A low canopy of rust-red clouds hung over Kohnberg Planet.
Windblown sand swept in from every direction, whipping up fine grains that struck armor in a dense patter.
The air reeked of sulfur and scorched earth, each breath irritating some nerve deep in the nose that had never been touched before.
When the Blood Angels descended on this planet, a fierce ambush awaited them.
Khorne Daemons surged forth like wildfires erupting from underground, lunging at the newly landed Space Marines from the rust-red plains, the cracks in dried riverbeds, and the shadows of shattered rock formations.
Some bore enormous curved horns, some dragged huge blades, and some rode crimson whirlwinds. Every one of them radiated pure, undisguised murderous intent.
But the Blood Angels, who had never fought daemons before, took these Khorne Daemons for some kind of xenos.
In those Space Marines' understanding, daemons did not exist in Realspace.
The enemies they had encountered throughout their lives, in combat training and military histories, had always been xenos, rebels, and uncivilized barbarians.
Naturally, they classified these crimson creatures wreathed in black smoke as some harmful alien species.
A fierce beast that was difficult to kill, but still existed in the physical world.
Armed with bolters and chainswords, the Blood Angels employed tactics meant for large predators, surrounding, dividing, and shooting them down.
Their fighting remained efficient and lethal, but the arrogance born of that misconception kept them from truly understanding what they faced.
Sanguinius, Primarch of the Blood Angels and an admirer of the Warmaster, had no idea that his mission to purge these xenos was actually the Warmaster's plot.
To Sanguinius, Horus had always been the elder brother he admired most: the great commander, the Warmaster crowned by the Emperor himself, the most prestigious and accomplished of all the Primarchs.