The Baal System, where Sanguinius lay in eternal rest, had now become a fortress of steel and faith.
In orbit, the surviving ships of the Imperial Navy had joined forces with the Indomitus Crusade fleet, forming layer upon layer of defensive formations.
Massive Void fortresses had been towed to key positions, their macro-battery arrays like the fangs of colossal beasts, aimed into the abyssal darkness.
On the planet's surface, Baal Prime, once sacred, was now covered in countless defensive fortifications.
Enormous orbital defense laser arrays pointed skyward like fingers, fortress complexes dotted the land like stars, and interconnected trenches and firing positions scarred the earth.
Yet what truly filled this land of death with tragic vitality were the figures converging like a crimson tide—the descendants of the Blood Angels.
They came from every corner of the galaxy, regardless of all else.
Golden, scarlet, even power armor bearing ancient scars and Inquisition markings gleamed differently beneath Baal's sun, yet all bore the same Blood Angels emblem.
There were warriors of the Blood Angels Chapter who upheld the sacred codex, companies from successor Chapters such as the Flesh Tearers and Carcharodons, and even... Chapters branded "traitors" by the Imperium for various reasons, hunted and scorned. Under countless hostile and suspicious gazes, ignoring the devastating strikes that might come for them, they stepped without hesitation onto this land that was about to become hell.
They had only one reason: defend their genetic father's homeworld! Defend Sanguinius's final legacy! Even if they were reduced to dust, they would not regret it!
When the commanders of those Chapters burdened with the name of "traitor" arrived silently before Guilliman with their battered warriors, whose wills remained as hard as steel, the entire command center fell deathly silent.
The Inquisition representative's face turned livid, while Imperial Navy