Fall of Cadia Summary and spoilers

Well, I can only sum up the story in Fall of Cadia in two words: Cadia STANDS!

Yes, that's right. Cadia didn't fall. Cadia remains standing. Okay, so it got destroyed and turned into a daemon planet. So humans can no longer live in it. So what? The Cadians made their last stand, their spirits remain unbroken and they drove the forces of Chaos - including Abaddon himself - off the surface of their planet. In the end, about 3 million Cadians escaped with their lives aboard the Phalanx, but that's a detail I'll get to later. I'll just say this: Cadia STANDS!

Okay, let's start from the beginning. Fall of Cadia begins with the awakening of Celestine, the living Saint. Apparently she's very tired, but there's no one else to fight, so she answers the call to battle, wakes up and travels from...the Warp? Well, the book says the Void, but Celestine basically picks up her sword and flies to Cadia. Yay. Reinforcements!

Cadia stands. After Abaddon threw his forces into the meatgrinder, the defenders of Cadia repulsed the armies of Chaos at great cost. However, they succeeded, driving away Chaos and destroying their armies and fleets. Cadia stands. Ursarkar Creed, Lord Castellan of Cadia, has used his tactical genius to outwit the enemy and defeated them. Millions of Cadians have fallen in the defense of their world, and almost as many Imperial Guard regiments from other worlds, devoted Sisters of Battle, and the stalwart warriors of the Adeptus Astartes, have sacrificed for a world that is not theirs. Their deaths were not in vain. Cadia still stands defiant before the fleeing armies of the Despoiler, unbroken, proud and strong.

Unfortunately, Creed knows as well as Abaddon himself that this isn't the end. Victory was still far from reach. The Despoiler will surely attack again, and this time with several times more ferocity than the last one. Hence, Creed begins rallying his defenses, repairing whatever bastions or macro-cannon batteries, orbital defenses, fortresses that he can, and sacrifices the few remaining astropaths and psykers to send a signal through the broiling warp storm to call for reinforcements. Whether those reinforcements will arrive or not does not matter. Cadia will fight on.

Unfortunately, right after the message is sent, a ship comes in bearing an ominous message. A massive armada of Chaos ships have just warped into the Cadian system, much bigger than the preceding fleet. The previous assault was just the first wave, a quick and superficial foray to test the defenses of Cadia. Abaddon's 13th Black Crusade has only just truly begun...

Oh, and there's some mention about the Cadian pylon and how oh-so-mysterious they are. Foreshadowing the role they will play later in the story, no doubt. Whatever the case, the Adeptus Mechanicus is only sure of this single fact: they are ancient, they were build by xenos so primordial they existed before the birth of the first signs of life on Earth. Oh, and they apparently have an effect on calming the Warp around the Eye of Terror, hence providing the only stable pathway from the Warp - hence the Cadian Gate, because the pylons allowed for the Warp storms to stabilize for safe travel. Yay.

Anyway, we then suddenly move to Eriad VI. Archmagos Belisarius Cawl leads his Conclave Acquisitorius to uncover xenos archeotech and ancient artifacts on Eriad VI, his Explorator fleet inadvertently drawing Ork hordes who want nothing more than to wage war and loot. Led by Big Mek Gangrek, who Cawl slays personally with his Solar Atomizer, the Orks number in legions and relentlessly assault the slowly dwindling Mechanicus army, Skitarii maniples and war machines. Cawl continues digging despite the inevitable defeat of his forces, encouraged by Sylandri Veilwalker, a Harlequin Shadowseer, who leaves a cryptic message. I have to love their exchange. Veilwalker speaks in poetic riddles, saying nonsense like, "the music of destiny is changing. The dancers must learn new steps, or perish in the fading notes." I was like, "huh? What the hell are you talking about?" And to my amusement, Cawl has the same reaction, staring at her blankly. Almost as if she was sighing, Veilwalker then explains, "I'm here to tell you to keep digging." Dude...just say that from the start. Confusing riddles don't help anyone.

Then we move to the Necron, Trazyn the Infinite, who...well, basically he doesn't behave like a Necron at all. Bloody hell, the xenos acts exactly like a freaking human. He gets irritated when the Bell of Saint Gerstahl rings, ending up destroying his vault and accidentally commands his warrior legions to hibernate in stasis-sleep, his stuff got destroyed. He gets irritated, but gets the warning basically and embarks for Cadia.

