Marius Gage - Battle of Calth: Marius Gage was present for the Calth Conjunction in 006.M31, the great muster of both the XIIIth and XVIIth Legions. The Ultramarines and Word Bearers were ordered to muster at the orbital shipyards of Calth in order to carry out a joint xenocide campaign against the threat that stemmed from the Orks of the Ghaslakh Empire. But this was merely a pretense, as the XVIIth Legion's true goal was to strike a blow for Horus -- launching a surprise attack on the Ultramarines -- catching them completely unaware while the Word Bearers would use the advantage of surprise to completely annihilate their hated rivals. The assault at Calth would also allow the Word Bearers to reveal that they, too, now served Ruinous Powers. Calth was not chosen as the site of the confrontation between the Word Bearers and the Ultramarines by chance, for the Word Bearers intended to destroy one of the jewels in the Ultramarines' realm of Ultramar (then known as the Ultramar Coalition), just as the XIIIth Legion had destroyed one of the Word Bearers' greatest achievements, the sacred city of Monarchia on the world of Khur, four decades earlier.Marius Gage was present aboard the Ultramarines' new flagship, Macragge's Honour, when the captured tender, Campanile, was sent careening into the Calth Verdian Anchor, leaving a path of utter destruction in its wake. The shockwave left in the Campanile's wake knocked out the flagship's systems leaving her temporarily blind. In Chapter Master Gage's haste, he simply forgot to open the blast shutters which had automatically closed, blocking the bridge viewports. Once they were reopened, Gage was in shock as he witnessed the absolute devastation amongst the XIIIth Legion's fleet. When vox communications were finally restored, it was readily apparent that the Word Bearers had fired upon some of the Ultramarines' vessels. Upon witnessing the Word Bearers' attack, Roboute Guilliman and his officers concluded that the sons of Lorgar had made some tragic mistake. Some reached the conclusion that the Word Bearers had misconstrued the death of Calth Veridian Anchor as an enemy assault and were firing blindly, their systems or their wits so blasted by the calamity that they were unable to tell friend from foe. Others concluded that the Word Bearers feared that the Ultramarines had taken it upon themselves to censure them again in a repetition of Monarchia, that if the Word Bearers' worst unspoken fears had been confirmed, they saw no alternative but to fight for their very lives. The tortured vox channels were choked with attempts to contact the Word Bearers and restore sanity, but even those few vessels whose hailing systems were functioning were unsuccessful -- the Word Bearers would not, or could not, answer.From the first moment of disaster, the bridge crew of the Ultramarines flagship, Macragge's Honour, had fought valiantly to restore vox capability and establish contact with the Word Bearers. Now, contact was made, albeit limited to a grainy, flickering holo projection and sibilant audio transmission laced with static and feedback. Guilliman demanded his brother stand his fleet down, swearing to Lorgar that the Ultramarines had played no part in whatever disaster had visited Calth. Lorgar had no interest in conversing with his brother and instead spat a bitter curse before terminating the link. In that moment Guilliman saw that what was unfolding could be no accident. With his fleet burning and the Word Bearers crippling or destroying ever more of his vessels with each passing minute, the Primarch of the Ultramarines gave an order he had never imagined he would have cause to speak. With bitter resolve, Roboute Guilliman ordered his sons to defend themselves, authorising measures up to and including return of weapons fire, thus beginning the Mark of Calth. Beginning at Mark Zero, this was the official time index for the progress of a battle that commenced at the outset of any engagement, thus, marking the official beginning of the Battle of Calth.