Guilliman and Sanguinius had been close back in the day, and the Ultramarines and Blood Angels were bound together by blood.
They had fought together during the Great Crusade and resisted together during the Horus Heresy. Over ten thousand years, they had saved and helped each other time and again. The Ultramarines had helped rebuild the Blood Angels' parent Chapter, and the Blood Angels had helped defend the Ultramarines' borders.
Not a single Ultramarine objected to the Bonfire Festival.
The Blood Angels helped the Ultramarines prepare the bonfires, wood, fuel, food, drinks, and venue.
Macragge was the capital of the Five Hundred Worlds, and Ultramar was one of the Imperium's richest regions.
Mountains of supplies emerged from the Hera Fortress's warehouses: promethium, timber, dry rations, cured meat, Wine, beer, spirits, spices, cloth, flags, lanterns, fireworks...
Military fuel burned for fun, and every kind of luxury was theirs to use freely. The Blood Angels stared, dumbfounded.
Fucking moneybags.
Cartload after cartload of wood came down from the mountains, barrel after barrel of wine came out of the cellars, crate after crate of meat was dragged out of cold storage, and bundle after bundle of lanterns was dug out of storerooms.
Logistics officers stood at the warehouse doors with dataslates, counting, recording, loading, and dispatching.
A bonfire feast took shape in the valley.
When the Blood Angels saw the Ultramarines fumbling around on the level ground as they built their woodpiles, they rolled up their sleeves and went over to help.
Seeing everyone working in an orderly fashion, Dante headed back to the Battle Barge to see whether the supplies the Blood Angels had brought contained anything they could add to the bonfire feast.
Macragge's high mountains were cold. Sunlight kept the days from being chilly, but once the sun went down,