With the stunning reveal of the new Captain Titus miniature and the revelation of his return to the captaincy of the Ultramarines Second Company, we’re taking a look back at the renowned officers who have occupied that position over the history of Warhammer 40,000. The Second Company have had quite a few celebrated Captains in recent years – so where do they all fit in?
We’ll start with the Battle for Macragge – a moment that defined the Ultramarines in the broad canon of the 41st Millennium.
Severus Agemman
Though better known as Captain of the Ultramarines’ veteran First Company, Severus Agemman commanded the Second Company until the previous First Captain, Saul Invictus, was killed at the height of the Battle for Macragge – more than 250 years before the opening of the Great Rift. Most recently he has been appointed to the position of Tetrarch by Roboute Guilliman and ordered to reclaim Ultramar’s northern borders, a task perfectly suited to his boundless experience and wisdom.
Lucian Trajan
Captain Trajan rose to command the Second Company in the wake of Agemman’s promotion. He had served under Agemman as First Sergeant, and benefitted greatly from his former Captain’s tutelage. His tenure lasted for over a century of glorious victory, until a battle against the Aeldari of Craftworld Biel-Tan turned sour.
While defending an Imperial world from the xenos, Trajan slew the enemy’s Autarch in single combat, only to learn that the retreating Aeldari had taken one of his Ultramarines captive.* Leading a squad to rescue them, he fell into the clutches of an enemy trap and was gunned down – leaving his Command Squad Sergeant, one Demetrian Titus, to rout the foe and recover his body.
Demetrian Titus
Though he was content to remain a Sergeant and had no aspirations for overall command, Titus eventually accepted Marneus Calgar’s request that he lead the Second Company. A decade after taking up the mantle, Titus embarked on his fateful mission to the forge world of Graia, during which he slew the Chaos Sorcerer Nemeroth but was taken into custody by Inquisitor Thrax after his subordinate, Leandros, questioned the Captain’s seeming resistance to the influence of Chaos.
Thrax would later be consumed by Chaos himself – a workplace hazard for the Inquisition – and Titus was freed when the Grey Knights purged the Inquisitor’s holdings.** Believing he had brought shame on his Chapter, Titus elected to join the Deathwatch as a Black Shield rather than return to the Ultramarines.
Cato Sicarius
With Titus missing and his own First Sergeant Sidonus slain during the events on Graia, it was decided that Cato Sicarius would take the reins of the Second Company due to his exemplary martial skills and uncompromising service to the Chapter. He accumulated many honours and awards during his time leading the Company – such as earning the Valour Crest and being hailed the Knight Champion of Macragge.
Sicarius’ captaincy covered many decisive campaigns for the Ultramarines, including the notorious Damnos Incident and the returned Primarch Roboute Guilliman’s Terran Crusade. After being dispatched back to Macragge with the first host of Primaris Space Marines, his ship was lost in the Warp for five long years, during which time the Ultramarines declared Sicarius missing in action and instated a new Captain in his place.
Sevastus Acheran
Like many Captains, Sevastus Acheran originally served as an officer under his predecessor, but was not with Cato Sicarius when his fateful voyage was swallowed up by the thrashing of the Great Rift. He led the Second Company through many of the defining conflicts of the early Indomitus Crusade, seeing action on Vigilus, within the Pariah Nexus, in Ultramar during the Plague Wars, and in the Fourth Tyrannic War. Most famously, he commanded the company when Titus was reclaimed during the wars of the Recidious System – you may just have encountered him yourself while playing Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2.
Acheran’s illustrious service came to an end upon the hive world of Trygg – a vital and seemingly loyal stronghold that safeguarded the Pyremoat System from Tyranid incursion. After a Munitorum survey vessel and its escort of Mordian Iron Guard disappeared, letting out a single psychic scream before vanishing without a trace, Acheran led a strike force to investigate, accompanied by his decorated Lieutenant, Brother Chairon.
What they found was a powerful Genestealer Cult embedded in the primary hive, their influence stretching from the undercity all the way up to the spires, poised to crack open the world’s defences when the Tyranids arrived. The cult’s uprising had already begun, and threatened to spread across the planet. In order to contain it, Acheran chose to activate the hive’s anti-atomic lockdown protocols, sealing his entire force inside the city with a nearly endless horde of enraged cultists.
This noble choice, to sacrifice himself and his brothers, kept the Genestealer Cult bottled up, and saved the world – and a vulnerable sector – from certain doom. Every last Space Marine that landed on Trygg was slowly worn down in a series of increasingly desperate battles. When Imperial reinforcements arrived to purge the last of the cult, they discovered that Acheran, Chairon, and the rest of their brothers had sold their lives to cull untold numbers of xenos hybrids.
Demetrian Titus (again)
After his legendary victory against the Tyranids and Thousand Sons in the Recidious System, his survival on a seemingly suicidal mission to destroy Chaos artifacts on Zsah’uj, and further successes against the Tyranids on several worlds in the Bastior sub-sector, Titus was the clear candidate to succeed Acheran. Misgivings from many of his peers had long since been silenced, and Titus took up the role, swearing to honour his former Captain’s legacy as he leads the Second Company, and fulfils the duties of the Master of the Watch, a responsibility of the role.
It is now Captain Titus’ duty to fortify the borders of Ultramar and defend his Chapter’s realm even as it expands at Guilliman’s command. Every new conquest is another drain on resources, and his task is difficult in the extreme – but with his Wardens of Ultramar adding their substantial strength to his cause and an agile fleet of elite warriors at his command, Titus is exactly the Space Marine for the job.
Find out more about the battles of 500 Worlds: Titus and the exceptional individuals in the good Captain’s command staff – as well as the insidious Necron threat assaulting Ultramar – right here on Warhammer Community as we get closer to release.
* That captive? A young Ultramarine named Leandros.
** You can read more about his history and recovery in Issue 498 of White Dwarf, available in the Warhammer Vault for Warhammer+ subscribers.
