Warhammer 40K in a box

Chapter 133 Blood Angels
Baal, the home planet of the Blood Angels, the blood-red starlight still shrouds this ancient desert planet and its two satellites.

The hometown of Archangel Sanguinius is like a wasteland. The ancient and sacred Angel Castle stands in the sea of ​​sand, although many parts of the Angel Castle have been buried by yellow sand over the past ten thousand years.

When humans first colonized this planet, Baal and its two satellites had an atmosphere similar to that of the Earth, and the natural environment was far more comfortable than it is now. Although the local star would release highly toxic radiation, at least humans once called it a "mortal paradise."

Baal Prime has always been a rust-red desert world, much like Mars, but its moons are mortal paradises where people live in harmony with nature, enjoying the blessings of fine arts and science, far away from the hardships of the struggle for survival and the chaos of war.

They even ventured onto the desolate surface of Baal Prime, leaving behind colonies and impressive structures.

To this day, the magnificent urban ruins and majestic monuments built with mythical technology scattered across the prime planet of Baal and its satellites still stand tall in the torrent of time, allowing people to glimpse the glory that the people of Baal once had.

But on an old night in the Dark Age of Technology or the Age of Strife, a fierce battle broke out on the three stars of Baal.

The war was accompanied by the widespread use of weapons of mass destruction such as nuclear weapons and viral weapons, which completely destroyed the planet's ecosystem.

As a result, the main star of Baal and its two satellites have been severely polluted, and the surface is filled with strong radioactive dust, chemical toxin pollution and deadly biological viruses.

From then on, the Baal people could only struggle to survive on the severely polluted land, facing a hostile environment and terrifying mutant attacks.

The once prosperous paradise has turned into a doomsday wasteland today.

Before humans arrived at Star Baal, there was an alien race living on this planet, but the specific reason for this is no longer known.

But the golden angels and dark angels they worshipped were passed down to humans.

These two angels engage in an eternal struggle across the invisible Sea of ​​Souls, the Golden Angel growing stronger each time a Son of Bhaal protects the innocent, and the Dark Angel growing stronger each time someone succumbs to the Black Rage.

This is also the most fundamental source of Black Rage, one of the two major genetic defects of the Blood Angels Chapter: Bloodthirst and Black Rage.

Sanguinius's death in battle only triggered the Blood Angels' Black Rage and deepened its effects, but was not its cause.

But no matter what, bloodthirst and black rage have plagued the descendants of Sanguinius. For thousands of years, countless Blood Angels have been unable to extricate themselves from the effects of these two genetic defects, and ultimately have been forced to face one tragic end after another.

Within the massive Angel Castle, an astonishing number of Blood Angels who have fallen into the Black Rage and cannot be redeemed are imprisoned.

Compared to Black Rage, Blood Thirst is a much easier problem to control.

After all, although it sounds very cruel, for the Empire, it is not a big problem for the Blood Angels to drink human blood.

It's just that the Blood Angels have been covering up this secret for the sake of their own reputation (after all, they are the offspring of the Archangels and their image must be perfect) and the serious consequences of indulging in blood thirst (abandoning the teachings of the Archangels and turning back into ghouls).

Dante, Chapter Master of the Blood Angels, is an old warrior who has served the Empire for over 1,600 years. In his long life, he has fallen into the curse of bloodthirst more than once.

In 518.M40, while fighting against invading Chaos Space Marines in Tobias Halt's Hive, Dante, not yet Chapter Master, felt immense remorse and anger for his failure to protect the Hive's workers, which led to his Bloodthirst erupting. Enraged, Dante not only erupted his Bloodthirst, but also nearly triggered his Black Rage, which granted him immense power, allowing him to slay six Chaos Space Marines in a single blow.

But Dante, who had fallen into madness, did not stop there. Instead, he began to attack nearby civilians and suck their blood until Sanguino appeared out of nowhere and knocked Dante unconscious on the spot.

The Blood Angels, who arrived shortly thereafter, executed those civilians not killed by Dante in order to conceal the secret of the Red Thirst from the Empire.

After waking up, Dante felt deeply guilty and disgusted for his loss of control. He vowed that from now on he would never allow himself to suck blood again unless participating in the sacrament of the regiment.

The long-term refusal to drink blood caused Dante to age rapidly. Under the golden helmet he wore was only an old and shriveled face, and his body had also been weak for a long time.

However, now, holding a glass of red wine, Dante felt that the blood thirst in his body was suppressed, or it could be said that it was temporarily "satisfied".

The weak and old body seemed to be nourished, and warm energy flowed throughout the body, making Dante feel the long-lost feeling of strength.

In particular, he could clearly feel that his body, which had become old due to long-term torture of blood thirst, was rapidly recovering to normal. If someone could see, Dante's originally old face under the helmet was gradually becoming younger.

At least he is a handsome middle-aged blond man, not a white-haired old man.

"What on earth is this?" Dante took off his helmet that was engraved with the face of Sanguinius, looked at the Inquisitor in front of him, and asked the question that concerned himself and all the Blood Angels present most.

Dante had not taken off his helmet for a long time, in order to hide his face tortured by blood thirst.

It was also well known among the Blood Angels' high-ranking officials that his body was weak due to not drinking blood for a long time.

However, now he obviously looked like he had recovered, which inevitably aroused great curiosity among the Blood Angels' top brass.

The Inquisitor had recently arrived in Baal and, after visiting the Angel's Keep, had passed on a message to the Blood Angels that a Blood Angel serving in the Death Watch had discovered something that could quench their blood thirst.

This news shocked the entire Blood Angels leadership. They couldn't believe that the Empire actually had something that could quench their blood thirst.

But then the Inquisitor produced a bottle of wine, saying that this was the thing that would quench the thirst of the blood.

After a flurry of verification, and with the chief think tank Mephisto confirming that this was not a trick of Chaos, and even the appearance of Sanguinor, Dante went against the crowd and drank a glass of consecrated wine himself.

The results are now in front of everyone. The Blood Angels no longer doubt that this thing can suppress their blood thirst, but they now want to know what it is and how much it is.

If necessary, the Blood Angels will ensure it at all costs.

(End of this chapter)