Showing results by author "Rob Sanders" in All Categories

It is the thirty-second millennium and the Imperium is at peace. The Traitor Legions of Chaos are but a distant memory and the many alien races that have long plagued mankind are held in check by the Space Marines. But an ork invasion of unparalleled scale throws the Imperium into disarray. As worlds burn and renowned Space Marine Chapters are destroyed, can the Imperium pull together to defeat the Beast?

The Heresy came to Calth without warning. In just a few hours of betrayal and bloodshed, the proud warriors of the XIIIth Legion - Guilliman's own Ultramarines - were laid low by the treachery of their erstwhile brothers of the XVIIth. Now, as the planet is scoured by solar flares from the wounded Veridian star, the survivors must take the fight to the remaining Word Bearers and their foul allies, or face damnation in the gloomy arcology shelters beneath the planet's surface.

Created in the Emperor's own image, the primarchs had long thought themselves to be princes of the universe and masters of their own destiny - they led the Space Marine Legions in glorious conquest of the galaxy, and no enemy of the Imperium could stand against them. However, even amongst this legendary brotherhood, the seeds of dissent had been sown long before the treacherous Warmaster Horus declared his grand heresy.

After the betrayal at Isstvan, Horus begins his campaign against the Emperor, a galaxy-wide war that can lead only to Terra. But the road to the final confrontation between father and son is a long one - seven years filled with secrecy and silence, plans and foundations being formed across distant stars. An unknown history is about to be unveiled as light is shed on the darkest years of the Horus Heresy, and revelations will surface that will shake the Imperium to its very foundation....

A galaxy burns and brother turns on brother as the conflict brought about by a beloved son’s betrayal reaches its fateful end. The Warmaster Horus has triumphed. His massive fleet at last nears Terra and the patriarchal Throne of his hated father. Many have fallen to bring this moment about; their tales are the ashes upon which the Heresy was born and prospered. Others have played their own small parts, drops in an ocean of war and blood. None of it matters. Terra looks to the skies as it raises its defences. Armies muster, heroes raise their swords, citizens cower. The war is coming. And nothing can stop it.

The Horus Heresy is an epic conflict spanning hundreds of worlds and thousands of battles, laced with countless tales of heroism and valour, betrayal and villainy. This anthology collects some of the most memorable, featuring every one of the Loyalist and Traitor Legions. Whether you're a veteran Legionary or exploring the grim setting of the Horus Heresy for the first time, this handpicked collection of 21 existing short stories features gripping tales for each of the Loyalist and Traitor Legions that waged wars of betrayal and destruction on an immeasurable scale.

The skitarii are the soldiers of the Machine God, the tireless legions of the Adeptus Mechanicus. Holy warriors, they carry the word of the Omnissiah across the galaxy, destroying impure machines and spearheading the Quest for Knowledge. A discovery of ancient technology sends a skitarii legion into battle on a forge world overrun by Chaos. When a cataclysm cuts him off from his tech-priest overseers, Stroika must rally his forces and battle both corrupt machines and Chaos Space Marines.

The Imperium's attempts to defeat the ork menace seem doomed to failure; it is only a matter of time before the greenskins triumph, and mankind is wiped from the galaxy. Yet there is some cause for hope - the psychic weakness of the orks has been found, and a few Sisters of Silence survive. Supported by the full might and technology of the Adeptus Mechanicus, the Space Marines head to the orks' home world one final time. This time there will be no retreat, no surrender. They must succeed...or die in the attempt.

Soon after word reached Terra of Horus' nascent rebellion, Mars fell. Rogue elements within the Mechanicum priesthood, stirred by the Warmaster's promises of independence and prosperity, turned against the Imperium and forced the primarch, Rogal Dorn, to order an impenetrable blockade of the Red Planet. Now it has become clear that the corruption has spread too deep, and that more drastic measures must be taken if the Forge World Principal is to be reclaimed.

Branded traitor since the Heresy, the motives and actions of the Alpha Legion have always been shrouded in mystery. Alpha Legionnaire Occam the Untrue leads his warband out of its hunting grounds in the Maelstrom on an epic quest for salvation, not just for himself, but for his whole Legion. With the forces of the Inquisition snapping at their heels, Occam and his followers must use all their guile and considerable martial prowess as they make their way to the cold heart of the galaxy, to a confrontation that no one, least of all Occam himself, could have foreseen.