The next step is the Phalanx, which comes under attack by the Iron Warriors, led by the Warsmith Shon'tu...who dies. The Daemon Prince Be'lakor takes over, but the Imperial Fists, under the command of Captain Tor Garadon, fight back and defend the Phalanx from Traitor Marines and Daemons alike, but at great cost. The 1st and 3rd Companies lost a lot of good men, and they were forced to purge one-tenth of the Phalanx. Wounded, they escape into the Warp to prevent the Traitors from turning the Phalanx's weapons on holy Terra. The Daemons, thanks to the Phalanx's entry into the Warp, grew stronger, but the dwindling Imperial Fists were aided by the sudden appearance of the Legion of the Damned. Hell, yeah! The Imperial Fists and Legion of the Damned combined forces and eradicated every trace of Daemons from the Phalanx, including giving Be'lakor the smackdown and pummeling him with Garadon's power fist. The Daemon Prince got fisted...literally. Anyway, finding out about the crisis on Cadia, Garadon heads there immediately despite the protests of Commodore Trevaux and with the approval of the Legion of the Damned. Hot damn.

The formidable fleet of Abaddon's forces sail into the Cadian system, sweeping aside any Imperial Navy ship that dared stood in their way. Uniting the various ships, from the Despoiler's Black Legion black ships, Nurgle's plagueships, the Thousand Sons' cabal-ships and the World Eaters' blood-red leviathans, which included the historical and legendary flagships Terminus Est and the Fortress of Agony, Failbaddon, I mean Abaddon plans the demise of mighty Cadia. Key in his fleet is the last known survivor of the Blackstone Fortresses, the Will of Eternity, which possesses the power to annihilate entire planets in Planetary Annihilation style. Not looking too good for our valiant Cadian defenders here, I'm afraid.

With the approach of the Blackstone Fortress, Cadia gets nervous, Creed understanding the significance of it, and orders the repair of some null-array thingy that will neutralize the Blackstone Fortress's planet-killer beam. Someone send that blueprint to the Star Wars universe, they're going to need it. Ahem, anyway, Magos Klarn and his tech-priests and servitors are unable to repair and complete the null-array in time, so a Space Wolf vessel, the Firemane's Fang, offers to board the Vengeful Spirit in a desperate attempt to delay the arrival of the Will of Eternity, bringing two hundred Space Marines from various chapters, including 58 Space Wolves, and the survivors of the Cadian 13th and a full maniple of the Martian Skitarii. Evidently, they failed and were destroyed, or so it's implied, but you'll see Sven Bloodhowl again. Apparently they succeeded in boarding the Will of Eternity, but I'll get to that later. Whatever their fate, the Chaos fleet, along with Will of Eternity. shows up above Cadia before the null-array is completed. Fortunately, the null-array worked, thanks to Trazyn's intervention, and sacrificing a few Mechanicus adepts to his cost - their deaths were worth it, his nanobots improving the null-array and allowing Cadia to weather the planet-killer's beam. Yay. Cadia stands. For now at least, for the siege of Cadia has only just begun, with its skies polluted by the dark forms of traitor drop-ships.

The battle took place at Kasr Kraf, and boom! Fights take place, Cadians die, Traitors die, Space Marines die, but they hold. More Traitors die than Loyalists, the Imperium's stalwart defenders reaping a toll many times that of their number. In addition to the Ironwolves of Space Wolves, the Dark Angels, Dark Templar and Novamarines join in, as do many other Chapters. The Knights of House Raven sally forth, wreaking destruction in the Chaos lines. The Sisters of Battle hold the Shrine of Saint Morrican, even against three Lords of Skulls, which were destroyed by the Canoness Genevieve. Her sister Eleanor helps out when Genevieve was wounded, fight, fight, etc. But they hold. The Traitor Titan Legion, Legio Vulcanum, is almost taken out by the Valkyrie squadron of the Howling 119th, taking out the lead Warlord Titan and sending the rest of the Titans in confusion. Cadia continues to fight defiantly, the Cadians valiant against the unceasing tide of Chaos.

