Red Tear
The Red Tear was a Gloriana Class Battleship[Needs Citation] used as the personal flagship of the Blood Angels Primarch Sanguinius during the Great Crusade[1] and Horus Heresy.[3]
Overview
The Red Tear was originally built at Jupiter and first saw action as a vessel of the Emperor's personal fleet.[5] Seeing action during the Compliance of Murder[1] and the Battle of Signus Prime, it was said that the golden-clad ship was a beautiful sight to behold.[2a] Much of the ship's interior was dominated by the art, monuments, and heraldry of the Blood Angels though following the Battle of Signus Prime these were largely destroyed.[3]
The Red Tear crashed on Signus Prime after its commanding officer Athene DuCade, driven mad by the Chaos presence, killed her bridge crew and destroyed the controls. Most of the line crew died from Chaos-induced madness, during the descent, or on impact. Sanguinius then declared Covenant of Baal the new flagship and had the Red Tear salvaged and converted to a groundside fortress.[2b]
After the Battle of Signus Prime, Sanguinius decreed that all evidence of the Blood Angels' presence be removed, including the Red Tear. It was raised and towed back to Baal.[2c] However as with the rest of the Blood Angels fleet, it became lost within the Ruinstorm and emerged at Ultramar. The vessel was repaired at Macragge and again became Sanguinius' flagship.[3]
During the attempt by Sanguinius, Roboute Guilliman, and Lion El'Jonson to breach the Ruinstorm and reach Terra, the Red Tear was the center of the Blood Angels fleet. It took part in both the Battle of Pyrrhan and Second Battle of Davin, and was damaged by the Daemonship Veritas Ferrum in the latter. However following the battle the Blood Angels were able to make for a clear path to Terra, and Sanguinius led the journey from the Red Tear.[3] The Red Tear made it to Terra and was used as the loyalist command vessel during the Battle of Beta-Garmon.[4] During the Solar War, the Red Tear battled traitor forces over Luna.[6] Following the fall of the Sol System to the traitor forces, the Red Tear was amongst the vessels under Admiral Niora Su-Kassen hiding with the Phalanx at the edge of the System.[7]
Related Articles
Sources
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- 1: Horus Rising (Novel), Part 2: Chapter 7
- 2: Fear to Tread (Novel)
- 3: Ruinstorm (Novel),[Needs Citation]
- 4: Titandeath (Novel), Chapter 19
- 5: The Horus Heresy Book Eight, pg. 56
- 6: The Solar War (Novel), Chapter 18
- 7: Mortis (Novel) - Chapter 5
