The Blood of Angels

Approx 500,000 Astartes, 10,000,000 mortal forces of the Imperial Army, Mechanicum, Titan Legios and Knight Households.

### Strength (Defenders)

The Blood Angels Legion
The Baal System Defence Fleet
The Baal Planetary Defence Force
Savages of Baal

### Outcome

The Blood Angels Legion is exterminated and struck from all Imperial Records
Baal and all worlds in the system are subject to Exterminatus
Necalli claims the head of Sanguinius to be presented to Malcador to prove his own legions loyalty
The Star Guardians claim many vessels as spoils of war, their fleet growing greatly as a result
The Vementor and knowledge of Galvarian's attempts to keep the Red Thirst secret are revealed, the Ashen Crows and their lord shamed and shunned as a result.

The **Blood of Angels** is one of the most shameful events in Imperial history, for it saw the fall not merely of an entire legion, but of one of, if not the most, beloved Primarch's, Sanguinius. Falling to their own inner gene-flaw, the Blood Angels brought ruin to countless worlds before five of their brother legions brought them to battle upon the surface of Baal, destroying the IXth and erasing them from Imperial Records.

The consequences of this battle were felt across the Imperium, the Silver Basilisks and other legions who possessed genetic flaws suddenly fearing that they too could be wiped out fo such defects, many of them pushing themselves all the harder to better prove that their loyalty was beyond reproach. Many also believe that the purge of the IXth was a direct reason for many of the traitor legions to turn against the Emperor during the Almire Apostasy, though in this, the fall of the XVIIth is often believed to have had even greater impact on the Astartes Legions.

## The Fall of Angels

Of all the Legiones Astartes, few were as beloved or as renowned as the IXth Legion, the Blood Angels. Masters of close combat, peerless warriors loved and respected throughout the Imperium, and led by none other than the Great Angel himself, Sanguinius, one equally loved by almost all of his brother Primarch’s. Charismatic, compassionate, a genius in command and a superlative warrior, the Lord of Angels was able to act out many roles, as capable as spending time with normal humans as he was at leading his legion to victory on the battlefield. Truly, he was the paragon, first amongst Primarchs . Until the day it all came crashing down.

The IXth Legiones Astartes had always borne a single flaw deep within the coding of their gene seed, even when they strode the stars as the Revenant Legion, the Eaters of the Dead. This flaw was dubbed “the Red Thirst”. It was a bloodlust, a need to not only spill the blood of their foes, but to consume it, the drive going beyond the mere desire into a compulsive need. This madness was the darkest secret of the legion, one which they hid from all outside, with those who suffered from it being corralled and contained by the legion, in the hope that this mutation would be cured, never to be revealed to the Emperor. Alas, as the Crusade continued, the condition continued to strike the legion, the number of cases of warriors falling to the thirst continuing to climb as each new conflict struck the IXth. And then, as the IXth fought alongside the XIIth and XXth Legions against the foul xenos menace known as the Nephilim, the unthinkable happened. The last stone in the legions dam broke open. Sanguinius descended into madness, and with their lord stricken, the curse was complete, the  entirety of the legion falling to their inner demons. The Bloody Path began soon after.

A hundred worlds fell to the rage of the IXth, Xenos, recalcitrant human and Imperial alike, none were spared the blind wrath of angels as they turned towards their homeworld. It was with a heavy heart that the Emperor, in his high wisdom, declared the Blood Angels Damnatio Memoriae, moving to stop the destruction once and for all. Five legions were sent to Baal, to end the threat of the fallen IXth, no effort spared to ensure their destruction would be complete. The taskforce was to be led by Shaaa Hydrades, the Breacher Lord known for his unyielding will and willingness to undertake any duty, no matter how distasteful such a task may have been. Supporting the Star Guardians were the Claws of Xipac, War Bears, Light Bringers and the Ashen Crows. Nearly half a million Astartes, over ten million Imperial Army and an assortment of Mechanicum forces were let loose. This was to be one of the largest military operations in Imperial history. It was a tragedy that it would be for such a dark purpose.

The battle over Baal was led by the Star Guardians, their fleet leading the way. Shaaa Hydrades himself launched an assault against the Red Tear, supported by the most elite of his sons, the dreaded Saturnalians of the 1st Division. Though the fighting was deadly, they gained the bridge and wiped out all resistance.  Shaaa threw down their leader, Captain Furio, in deadly battle. Even as the battle raged in orbit, the second phase began, Imperial Forces passing by the Blood Angels in orbit and landing on the surface. The first wave consisted of brutal frontline combatants, both the Claws of Xipac and the War Bears crashing into the lines of the Blood Angels, Necalli chosen as the commander of all Imperial Ground Forces. The Blood Angels had ever been famed for their furious skill in close quarters and only the IIIrd and VIIth had the ability to match them in open combat, the carnage from such clashes eclipsing anything seen throughout the Great Crusade thus far as Astartes tore into Astartes. The battle was brutal, close and bloody, the Blood Angels always seeking to close any gap, making long ranged combat all but impossible. The IXth had mutated further through unknown means, with many gaining hideous visages and seeming less than human. The Crows used their expertise of the apothecarium to study these mutations and give the Imperial forces their support in slaying the mutant Astartes. The Warp was unleashed across the world, the librarians of the IXth losing any restraint or caution. Here, the untouchable forces of the Light Bringers were deployed, to shut down the worst of these excesses, and in so doing, stopped the spread of anything far worse from taking hold, even if they did so unknowingly. And from orbit, the Star Guardians continued to fight the remnants of the enemy fleet, providing fire support to the surface, Shaaa Hydrades directing the battle with cold detachment, feeding information to Necalli so his brother may decide best where to deploy his forces.