The Hounds of Abaddon, led by the Daemon Prince, Urkanthos, charge into Kasr Kraf. Their charge basically broke Kasr Kraf and it fell apart. Beset by the surviving Titans of Legio Vulcanum, which the Knights of House Raven - led by Baroness Vardus, fight a losing battle against, swarmed by Daemons and cultists from within, even the courageous Cadians faltered. The Space Marines lent whatever aid they can, but even their inspiring presence wasn't enough to turn the tide. Urkanthos fights all the way to the heart of Kasr Kraf, determined to destroy the null-array so that the Will of Eternity can fire its planet-killer beam and obliterate Cadia. Many Cadians and Sisters of Battle stand in his way, but he kills them all. Canonesses Genevieve and Eleanor fight valiantly and bravely against all odds, but the Daemon Prince proved too much for them. Despite inflicting agonizing wounds on Urkanthos, Genevieve and Eleanor eventually succumb to his brutal assaults.

In the midst of it all, a traitor Baneblade suddenly attacks the Chaos Space Marines and cultists, thanks to the intervention of Trazyn, whose nanomachines infiltrated its system and turn it on the traitors. Yay for the Necrons, I guess?

After killing Magos Klarn, Urkanthos is poised to destroy the null-array...

And then we have a sudden switch back to Belisarius Cawl, who finds a pylon in Eriad VI, the same pylon as the ones scattered all over Cadia. Revelation dawns upon Cawl, who suddenly understands what this means, what the pylons' true purpose were. Taming the Warp, basically, if you don't get it. Anyway, Cawl understands that he has to rush to Cadia to save the pylons, for he finally sees through Abaddon's insidious plans and understands what the Despoiler has been planning all this time, with these thirteen Black Crusades that have seemingly "failed".

Looks like it's Abaddon's turn to smirk and say, "just as planned." Damn him. Ugh.

Just when all hope is lost in Cadia, Celestine plunges in from above, inspiring courage and hope in all the defenders. She revives Canonesses Genevieve and Eleanor as the Geminae Superia, and they kick Urkanthos's ass after he destroys the null-array. Though the null-array is destroyed and the Blackstone Fortress can fire, the Phalanx shows up from the Warp, destroys a bunch of Chaos ships and charge right at the Will of Eternity. Not only that, they send reinforcements in Thunderhawk gunships, the survivors of the Imperial Fists 1st and 3rd Companies joining the fight. Oh, and let's not forget the Legion of the Damned.

Remember Sven Bloodhowl and all those Space Marines, Cadian 13th and Skitarii that jumped onto the Firemane's Fang to delay the Blackstone Fortress? Apparently they boarded the Will of Eternity, like I told you. They play a huge part in blowing up the Blackstone Fortress from within, fighting inside and for some reason the Blackstone Fortress itself seemed to aid the Imperium's defenders, its bulkheads unsealing and automated defenses disengaging. Thanks to the intercession of the Phalanx, which took out a huge chunk of the Blackstone Fortress, the Imperium boarders seized the chance and blow the Will of Eternity up from the inside. Hooray! No more planet-killing spectacle...whoops, I spoke too soon.

Anyway, with the Will of Eternity destroyed, the biggest threat to Cadia has been eliminated. With the arrival of Celestine, the Living Saint, and the fresh reinforcements from the Imperial Fists, Legion of the Damned and more, Cadia stands firm. The beleaguered defenders earn a brief reprieve, and a temporary victory. Creed, however, knows that they were far from true victory, Abaddon's true strength still held in reserve while Cadia's power has been nearly spent. It was only a breather before the true killing blow.

Then we have Abaddon and Chaos politics, and Abaddon basically saying screw you to his lieutenants and deciding to go down to Cadia himself to end the war personally.

The defenders of Cadia use the chance to rest, sleep, bury the dead and reorganize their forces, with the Dark Angels Master Korahael taking command of the Space Marines forces and Creed taking charge of the Imperial Guard regiments. Thankfully, the Mechanicus fleet arrives, carrying Cawl's forces and Skitarii. Archmagos Belisarius Cawl had rushed over to Cadia after his revelation in Eriad VI, and the Mechanicus forces were requested by Creed to repair Cadia's shattered defenses. The Crimson Fists Space Marines chapter arrive with the Cadian 14th, and a dozen battered crisers limped in from Solar Mariatus, bringing the welcome reinforcements of the Knights of House Taranis and the tanks of the Armored 51st after being rescued by Space Wolves boarders. Yay.

Cawl proceeds to study the main pylon thing, essentially the command pylon, while the battle for the Elysion Fields begin. Apparently Abaddon personally dropped down with a second wave of Chaos armies, intent on ending the war in Cadia once and for all. As he does so, Trazyn appears before Cawl, dangling precious knowledge and information in front of the cautious archmagos, who realizes he has little choice but to listen.

