Battle of Khartas
The Battle of Khartas pitted the Blood Angels Space Marine Chapter against human pirates and later, the Daemonic forces of Chaos[1a] in 823.M41.[2]
Prelude
The Blood Angels Strike Cruiser Baal's Fist was returning from campaign when it received a distress call that the world of Khartas that it was under attack by bands of pirates. Captain Abel Zorael decided to respond to crisis, and through sheer luck Baal's Fist emerged from the Warp directly on top of the pirate fleet.[1a]
The Battle
All but obliterating the small pirate craft with devastating broadsides, Baal's Fist then engaged and disabled the pirate flagship, the Cruiser Slaughterer's Laughter. Captured in Khartas' gravity well, Slaughter's Laughter crashed into the worlds northern cities and Captain Zorael led a force of three squads to the surface to root out any surviving pirates.[1a]
However, things soon took a turn for the worse. The Slaughterer's Laughter's damaged Warp Drives malfunctioned and tore away at the very fabric of the Materium, opening a portal to the Warp and unleashing a horde of Chaos Daemons upon Khartas. The arriving Blood Angels Stormraven Gunships suffered catastrophic malfunctions in the ensuing storm of warp energy and crashed throughout the area, scattering the Blood Angels midst an emerging sea of Bloodletters led by the powerful Bloodthirster Ka'Bandha, a Greater Daemon of Khorne who had once battled the Blood Angels Primarch Sanguinius and has since become an arch-enemy of the Blood Angels Chapter. Captain Zorael proved no match for the mighty creature and was struck down ,then decapitated in a single blow.[1a]
With the fall of their Captain, dismay threatened the surviving Blood Angels as hand-to-hand combat with the Bloodletter hordes of Ka'Bandha raged. Managing to fight on and put up stiff resistance, Ka'Bandha himself was about to fly to the pocket of greatest Space Marine resistance, the Imperial shrine of Khartas, when a golden figure hurled out of the heavens like a meteor and crashed directly into the Bloodthirster. The Sanguinor, legendary protector of the Blood Angels, had arrived.[1b]
Engaging in mortal combat, Sanguinor proved faster and more graceful than the powerful Bloodthirster. As the Angel and the Daemon struck devastating blows to one another, Sanguinor managed to catch the Bloodthirster's whip and hurl himself forward, piercing Ka'Bandha's chest with his blade. But Ka'Bandha was still not yet slain and both combatants were weary. In a move of desperation, Sanguinor grabbed Ka'Bandha and flew high into the upper atmosphere with his jump pack. Pulling his sword from Ka'Bandha's chest, the Bloodthirster plummeted to the earth below and the Daemon was shattered, its spirit sent back to the Warp.[1b]
With the banishment of Ka'Bandha, his Daemonic Horde was soon scattered and the Blood Angels were rescued by reinforcements from Baal's Fist. But of the thirty Space Marines who had originally made planetfall, only six remained. Sanguinor himself vanished in the final moments of the battle, leaving the battle as mysterious as he had arrived.[1b]
Sources
- 1: Codex: Blood Angels (5th Edition)
- 2: Codex: Blood Angels (7th Edition) - A Chronicle of Heroes
