Baal was the homeworld of the Blood Angels.
Judging solely by its current state.
It was merely an ordinary planet within a star system in the northern reaches of Imperium Nihilus, a dry, barren desert world choked with dust.
Yet in the far more distant ancient ages, Baal and its two moons might once have been flourishing worlds teeming with endless life.
It was only through the widespread use of weapons of mass destruction, viral weapons, and nuclear arms that vast quantities of radioactive fallout, chemical pollutants, and deadly biological agents had blanketed every inch of Baal and its two moons.
Leaving behind only mutants who endured it all and wild beasts that had grown ever more violent.
Until the angel named Sanguinius unexpectedly descended upon Baal II, the countless mutant tribes struggling desperately to survive had seemed to glimpse a hope they had never known before.
Baal II was a moon surrounded by countless toxic oceans.
For roughly one-third of every planetary year.
Cities formed from the gathering of countless mutant tribes were plagued by a special natural phenomenon known as the Red Mist.
It was a bloodlike darkness in which nothing outside the buildings could be seen, even with a hand held before one's face.
The crimson mist was also filled with radiation levels and chemical pollution so terrifying that even mutants could not endure them.
Yet for the native-born mutants of Baal II, it was one of the immutable facts of their brief lives.
Thus, they learned to endure everything and to struggle for survival in such a harsh environment.
Whenever wisps of Red Mist laden with heavy-metal particles and toxic substances began spreading everywhere.
Every Baalite would lift the manhole covers concealed within the buildings.
And enter the maze-like Underground Passages to keep vast quantities