All I can say is that the battle at Elysion Fields didn't go very well. Cadians died, more Cadians died, and I'm pretty sad. Ugh. The Knights of House Raven ended up utterly destroyed, also much to my misery. The east was a mess, but the Space Marines dive in to reinforce the eastern lines and drove off the surviving Titans and Crimson Slaughter renegades after the demise of House Raven's Knights and the retreat of the Cadian 185th. The west was held by cold Cadian steel, the Cadian 9th holding the line with Basilisk artillery support. The north was also firmly defended by the Battle Sisters of Our Martyred Lady, Celestine and her Geminea Superia at their head. Warpsmiths and Daemon Engines fell before their faith and might, their Exorcists, melta, fiery promethium and bolters shredding all the tainted and corrupted horrors the un-believers threw at them.

But the south, where Abaddon's true assault fell, obliterated the Cadian 8th and 21st, and where the lines collapsed. Creed personally led with his Cadian 8th, his very own company. Abaddon, on the other hand, realizes the symbol Creed was to the Cadians, and is determined to kill him - for Creed's death would be the killing blow that will finally break Cadian valor and spirit. It is here where one of the greatest tragedies of the Warhammer 40,000 universe finally occurs - Color Sergeant Kell falls and dies, saving Creed. He shoves Creed aboard a Valkyrie and orders it to fly off while losing a leg below his knee. Despite the horrendous injury, he stands up to Abaddon like the badass that he is and tries to fight. Unfortunately, the brave color sergeant's defiance proved futile and Abaddon easily snaps his spine, killing him.

No! Kell died! Kell DIED! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! How could you, Games Workshop!? How could you kill Kell of all people?! NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

To the west, the Cadian 9th have fallen, and the 75th and 403rd defend what remains. To the north, the traitor forces have completely crumpled, the Adepta Sororitas successfully winning against their formidable foes, though at great cost. Recognizing the danger at the south, Celesine then flies there to confront Abaddon and fight him. Creed is forced to retreat into the catacombs with his surviving Cadian 8th, bolstered by Cawl's Skitarii, even as Abaddon and his Terminators pursued him and his forces relentlessly. Unfortunately, the Cadians and Skitarii are overwhelmed, and the traitors make their way to Cawl's position. The venerable archmagos is still too focused on tinkering with the command pylon and ignores the battle, but his Kataphrons are in danger of being overwhelmed. Trazyn the Infinite decides to lend a hand and opens his vault to release several of his collections, including Lieutenant-Commander Cerantes of the Ultramarines, in charge of Contemptor Dreadnoughts and cataphractii Terminators. An entire regiment of Vostroyan XXI also show up, sick from stasis, but recovering quickly to join the fray. Snipers from long-dead Tanith, Salamanders, and even an Adeptus Custode all jump in with the time-lost Ultramarines to fight the traitors. I mean, we don't need a good reason to fight Chaos scum, right?

However, one person stays apart - Inquisitor Katarinya Greyfax of the Ordo Hereticus, and her bodyguards of storm troopers drawn from 55th Kappic Eagles, don't fire at all.

Abaddon sees Cawl tinkering with the command pylon and panics, ordering his sorcerers to summon Daemons. The Ultramarines die, slaughtered to the last man, poor dudes. Fortunately, the Legion of the Damned shows up and help them out. Cadian 8th fights on valiantly again (this is starting to get repetitive), but they're reinforced by the Wulfen. The Space Wolves, led by the Ironwolves and Highfell, charge in and rip Daemons apart. Yay. The Kappic Eagles finally join in, firing into the Black Legion and slaughtering masses of traitor Marines - yeah, the stormtroopers are actually killing Chaos Space Marines with hot-shot lasgun fire. Really. Cadians resist stubbornly, fighting as well as the Kappic Eagles, staring down the Daemons and the Terminators of the Black Legion. Fortunately, help arrives in the nick of time, Celestine the Living Saint descending into the catacombs and slaying Daemons with her Ardent Blade. Finally reaching Abaddon, she engages him in a duel, her revived Geminae Superia at her side to help her in a three-against-one. Hey, the guy's a superhuman genetically engineered Chaos scum with the blessing of the dark gods. The three women are going to need every advantage they can get.

Greyfax, being typically grimdark, scowls and rages at all the heresy in front of her, with the mutants, the idolatry of the so-called False Saint, blah, blah. She rages at Trazyn, who owns her in a verbal war of words, and has no choice but to accept that he's right and turn her attention to the Chaos filth spawning before her.