Finally, after three weeks of bloody battle throughout the system, the Lord of Angels came forth. No longer was he a figure of beauty and masculinity. Replacing him, the Fallen Angel looked like some creature from forgotten myth. Eyes of scarlet, porcelain skin, blackened talons and wings whose feathers were now as dark as the void itself, their brilliant white glory all but a distant memory. This was the Vampyr Tyrant of Baal, came to wreak devastation on those who would dare challenge him in his own domain. It was a slaughter, the creature moved at speeds scarcely believed possible. All fell before him, even the noble Columbus Titan, Flock Master of the Ashen Crows, could do nothing to stop his wrath. Galvarian wept at the fall of his greatest son, as well as the loss of his most beloved brother. He armed himself with his greatest and most sinister creation. The Vementor. A mighty suit of armour designed to slay a Primarch when the First Ember had first learnt about the Red Thirst in the years before the purge. But even girded with the very pinnacle of his technological might, he proved no match for the total monstrosity that Sanguinius had become, the Vementor struck down by Sanguinius.

To match this monster took the combined efforts of all the Primarch’s present. Abner prevented the Tyrant’s foresight, leaving him blind to the future. Necalli leapt upon the creatures back, robbing him of his wings and grounding the airborne Vampyr. Kodiak took the brunt of the Vampyr’s strikes, his hardened constitution allowing him to remain standing against blows that would have killed a lesser man, even one of the other Primarch’s present.  Their struggle was titanic, one of the hardest any of them would ever fight in. And yet, united they triumphed. Finally, the Tyrant had fallen. With a great bite, Kodiak tore out the Vampyr’s throat, his lifeblood seeping into the soil of Baal. As one, the IXth screamed out in psychic rage, thousands of souls burning forth. The Vampyr spawn fought with renewed fury, but damped skill, and though it took days, were finally slain to a warrior without pity.

In the aftermath of the duel, when the Tyrant was struck down, Necalli removed the creature’s head along with some feathers from his blackened wings, war trophies as well as proof of their victory. It was then that he found Galvarian, maimed but miraculously alive. With the Vampyr’s head in one hand and carrying his wounded brother in the other, he returned to his own sons. He had proved himself that day, gaining accolades for his valour in combat and his heroism in leading the forces of the Imperium to victory on the ground. Shaaa too was applauded for coordinating the strike from above, claiming many of the captured vessels for himself, the mighty form of the Red Tear, the Gloriana flagship of the IXth, chief amongst them.

The Star Guardians, Claws of Xipac, Light Bringers and War Bears remained behind, to finish the purging of the Blood Angels, the Ashen Crows leaving in disgrace due to the shadowed actions of their lord, his foreknowledge of the flaw in the IXth now known, as well as his attempts to hide it from the Emperor himself. When all was done, the white sands of Baal had been stained red with blood. Any mortal that bore witness to the events of were either cleansed or had their memories of the purge removed. Only the Astartes were left free to bear their sin, too heavy for mortal shoulders. As the first exterminatus weapons fell upon Baal, ensuring its total destruction, the Emperor passed a decree to go out across the Imperium. Word of the IXth, even to speak their name or that of their fallen Primarch, was forbidden on pain of death, those who broke the decree to follow those they wished to speak of.

And so, the first of the Primarch’s fell, consigned to oblivion. He would not be the last.

## Imperial Order of Battle

### The Claws of Xipac

* Necalli, the Cutter of Man, IIIrd Primarch, Lord of the Claws of Xipac, Ground Commander of the Imperial Forces

### The Star Guardians

* Shaaa Hydrades, the Breacher Lord, IVth Primarch, Lord of the Star Guardians, Tactical and Strategic Commander of the Imperial Forces
* Lord Commander Crikon Hanfer - Second in Command of the Star Guardians Legion and Lord of the Saturnalians, Member of Shaaa Hydrades Syriac Council
* Fracturam Lord Commander Varinius Rampt - Former Legion Master and Commander of the IVth Legions Dreadnought Forces, Member of Shaaa Hydrades Syriac Council
* 7th Commander Julius Atalan - Commander of the 7th Division, Member of Shaaa Hydrades Syriac Council
* 8th Commander Sirvan Golz - Commander of the 8th Division and Champion of the IVth Legion

### The War Bears

* Kodiak Ursidae, The Bear of Skara, VIIth Primarch, Lord of the War Bears.

### The Light Bringers

* Abner Cassian, The Empty Sun, Xth Primarch, Lord of the Light Bringers

### The Ashen Crows

* Galvarian, The First Ember, XIth Primarch, Lord of the Ashen Crows