The veil of the Warp was torn apart. The colossal prow of the Vengeful Spirit punched through the barrier of reality, followed by thousands of Chaos warships, polluting Vigilus's orbital space like foul blood pouring from a wound.
Twisted metal spikes on the hulls flickered with ominous green light—the glow of cursed runes burning with empyric energy.
The Black Legion's fleet was daemon-forged; within the Warp, such vessels held greater advantage.
In realspace, their ships seemed almost alive.
Calgar stood within the orbital defense platform's command center. In the hololithic projection before him, a dense swarm of red dots formed an attack grid—this was the largest armada Abaddon had assembled since the Great Rift tore open.
"Vice Legion Master Calgar, we have confirmed the Black Legion's main fleet," the Tech-Priest intoned in a mechanically flattened voice. "Energy signature of the Vengeful Spirit detected. Flagship confirmed. The Despoiler Abaddon is here."
Everyone held their breath. Abaddon had been the greatest bane of the Imperium for ten millennia, even supplanting Horus in some respects.
Thirteen Black Crusades, even birthing the Imperium Nihilus. Only in recent decades had he waned slightly. Before that he was among the galaxy's top combatants.
Would this war be counted as his Fourteenth Black Crusade? Would they face Cadia's fate—
Or would the Ultramarines crush the Despoiler here?
"Soldiers of Vigilus, Sisters of Battle, Ultramarines, gene-sons of Guilliman—
I am Vice Legion Master Calgar. I now deliver the Primarch's command—the Emperor's command: we will hold Vigilus.
Here we will defeat Abaddon the Despoiler. We will not let him disrupt our gene-father's journey. We will annihilate these accursed heretics of Chaos!" Calgar rose and roared.
"For the Imperium! For Ultramar!"
"The Emperor be with us!"
"Purge the vile heretics! Death to heresy!"
The mortal regiments, the Ultramarines, and the Sisters shouted in unison.
"Good. Relay my order: bring every planetary defense online. Here we make our stand against Chaos!" Calgar bellowed.
…
At that moment, high above Vigilus within the Black Legion's armada—
The World Eaters howled bloodlust over the comm-channels, crimson lenses flickering with Chaotic fire. Their god-blessed bodies loomed larger than common Astartes. Angron's sons had long craved slaughter; they couldn't wait to offer mortal and lapdog blood to the Blood God.
Red-eyed, with Butcher's Nails drilled into their skulls, they roared so ferociously that other warbands edged away from the berserkers.
"Servants of the Blood God are the finest warriors—Angron's sons the perfect instruments of war. The opening strike goes to the World Eaters," said the Alien Barbarue impersonating Abaddon.
"Great Warmaster, under your command we shall wash away past shame. The false Emperor will die by your hand," Abaddon's adjutant declared.
They had prepared thoroughly: countless Daemon Princes, champions, and lords had joined the Despoiler, freshly blessed by the dark gods and capable of gigantic forms.
"Keep the Black Legion in phase-shift," intoned the figure upon the Vengeful Spirit's command throne, his spiked gauntlet carving through the hololithic chart.
"World Eater warbands, establish the forward bastion. Night Lords, strike the eastern flak arrays. The other warbands will support."
Calgar's tactical display suddenly flared with warning runes. Three Reaper-class cruisers phased in like ghosts at low orbit, their warped hulls flickering between realspace and Warp. Their macro-batteries locked onto Iron Ring's power core.
"Raise the void shields! All batteries load armor-piercing!" Calgar's voice blasted across the defense grid.
Mortal gunners, boosted by the super-soldier stimulant, loaded at blistering speed. Flak lasers screamed as their cooling systems strained.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Death blossomed in space. The battleship Wrath of Macragge unleashed a full broadside, lances lancing through a Chaos cruiser's bridge. King Joes took to the skies; their Padenium beam cannons fired—
Vaporizing the Dark Apostles within. But then twelve Chaos strike cruisers opened up at once, Warp-energy beams coiling around Ultramarine escorts like vipers.
"Indomitable reports starboard belt breached!"
"Grace of the Emperor's void shields overloaded!"
Damage reports detonated in Calgar's auditory feed.
He watched a frigate disintegrate under the Black Legion's crossfire, blue-armored bodies tumbling silently in the void.
On the ground, World Eater siege tanks rolled over flaming ruins, their gun barrels wrapped with brass chains, each chain ending in a skull torn from a murdered mortal.
A berserker wielding twin axes howled madly—the Blood God's chosen, Khârn, the one who had slaughtered Custodians on Macragge.
Chaos Spawn slithered between the tanks. These pitiful mutants were once human; now they were living shells. The Blood God's warriors shrieked for the blood of mortals.
"For Macragge!" First Captain Diocles led an assault squad out of shattered fortifications.
His power sword lopped off a World Eater's head—but three chain-axes came down at once.
Sisters of Battle on the flank bathed the field in holy flame, turning Spawn to charcoal. These fierce warriors drew greatswords and charged, crying praise to the Emperor.
Captain Diocles's jump pack flared; he rolled under the axes and jammed his bolt pistol into a berserker's chest. The round detonated inside the chest cavity, but the madman charged on with half his torso blown away—until the Canoness's power maul smashed him into pulp.
These blood-maddened heretics feared nothing, fighting in their most primal manner.
"Careful, my lord—the Sisters will fight alongside you!"
Before Diocles could answer, a vast blood-red axe cleaved down, splitting the Sister who had aided him in two.
She died without even realizing who had killed her.
A 3.5-meter giant in Chaos terminator plate, wielding twin great axes, stepped forward.
"No! Damn you!" Diocles roared, lifting his power sword, rage blazing at the monster before him.
"Hahahaha! I smell blood—endless blood. My prey is here.
Skulls for the Skull Throne! Blood for the Blood God!" Khârn roared, swinging his massive axes and lunging for Diocles.
Today he would drink Ultramarine blood, Sister's blood, mortal blood—all for the Blood God.
Diocles's power sword met Khârn's twin axes with a crash, the blast wave hurling debris for meters around.
Sparks flew; brute force locked against brute force. The sword's disruption field shrieked against runes of Chaos.
"Dog of the False Emperor! Your death is at hand!" Khârn snarled, the Butcher's Nails pounding beneath his temples, his voice a beastly bellow.
He heaved down with the right axe, pinning the sword, while the left swept for Diocles's waist.
The Ultramar Captain reacted fast; his jump pack flared and he slipped aside. The axe skimmed his armor, leaving a smoking gouge.
He spun with the momentum; his sword traced a blue arc at Khârn's throat.
"Too slow!" Khârn laughed, not even dodging. The blade bit into his pauldron; terminator plate shattered under the disruption field, but Khârn seemed numb to pain and smashed a headbutt into Diocles's visor.
Thunk!
The Captain's display cracked; blood seeped from his brow.
He staggered, but battle instinct raised his blade in time to catch both axes.
The blow was so strong his knee armor punched into the ground, cracking concrete like a spiderweb.
"Is that all?" Khârn howled, axes raining down like a storm.
Each strike could split a Leman Russ; Diocles fell back, sword spitting sparks as it parried.
"For Macragge!" Diocles suddenly surged forward, overloading his jump pack. His thrust shot for Khârn's heart—hitting true. The blade pierced plate and flesh.
Khârn only laughed wilder, letting the blade run through him. "Behold the Blood God's blessing!"