Archmagos Belisarius Cawl finally succeeds in activating the command pylon and closes the Warp thingy surrounding the Eye of Terror, closing the storm and stabilizing the Warp currents, isolating reality from the Immaterium. In doing so, he expelled all the Daemons from reality, but also reduces the potency of psykers. Celestine loses her powers in the process, unfortunately, and so do her Geminae Superia, and the duel swings in Abaddon's favor. Poor ladies. Abaddon gains the upper hand and knocks Celestia down, ready to deliver the killing blow. Knowing that it will be disastrous to lose Celestine, Creed orders the 8th to rush in and stab Abaddon with bayonets...no, you did not read that wrong. The Cadian 8th rushed in to stab Abaddon with bayonets. Before they could reach him, Greyfax throws Abaddon off with a psychic attack, saving Celestine and buying time for the Cadians to rescue her.

Needless to say, they got slaughtered.

Aside from the debacle with Abaddon, the Imperium's defenders succeed in defeating the Black Legion and repulsing them. The Space Marines, the Cadians, the Kappic Eagles, Cawl's Skitarii and robotic maniples, even Greyfax herself, advance and destroy the Black Legion. Creed himself leads a contingent of Kasrkin platoon and charged Abaddon again with nothing but bayonets. They actually managed to defeat Abaddon's Terminators. Yeah, the Kasrkin actually wiped out Abaddon's Terminator bodyguards. Unfortunately, plot armor saved Abaddon and he annihilates all the Kasrkins, eliminating them all save for Creed himself. As with all stereotypical villains, Abaddon talks a tad too much while slowly strangling Creed to death after cutting off a few of his fingers (he's going to be like Ciaphas Cain!). Thanks to his big mouth, he ends up getting stabbed in the back by Celestine, and promptly lets go of Creed, who also seem to have massive plot armor and survives yet another close shave with death.

"CREEEEEEEEEEEEEED!"

Yeah, Abaddon was howling after Celestine backstabs him and Creed once again escapes death. Dick move, Celestine, but hey, since the target is a Chaos scum and filthy traitor, that backstabbing is justified. It's too bad she didn't cut off Abaddon's arms, though. That would have been more fitting and appropriate, I mean, to disarm Abaddon again...what a wasted opportunity.

Anyway, realizing that he had no time left because the last vestiges of the Warp were fading, Abaddon orders a retreat and teleports the hell out of there like the coward he is. The surviving warriors of the Black Legion retreat, and the traitor Space Marines all evacuated, taking heavy losses as the loyalists fire at their fleeing drop-ships and figures. The Chaos Space Marines sustain massive casualties, but many escaped. The cultists and un-believers were left behind like the cannon fodder they are, the Chaos Space Marines not thinking them worth saving. Poor dudes.

Abaddon, simmering with rage at his failure to kill Creed ("CREEEEEED!"), crying salty tears over how he failed to break Cadia's spirit, acts like the sore loser that he is, and decides to fire a huge chunk of the Blackstone Fortress from its fragmentary remains right into Cadia. Like an artificial meteor, in the same style of the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Long story short, Cadia dies, its surface ravaged and blown up, the tetonic plates all messed up and lava boiling to the surface. With the planet dying, the Cadians and all the Imperium forces were forced to evacuate. The pylons also get destroyed, and the seal they placed on the Eye of Terror is ripped open again once more, and the rupture between reality and Immaterium becomes much bigger than before. Cawl is aghast at the turn of events, everyone on Cadia scrambles to evacuate or they'll die with the planet.

Worse, because of the pylons' destruction, Daemons begin pouring forth across the surface of Cadia, attacking and killing the beleaguered survivors. Fortunately, with the Warp's resurgence, Celestine and her Geminae Superia's powers are restored and they slay Daemons by the legions, buying time for the survivors to evacuate. Recovering from shock that his beloved Cadia has been wrecked and obliterated by the Blackstone meteor, Creed steels himself and orders his 8th to buy time for the remaining survivors to evacuate. Creed and the Cadian 8th stay behind on Cadia and fight to the very last against endless hordes of Daemons, long after the final survivors leave the surface of devastated Cadia.

Cadia stands!

