Stronger Blood Angels

The tides of the Warp were forcibly torn apart, and the light of reality pierced their eyes once more.

When the massive, asteroid-like silhouette of the fortress known as the Rock slowly emerged from the warp rift, escorted by the Indomitable Truth and the main fleet of the Dark Angels, and entered the void of the Baal System, even the Blood Angels, who had long known from astropathic messages that reinforcements were coming, could not help but be awed by the grandeur of this force.

Within the system, the atmosphere of war had already grown so thick it seemed almost tangible.

Imperial Navy patrol vessels crisscrossed the void without pause, vigilantly watching every possible avenue of invasion.

Around Baal and its moons, vast numbers of newly constructed orbital defense platforms and surveillance arrays were visible to the naked eye, like steel thorns encircling the planets.

On the planetary surface, the once-barren deserts and rocky terrain had been covered by sprawling fortifications. Anti-orbital batteries stood in dense ranks, energy-shield generators emitted deep hums, and countless mortal auxiliaries and Mechanicus Cult teams bustled through their assigned positions like worker ants.

Yet what drew the attention of the newly arrived Dark Angels even more were the figures assembled around Baal's orbital ports and the major fortress-monasteries on its surface.

Crimson Power Armor formed formations stretching beyond sight, their scale far exceeding that of any ordinary Chapter muster.

More importantly, the aura radiating from these Blood Angels Astartes was not the restlessness and despair of warriors constantly tormented by the Red Thirst and Black Rage, as legend claimed. Instead, they carried a calm, resolute fighting spirit, with strict discipline and impeccable order.

Lion El'Jonson stood upon the bridge of the Indomitable Truth, his sharp gaze sweeping over the tactical star map and the real-time