The Emperor’s Angel of Death

The second to last medal awarded was the Thunder's Wrath, given to warriors who excelled in boarding actions. Surprisingly, the Minotaurs Chapter received the most. However, their combat record spoke for itself. Even considering only the final battle, the Minotaurs had over nine hundred confirmed kills of Space Marines in boarding actions alone. It was hard to imagine the efficiency with which they eliminated their opponents, which also proved that this Chapter, often scorned as the High Lords' lapdogs, was not all show.

The final highlight of the soldier medals was the Champion's Medal. It had the simplest of names and the plainest of appearances—a simple circle with a laurel wreath surrounding a skull. Yet, it represented an extraordinary honor: defeating the enemy's most powerful champion. This required rigorous review and inquiry, with approval from at least three Chapter Masters or Company Captains to qualify for the medal.

During this expedition, only eleven individuals received this honor. The Astral Knights had only one, Sergeant Robin of the Second Company. Throughout the expedition, he had a documented record of slaying thirty-four enemy champions and leaders. Murad, in second place, had only twenty-one, and Bakhram in third had only fifteen. Others included Grimoldus of the Black Templars, Torkin of the Penitent, and Mein of the Flesh Tearers. Most special was Metellus of the Mantis Warriors. He joined the expedition almost at the last stage, and he had previously left the Chapter. Although he temporarily managed the Chapter after returning, he did not officially hold an officer rank. On Sorscha's suggestion, he was included among the Champion Brothers.

But the fundamental reason for Metellus's selection was that, in the final battle of the Caracalla System alone, he led a boarding party to continuously attack two Red Corsairs capital ships. While slaying over a dozen champions, he also killed Inguar Pozzo, one of Huron's four most trusted warlords. Such a feat was undoubtedly worth writing about in detail and would help the Mantis Warriors escape their penitent crusade.

After the soldier medals were the medals for other 'specialized' roles, such as the Apothecaries' Helix Adeptus, the Chaplains' Fire of Truth, the Librarians' Soul Crown, the Techmarines' Machine Concord, and the ship commanders' Sword of Retribution.

Then, Sorscha awarded the Company Captains the Four-Winged Steel Skull. Furthermore, each Company Captain received a ceremonial sword reforged from the remnants of Red Corsairs weaponry, named the 'Pirate's Bane'.

As for the Chapter Masters, after consulting with the envoy from Terra, Sorscha presented them with the Honorifica Imperialis, the highest-level medal an Astartes could normally receive. It originated from the ancient times of the Great Heresy, and all Space Marines who participated in the defense of Terra received such a medal after the war.

In addition, each Chapter Master received an Iron Halo, personally bestowed by the Sisters of Battle in the Emperor's name. Each participating Chief Chaplain received a brand-new rosary inlaid with 112 miniature rubies, and each Chief Librarian received a reliquary amulet.

After the award ceremony, the podium rose, and everyone realized that they were about to witness the final moment of this expedition.

Sorscha's face was unreadable, but everyone could feel his regret. He adjusted the microphone and said in a deep voice:

"Today, I am very honored and proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with the greatest and finest soldiers and officers of humanity. I remember the unease I felt when I received the expedition order, an unease that should not belong to a Space Marine, because we were undoubtedly facing a formidable enemy. As you have all seen, even before the expedition began, the enemy used various terrifying methods to deal with us. They used massacres to create fear, trying to weaken and disintegrate our will from within. But they failed in all of this because whether it was the Astra Militarum, the Astartes brothers, the Sisters of Battle, or the soldiers of the Adeptus Mechanicus, we were able to unite in battle, covering each other in the hail of bullets. This is the power of humanity, this is the great and indestructible power of the Imperium! What we defend is never our own glory, but what our fathers and grandfathers, countless predecessors and martyrs fought and sacrificed for! We defeated the enemy, although we did not completely eliminate them, we have broken their spine, but unfortunately, there are countless threats throughout the Imperium. We cannot waste time on a broken-spined dog. There are more and more powerful enemies waiting for us to eliminate, and more worlds and people waiting for us to save. Failing to take Huron's head to commemorate those who died in battle is the biggest regret of this expedition, but I believe that there will be successors who can make up for this regret in the future, and I believe that he must be among you!"

When Sorscha finished the last word, everyone shouted at the same time.

"For the Emperor!"

Soon, the envoy from Terra, Faisal, also stepped onto the stage, highly praising the achievements and glorious victory of the expeditionary force on behalf of the High Lords of Terra, and calling Sorscha the 'Savior of the Maelstrom', announcing that the Astral Knights, who led the expedition, would receive a special honor: their Chapter banner would be placed in the Hall of Glory behind the Eternity Gate. However, this decision made some locals from the Maelstrom uneasy, because they remembered that the last Chapter to receive this honor was called the Star Phantoms.

The High Lords' decision, seemingly a reward, was somewhat strange.

In addition, Faisal announced several other decisions of the High Lords.

First, they affirmed the achievements of the Ranger Knights Chapter in defending against the Red Corsairs for many years. Given that their home world had been destroyed by the Red Corsairs, it was decided to allocate an inhabited planet in the reclaimed Kolkeria System as their home world, just like the Star Phantoms Chapter after the First Badab War.

Second, they highly praised the support of the Dark Angels and their successor Chapters for the expedition, and awarded Azrael the High Lords' Seal of Excellence, an extremely rare honor medal personally awarded by the High Lords of Terra, usually given to War Lords and Marshals who led great expeditions. At the same time, a feral world in the Blood骸骨 System was allocated as the home world for the ship-based Chapter, the Disciples of Caliban.

Third, they praised the White Scars Chapter for their assistance in the expedition and granted Kosarro Khan the title of 'Eye of the Maelstrom', allowing him to supervise any armed forces in the Maelstrom when necessary, and to organize armed forces to strike and defend when the Red Corsairs showed signs of resurgence, similar to a non-resident guardian of the Maelstrom.

These three decisions seemed reasonable, but they were actually extremely strange, but those with discerning eyes could still guess the underlying secrets.

The Ranger Knights were one of the founding members of the Alliance of Suffering, which was equivalent to forcibly stripping them from the Alliance of Suffering. Even if they did not leave the organization, it would be difficult to contact them in time due to distance.

And such a lifting up of the Dark Angels and White Scars, but only giving the Astral Knights a 'yin and yang' honor, was a very straightforward provocation of their relationship, which was also in line with most people's views on the High Lords.

But in any case, to this point, the Maelstrom Expedition, on an official level, was formally declared over.