After ensuring that Cadia stands, proudly, defiantly against the Daemons trying to infest and turn Cadia into a Daemon world, Ursarkar E. Creed slips a cigar into his mouth and murmurs to himself, "just as planned." From far in the Warp, the raging voice of Abaddon echoes throughout the void.

"CREEEEEED!"

Taking some satisfaction in outwitting his archenemy and frustrating his goals once again, Creed turns to a metal giant in a scaled cloak.

"So you were saying something about eternity?"

The figure, most likely Trazyn the Infinite who wants to put Creed in his collection, cocks his head for a moment before nodding. Creed grins, puffing the smoke from his cigar.

"Sure. Sounds like a good idea. I suppose at some point of time in the 42nd Millennium, I'll infiltrate holy Terra or whatever poor important planet out of nowhere and use my tactical genius to bring the Imperium to victory once again. Say, you wouldn't happen to have a Titan in your vault that I can Infiltrate out of nowhere, do you?"

Trazyn smiles back, his eerie skeletal face shining ominously in the gloom. "Sounds like a plan," he agrees eagerly. "Thief or Savior...I wonder what I'll be then."

"Why not be both? You'll find something better to steal."

Later, in the late 42nd Millennium, after Trazyn releases Creed to lead the Imperium to victory over Abaddon's 20th Black Crusade, he finds the Imperium treasury empty, and no significant characters to add to his collection. Trembling with rage, Trazyn howls into the void.

"CREEEEEEEEEEEEEED!"

The remaining Imperial fleet, escorted by Cawl's Mechanicus fleet, flees from the Cadian system after getting to a safe distance to fly into the Warp. Bad things happen, the Chaos fleet destroys a few Imperial ships, one ship has a Daemon possess a Primaris Psyker, and gets destroyed on that bitch Greyfax's orders. Out of 850 million Cadians, only 3 million survived, and they're on those ships. Don't worry, the Draconian system will welcome the Cadian survivors and allow them to set up their Imperial Guard regiment there.

Anyway, before I get too ahead of myself with my Draconians, the Imperial fleet limps away. At first Abaddon doesn't think them worth the trouble to pursue, but he's alerted by one of his lieutenants, Zaraphiston, that there's an important relic on the Ark Mechanicus - Cawl's flagship. So he hotly pursues the Mechanicus fleet, who stays behind even after the rest of the Imperial fleet translates into the Warp, because the Ark Mechanicus, Iron Revenant, is damaged in the opening salvo. The rest of the Mechanicus fleet sacrifices themselves to buy time for the Iron Revenant to escape to Klasius, but the Vengeful Spirit trades fire with it. Why Klasius, the ice moon? Well, apparently Celestine reveals to Cawl a dream, and Cawl shuts the annoying Greyfax up (someone shoot her already).

Obviously the Iron Revenant is unable to stand up to the Vengeful Spirit and breaks apart. Fortunately, the crew and everyone aboard manage to escape to the icy surface of Klasius, making use of the vicious snow-storms to conceal themselves from Abaddon's relentless pursuers. The Black Templars, Celestine and the Adepta Sororitas, the Kappic Eagles following Greyfax, Cawl and his Mechanicus maniples in his Triaros Conveyer that contained the awesome relic, and the lumbering Knights of House Taranis. All of them descend upon the icy surface, hide in the snow-storms and run from Abaddon and friends. Unfortunately, Abaddon and his Black Legion find the beleaguered Imperial defenders time and time again, with Chaos bikers, Heldrakes and Raptors. Taking casualties and killing their pursuers, the Imperial forces continued to soldier on, Cawl following Celestine's vision and heading for some ancient structure.

A final battle takes place at the gate of the ancient structure, Abaddon and his Daemon engines and Chaos tanks all rushing forward to annihilate the defenders of the Imperium once and for all. Abaddon and his Terminator retinue show up personally to chase the last of the Kappic Eagles, who were forced into a fighting withdrawal - Militarum Tempestus Stormtrooper never retreat! They're just making a tactical withdrawal! Fortunately, help arrived in the form of combined Eldar forces. Craftworld Eldar, Dark Eldar and Harlqeuins (I think) show up and obliterate the pursuing Black Legion forces. Veilwalker appears to talk to Cawl, and offers a parley or alliance. The Imperial forces, exhausted and worn down by the Black Legion, accepts the Eldar's assistance and they all escape into the portal.

Cadia stands. And now the Imperium will continue the war against Chaos, from a new beginning.

My life for Cadia! Uh, I mean, Cadia stands!