the beginning of the Charybdis’ voyage was without incident. On the edge of the Macragge-system the Salamanders encountered evidence of where a major naval battle had taken place, leaving an immense debris field through which the Battle Barge had to navigate to reach the system's Mandeville Point. At the heart of this desolation lay an gargantuan ship-wreck, vasty superior in size to the Gloriana-class Battleship -- one of the dreaded vessels of the Word Bearers' -- an Abyss-class Battleship. As the Charybdis was clearing the debris field they received an Imperial distress-code emanating from a civilian fuel depot designated as, "Rampart," which had come under attack by a vessel of the XIV Legion, the Death Guard. Closing with the the depot, the Charybdis identified the enemy vessel as a Gladius-class Light Cruiser, the Necrotor, which had already launched landers to assault the civilian station. This placed the Salamanders in dire situation -- although the Charybdis immensely outgunned the Necrotor, the Salamanders’ vessel was woefully undermanned, leaving it vulnerable to eventual boarding actions. However, Zytos and Xathen would not readily let a chance such as this -- to exact retribution on those who had betrayed their Legion on the sands of Istvaan -- pass. Further communications also revealed the presence of an unknown Space Marine operating alone on "Rampart" and opposing the Death Guard. Despite being more than likely outnumbered, the Salamanders organized a landing party which would be led by Artellus Numeon. Both Sergeants agreed upon this course of action, as Numeon had been standing vigil over their Primarch's body and mourning him ever since their departure from Port Hera.