Pre-Heresy Blood Angels: The Failure at Beroghast

[Son of Carnelian]

The histories of the Great Crusade will dwell on the triumphs of the Emperor's sons more often than their defeats. In this scholar's eyes, it makes sense. Why give any attention to the setbacks, the failures, the routs? The rare times when the official histories mention His angels tasting the sharp sting of defeat, they always follow up with how the Astartes revenged themselves upon their enemies a hundredfold. 

 

But we should remember our defeats as well as our victories. They keep us humble, but they also make our successes all the sweeter. For who can read nothing but victory after victory and not grow bored? What does one learn from the tomes of honor that make up the records of each legion? No, we must remember the failures and the losses that came with them. For there will we find the most knowledge and sometimes, paradoxically, the greatest triumphs. 

 

Beroghast lies just outside the bounds of the Sol System, directly to the galactic north of where I now write this text. The world has an abundance of ice and snow, due to its relative position from its sun. In addition, its mass gives it a higher gravity than most other worlds possess. Barren at first glance, the adapts of the Machine Cult of Mars quickly began excavating in search of valuable resources for the Imperial war machine.

 

But Beroghast held more than just mineral wealth. Deep in the frigid crevices in the polar ice caps, an ancient and terrible species of shape-changing xenos slumbered, known later as the Taruuk. Long held dormant by the frigid environment of Beroghast and kept far beneath the surface by the planet's massive gravitational forces, these xenos only awakened as the first Mechanicum machines made their way deeper and deeper into the ice of the planet. Bursting forth from the ice, the Taruuk wracked bloody ruin upon the hapless explorers. 

 

And so the Imperium called upon its Blood Angels, not yet given that name due to Baal still lying beyond the scope of the Great Crusade. A full company, along with numerous legion support elements, landed in force around the polar ice caps of Beroghast, a host of slate-grey warriors among the blue ice of the northern wastes. Led by Centurion Zeruel, the IXth Legion contingent formed themselves into a circle that enclosed the entire northernmost section of the planet and slowly drew themselves in tighter. 

 

They could not have encountered fiercer resistance. The Taruuk knew nothing of strategy but so too did they know nothing of fear. The threw themselves against their exterminators with an animalistic fury, their bodies nothing more that horrifying amalgams of human and arthropod and their weapons nothing more than randomly-placed appendages tipped with bone. Over and over again, the IXth Legion only barely held the Taruuk at bay, taking massive casualties against enemies that acted as little more than panicked animals. 

 

This continued for two days and nights. Finally, at the dawn of the third day and with the IXth Legion's blood staining the white snow crimson, Centurion Zeruel ordered the withdrawal of all but the smallest host of Blood Angels. Condemning them to death, this noble group held the Taruuk in place while the Blood Angels' ship Victus delivered a concentrated bombardment at the top of Beroghast, cracking the planet's tectonic plates and ending the threat of the Taruuk forever.

 

But the IXth Legion had paid to high a price. Under the merciful leadership of Sangunius, Zeruel might have been pardoned for his actions and his disastrous command of the operation. Instead, the praetors of the legion stripped Zeruel of his position and exiled him into the ranks of the Destroyer Cadre. There, he found a kinship with the black-clad avatars of death, and to this day leads them with a dark zeal that many others find unsettling. 

 

Perhaps someday, he will find redemption. I remain unsure if Sanguinius knows of what occurred on that icy world, but little in his legion passes by him unnoticed. I have no doubt that the Angel will one day need a devil on his side and when that time comes, Zeruel the Iceheart will stand beside him. 

[Master of Asgard]

Really nicely written! A very interesting little story :)

[Son of Carnelian]

Thanks Master of Asgard. I'm just working out a couple concepts for my Blood Angels force right now and I thought those might take the shape of some writing exercises like the one above.