The Horus Heresy is a civil war on a scale the likes of which the galaxy has never seen before. After the Great Crusade united the disparate worlds of humanity, the very warriors who made it possible turned on each other and tore it apart. When he is cut off from his brothers and sons and lost in the darkness, can Ferrus Manus reign in his aggression long enough to heed a warning that could change his dark destiny?

Of the many champions of Chaos, none are as great or as feared as mighty Archaon. He is the Everchosen, Exalted Grand Marshal of the Apocalypse and Ender of Worlds, and it is a worthy warrior indeed who can fight by his side. Such Knights of Ruin are known as the Varanguard. Only by answering the call of Archaon can a warrior of Chaos ascend to their ranks, and acceptance is never guaranteed, for their mettle must first be proven.

Archaon – the former templar of Sigmar now dedicated to the Ruinous Powers – continues his quest to claim the six great treasures of Chaos and bring death to the world as the Everchosen of the gods. As he travels the world, from the southern Chaos Wastes to the verdant lands of Bretonnia, Archaon faces unimaginable perils and devastating betrayals.

The Imperium's initial attempts to attack the orks and kill their leader have ended in failure and tragedy, but there can be no surrender – the fate of humanity hangs in the balance. Black Library's epic The Beast Arises saga reaches its conclusion. Discover what happens when the Space Marines head to the orks' home world one final time. There can be no retreat – they must succeed in their mission… or die in the attempt.

Learn more about legendary characters from the ranks of the xenos and the Traitor Astartes, including Ahriman of the Thousand Sons, Fabius Bile of the Emperor's Children, Asurmen of the Craftworld Aeldari and more. Explore these fan-favourite characters as written by Black Library stalwarts including Aaron Dembski-Bowden, John French and Guy Haley.

While loyalist and traitor forces clash on a thousand battlefields across the galaxy, a very different kind of war is being fought in the shadows - a war of subtlety and subterfuge, unknown to many, but one that surely holds the key to victory for either side. Rogal Dorn and his Legion prepare to defend the Solar System against the armies of Warmaster Horus, even as Malcador the Sigillite charges his many agents and spies with missions of the utmost secrecy. The future of the Imperium is being shaped by unseen hands....

The Horus Heresy is a civil war on a scale the likes of which the galaxy has never seen before. After the Great Crusade united the disparate worlds of humanity, the very warriors who made it possible turned on each other and tore it apart. Soon after word reached Terra of Horus's nascent rebellion, Mars fell. Set upon by the forces of the Alpha Legion before they had even recovered from the Razing of Prospero, the Space Wolves have been hounded to the edge of the Alaxxes Nebula. In desperation, Leman Russ called out to his primarch brothers for aid. None came.

The Honoured joins the survivors from both sides in the immediate aftermath of the attack on Calth as they are driven into the subterranean arcology shelters by the tortured Veridian star. While their primarch, Roboute Guilliman, had planned for many seemingly unthinkable eventualities, the Ultramarines now face a new war in the underworld. The Unburdened follows Kurtha Sedd of the Third Hand Chapter of the Word Bearers. Garro: Vow of Faith tells the continuing story of Nathaniel Garro.

In the north of the world the forces of Chaos gather, awaiting their moment to strike. At their head is the Everchosen, the warrior who will lead the final, cataclysmic assault that will usher in the End Times and the reign of the Ruinous Powers. But he was not always thus – he was once a man, a devout servant of the warrior-god Sigmar. What could cause such a soul to fall to the worship of the Dark Gods? What dark events could have put a knight of the Empire on the path to becoming the harbinger of the world's end? And just who was the man who will become known to all as Archaon?

Many are the xenos foes who plague mankind's Imperium. Ancient races which once ruled the galaxy, such as the aeldari and necrons, lurk in the darkness, awaiting their chance to reclaim what was once theirs. Younger races like the upstart T'au Empire grow in power and influence, ever eager to topple humanity and take their place. And across the galaxy, the savage orks wage brutal war, fighting all in their path simply for the joy of battle. This audio drama anthology contains eight tales of the aeldari, the orks and the T'au Empire.