Believing that Guilliman would adopt his standard Codex deployment procedures, Alpharius was surprised by the Ultramarines, as a splinter force including their Primarch made a quick strike at the Alpha Legion's headquarters. Both Primarchs met in combat and Alpharius was killed. Believing the combat over, for who could ever survive the loss of their Primarch in battle, the Ultramarines were taken by surprise by the remaining elements of the Alpha Legion, when they struck back a day later. After a week of constant fighting and heavy losses, the Ultramarines strike force managed to reunite with their main elements, and quickly evacuated the planet. Even though they had lost their Primarch, the Alpha Legion had soundly beaten the Ultramarines, who proceeded to bombard their foes' position from outer space. It should be noted, however, that Alpharius 's death is still considered suspect (especially since the report itself was made out of the writings of an Ultramarine; hardly an unbiased report), even by the Ultramarines, and he may still be at large.